Zizek and Freedom: Utopia and the Parallax View

by Bradley Kaye

Overview

This book is an exploration of Žižek's theory of freedom. By examining key passages in Žižek's work the aim is to provide a functional, serviceable philosophy of power and ideology and show how this philosophy of power relates to freedom. Although some, like Noam Chomsky, have criticized Žižek's work as having no guiding principles, it is suggested that this misses the fact that Žižek's philosophy utilizes a dialectical methodology that often appears contradictory. Though a highly astute reader with a background in the philosophical texts he frequently cites (the German Idealists, Freud, and modern philosophers), it becomes clear that there is a uniquely Zizekian philosophy that mobilizes a radical hermeneutics of freedom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031421501
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	11/04/2023
Edition description:	1st ed. 2023
Pages:	201
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Bradley Kaye is Adjunct Professor at SUNY Fredonia's Socio-Justice Sciences Department, Fredonia, NY, USA.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 What is the Parallax View?.- Chapter 2 What About Life?.- Chapter 3 What is Ideology?.- Chapter 4 Lacan, Discourses and Social Bonds I: Graphs of Desire.- Chapter 5 Lacan, Discourses and Social Bonds II: Aggressivity and Narcissistic Rage.- Chapter 6 Cynicism / Ressentiment as the Function of Ideology.- Chapter 7 What Does it Mean to be Free?: Hermeneutics of Freedom .- Chapter 8 Utopia and the Parallax View

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“After going through the manuscript of Bradley Kaye's book dedicated to my work, my first reaction was horror – horror and fascination at how Kaye seems to understand me better than I understand myself. The reader gets in his book everything: a clear and balanced description of my basic ideas from my atheist theology to concrete political analyses, an outline of the field of contemporary thought to which I belong, and some subtle critical remarks. My gratitude to Kaye is immense: he confirmed my old belief that the truth of some theory can be best perceived from outside – an external gaze can note details that escape the author itself. But his book is about much more than my work – it provides (in a much more systematic way than I was able to do in my work) a terrifying vision of the mad world in which we leave. To all who will read it, it will have a sobering effect, enabling them to dispel much of the ideological mist in which we feel at home.” (Slavoj Žižek)