Philosophy at the Crossroads

Philosophy at the Crossroads

Author: Edward G. Ballard

Publisher: LSU Press

Published: 1971-10-01

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 0807149578

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The author proposes and elaborates a definition of philosophy and illustrates the relevance of this definition in the work of six philosophers whose writings have been crucial to the development of Western thought - Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Husserl, and Heidegger. Professor Ballard defines philosophy as the interpretation of archaic experience - that transition or change which forces one to attempt to understand, and usually reformulate, the basic notional framework within which order and value are discovered. He traces the growth and various directions of Western thought, and speculates on the potential for its future development.


The Creative Imagination

The Creative Imagination

Author: Jodie Lee Heap

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2021-06-17

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1538144271

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By engaging with the notions of indeterminacy and embodiment within the writings of Immanuel Kant, Johann Fichte and Cornelius Castoriadis, this book addresses and brings to the fore the significance of the creative imagination as an ontological source of human creation. Principally inspired by Castoriadis’ revolutionary elucidation of the imagination and the imaginary, this book actively contributes to this neglected line of enquiry by exposing deep lines of continuity and rupture both within and between the writings of Kant, Fichte, and Castoriadis. Beginning with Kant’s hesitation in describing the productive imagination as a creative and embodied power of the soul, this book traces these lines of continuity and rupture through Fichte’s innovative depiction of the creative imagination as an ontological power of creation and through Castoriadis’ radical extension of this idea into the social-historical realm. Given the notions of indeterminacy and embodiment actively inform these lines of continuity and of rupture, this book contributes to the landscape of thinking by proposing the creative imagination must be envisaged an embodied power of the human soul.


Castoriadis

Castoriadis

Author: Jeff Klooger

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 9004175296

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This book is a critical exploration of the philosophical underpinnings and implications of Cornelius Castoriadis reflections on Being, society and the self. The book introduces the reader to the main concepts of Castoriadis work, but goes further to uncover the fundamental philosophical issues addressed by Castoriadis, and to critically examine the issues his work opens up, assessing and, where necessary, offering suggested amendments to the answers Castoriadis himself puts forward. Key conceptual problems addressed include the distinction between autonomy and heteronomy, the nature of the self and self-creation, and the nature of determination in a fundamentally indeterminate universe.


Perversion and Utopia

Perversion and Utopia

Author: Joel Whitebook

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1996-10-31

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9780262731171

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In this sweeping challenge to the postmodern critiques of psychoanalysis, Joel Whitebook argues for a reintegration of Freud's uncompromising investigation of the unconscious with the political and philosophical insights of critical theory. Perversion and Utopia follows in the tradition of Herbert Marcuse's Eros and Civilization and Paul Ricoeur's Freud and Philosophy. It expands on these books, however, because of the author's remarkable grasp not only of psychoanalytic studies but also of the contemporary critical climate; Whitebook, a philosopher and a psychoanalyst, writes with equal facility on both Habermas and Freud. A central thesis of Perversion and Utopia is that there is an essential affinity between the utopian impulse and the perverse impulse, in that both reflect a desire to bypass the reality principle that Freud claimed to define the human condition. The book explores the positive and negative aspects of the relationship between these impulses, which are ubiquitous features of human life, and the requirements of civilized social existence. Whitebook steers a course between orthodox psychoanalytic conservatism, which seeks simply to repress the perverse-utopian impulse in the name of social continuity and cohesion, and those forms of Freudo-Marxism, postmodernism, and psychoanalytic feminism that advocate its direct and full expression in the name of emancipation. While he demonstrates the limitations of the current textual approaches to Freud, especially those influenced by Lacan, Whitebook also enlists the lessons of psychoanalysis to counteract the excessive rationalism of the Habermasian brand of critical theory, thus making a substantial contribution to current discussions within critical theory itself. His analysis and interpretation of perversion, narcissism, sublimation, and ego bring new insight to these central and thorny issues in Freud, and his discussions of Adorno, Marcuse, Castoriadis, Habermas, Ricoeur, Lacan, and others are equally penetrating.


