Magical Nominalism: The Historical Event, Aesthetic Reenchantment, and the Photograph

A bold and wide-ranging study across centuries, examining the conflict between “conventional” and “magical” nominalism in philosophy, history, aesthetics, political theory, and photography.

In this magisterial new book, intellectual historian Martin Jay traces the long-standing competition between two versions of nominalism—the “conventional” and the “magical.” Since at least William of Ockham, according to Jay, the conventional form of nominalism has contributed to the disenchantment of th...