Cogito and the Unconscious

Cogito and the Unconscious
Author :
Publisher : Duke University Press
Total Pages : 290
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780822382126
ISBN-13 : 0822382121
Rating : 4/5 (121 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Cogito and the Unconscious by : Slavoj Zizek

Download or read book Cogito and the Unconscious written by Slavoj Zizek and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 1998-04-08 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cartesian cogito—the principle articulated by Descartes that "I think, therefore I am"—is often hailed as the precursor of modern science. At the same time, the cogito's agent, the ego, is sometimes feared as the agency of manipulative domination responsible for all present woes, from patriarchal oppression to ecological catastrophes. Without psychoanalyzing philosophy, Cogito and the Unconscious explores the vicissitudes of the cogito and shows that psychoanalyses can render visible a constitutive madness within modern philosophy, the point at which "I think, therefore I am" becomes obsessional neurosis characterized by "If I stop thinking, I will cease to exist." Noting that for Lacan the Cartesian construct is the same as the Freudian "subject of the unconscious," the contributors follow Lacan's plea for a psychoanalytic return to the cogito. Along the path of this return, they examine the ethical attitude that befits modern subjectivity, the inherent sexualization of modern subjectivity, the impasse in which the Cartesian project becomes involved given the enigmatic status of the human body, and the Cartesian subject's confrontation with its modern critics, including Althusser, Bataille, and Dennett. In a style that has become familiar to Žižek's readers, these essays bring together a strict conceptual analysis and an approach to a wide range of cultural and ideological phenomena—from the sadist paradoxes of Kant's moral philosophy to the universe of Ayn Rand's novels, from the question "Which, if any, is the sex of the cogito?" to the defense of the cogito against the onslaught of cognitive sciences. Challenging us to reconsider fundamental notions of human consciousness and modern subjectivity, this is a book whose very Lacanian orthodoxy makes it irreverently transgressive of predominant theoretical paradigms. Cogito and the Unconscious will appeal to readers interested in philosophy, psychoanalysis, cultural studies, and theories of ideology. Contributors. Miran Bozovic, Mladen Dolar, Alain Grosrichard, Marc de Kessel, Robert Pfaller, Renata Salecl, Slavoj Žižek, Alenka Zupancic


Cogito and the Unconscious Related Books

Cogito and the Unconscious
Language: en
Pages: 290
Authors: Slavoj Zizek
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 1998-04-08 - Publisher: Duke University Press

GET EBOOK

The Cartesian cogito—the principle articulated by Descartes that "I think, therefore I am"—is often hailed as the precursor of modern science. At the same t
Concept and Form, Volume 1
Language: en
Pages: 321
Authors: Knox Peden
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-12-12 - Publisher: Verso Books

GET EBOOK

Concept and Form is a two-volume monument to the work of the philosophy journal the Cahiers pour l'Analyse (1966-69), the most ambitious and radical collective
Concept and Form, Volume 2
Language: en
Pages: 305
Authors: Peter Hallward
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-12-12 - Publisher: Verso Books

GET EBOOK

Concept and Form is a two-volume monument to the work of the philosophy journal the Cahiers pour l’Analyse (1966–69), the most ambitious and radical collect
Concept and Form, Volume 1
Language: en
Pages: 273
Authors: Peter Hallward
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-12-12 - Publisher: Verso Books

GET EBOOK

Edited by a small group of students—including Alain Badiou, Jacques-Alain Miller and François Regnault—at the Ecole normale supérieure in Paris, the Cahie
Ricoeur and Lacan
Language: en
Pages: 172
Authors: Karl Simms
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2007-06-01 - Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

GET EBOOK

This is the first comparative study of the work of the philosopher Paul Ricoeur and the psychoanalayst Jacques Lacan. The book explores the conflict between the