Common

Common

Author: Pierre Dardot

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-01-24

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 1474238629

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Around the globe, contemporary protest movements are contesting the oligarchic appropriation of natural resources, public services, and shared networks of knowledge and communication. These struggles raise the same fundamental demand and rest on the same irreducible principle: the common. In this exhaustive account, Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval show how the common has become the defining principle of alternative political movements in the 21st century. In societies deeply shaped by neoliberal rationality, the common is increasingly invoked as the operative concept of practical struggles creating new forms of democratic governance. In a feat of analytic clarity, Dardot and Laval dissect and synthesize a vast repository on the concept of the commons, from the fields of philosophy, political theory, economics, legal theory, history, theology, and sociology. Instead of conceptualizing the common as an essence of man or as inherent in nature, the thread developed by Dardot and Laval traces the active lives of human beings: only a practical activity of commoning can decide what will be shared in common and what rules will govern the common's citizen-subjects. This re-articulation of the common calls for nothing less than the institutional transformation of society by society: it calls for a revolution.


The Crossroads Series

The Crossroads Series

Author: Kate Elliott

Publisher: Tor Books

Published: 2018-12-04

Total Pages: 1729

ISBN-13: 1250206766

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Kate Elliott's The Crossroads series discounted ebundle includes: Spirit Gate, Shadow Gate, Traitors' Gate In the land of the Hundred, peace has been hardwon--but a new army, led by a mysterious band of armed and soul-bonded corps that swoop across the skies, slowly casting a shadow over the world. Realizing they must avert the coming invasion, a large cast of engaging characters rise up to defend their people and regions against an epic landscape. With masterful storytelling, uniquely mythic characters and a compelling plot, Elliott captivates readers in The Crossroads series. Spirit Gate is the saga of a young woman, Mai, who, when she marries the mysterious Captain Anji, begins an adventure that will take her across distant lands, risking life and limb for a justice she can only imagine, fighting a fanatical army that is determined to destroy all who stand in the way of a brutal campaign of conquest. Shadow Gate: The source of corruption of the Guardians is still a mystery to the mortals who fight to withstand the forces that have turned against them. And when three new Guardians emerge, a struggle begins among the immortals, with nothing less at stake than the future of the land and its gods. Traitors’ Gate: The tumultuous conclusion of the epic fantasy Crossroads trilogy: A rich brew of politics, warfare, and social upheaval in a sweeping tapestry of a world in crisis, peopled with memorable characters and told with the power and pathos of a brilliant storyteller. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.


Castoriadis's Ontology

Castoriadis's Ontology

Author: Suzi Adams

Publisher: Fordham Univ Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 0823234584

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This book is the first systematic reconstruction of Castoriadis's philosophical trajectory. It critically interprets the shifts in his ontology by reconsidering the ancient problematic of human institution(nomos) and nature(physis), on the one hand, and the question of beingand creation, on the other.Unlike the order of physis, the order of nomos has played no substantial role in the development of Western thought. The first part of the book suggests that Castoriadis sought to remedy this by elucidating the social-historical as the region of being that eludes the determinist imaginary of inherited philosophy. This ontological turn was announced in his 1975 magnum opus, The Imaginary Institution of Society.With the aid of archival sources, the second half of the book reconstructs a second ontological shift in Castoriadis's thought that occurred during the 1980s. The author argues that Castoriadis extends his notion of ontological creationbeyond the human realm and into nature. This move has implications for his overall ontology and signals a shift toward a general ontology of creative physis


Adventures of the Symbolic

Adventures of the Symbolic

Author: Warren Breckman

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2013-06-18

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 023114394X

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Warren Breckman critically revisits thrilling experiments in the aftermath of Marxism.


Your Soul at a Crossroads

Your Soul at a Crossroads

Author: Valerie Harms

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2013-07-24

Total Pages: 115

ISBN-13: 1475998538

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YOUR SOUL AT A CROSSROADS When you are at a crossroads or crisis, youll find your best path if you can connect with your inner resources. When feeling fear or dread, its hard to think straight. But if you dont face your crisis, your life will stay stuck. Use the tools in this book to honor the integrity of your experiences, thoughts, feelings, intuitions, and dreams to find the paths just right for you. The writing exercises enable you to go from the dark night of the soul to the light of rebirth and renewal. Years of testimony from people in workshops verify how vital it is to tap into your personal sense of timing and explore the separate parts of your life through dialoguing. Then you find not only security and wisdom but also ideas for making your place in the world more meaningful. Also included are guides to symbols of renewal and the worlds religions and myths. I am simply swept away with admiration for your approach. What you offer is a new paradigm for how I think emotionally. Thank you for your deeply challenging work. ~ a workshop participant Valerie is an expert who has the capacity to share great truths. ~ a reader