Aesthetics Method And Epistemology

Aesthetics offers a focused study on the philosophy, literature and art which informed Foucault's engagement with ethics and power, including brilliant commentaries on the work of de Sade, Rousseau, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud and Wagner.

Volume 2 in the ESSENTIAL WORKS OF FOUCAULT series and originally published by Allen Lane in 1999, a collection of articles, interviews and lectures on the subject of aesthetics, written by the twentieth century French philosopher, Michel Foucault and translated into English.

Theorists interested in learning more about any given interpretive approach are often required to navigate a dizzying array of sources, with no clear sense of where to begin. The prose of many primary sources is often steeped in dense and technical argot that novices find intimidating or even impenetrable. Interpretation in Political Theory provide students of political theory a single introductory reference guide to major approaches to interpretation available in the field today. Comprehensive and clearly written, the book includes: A historical and theoretical overview that situates the practice of interpretation within the development of political theory in the twentieth century. Chapters on Straussian esotericism, historical approaches within the Cambridge School of interpretation, materialist approaches associated with Marxism, the critical approaches associated with varieties of feminism, Greimassian semiotics, Foucaultian genealogy, the negative dialectics of Theodor Adorno, deconstruction as exemplified by Jacques Derrida and Paul de Man, and Lacanian psychoanalysis. An exposition of the theoretical and disciplinary background of each approach, the tools and techniques of interpretation it uses, its assumptions about what counts as a relevant text in political theory, and what it considers to be the purpose or objective of reading in political theory. A reading of Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan to illustrate how each approach can be applied in practice. A list of suggestions for further reading that will guide those interested in pursuing more advanced study. An invaluable textbook for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and even seasoned scholars of political theory interested in learning more about different interpretive approaches.

Kurasawa (sociology, York U., Toronto) suggests what he calls the ethnological imagination as one of the possible routes out of the impasse created by the apparent exhaustion or inadequacy of Western social theory to deal with cross-cultural thinking, which becomes ever more urgent in light of increasing cultural pluralism and difference in the glo

A Companion to Foucault comprises a collection of essays from established and emerging scholars that represent the most extensive treatment of French philosopher Michel Foucault’s works currently available. Comprises a comprehensive collection of authors and topics, with both established and emerging scholars represented Includes chapters that survey Foucault’s major works and others that approach his work from a range of thematic angles Engages extensively with Foucault's recently published lecture courses from the Collège de France Contains the first translation of the extensive ‘Chronology’ of Foucault’s life and works written by Foucault’s life-partner Daniel Defert Includes a bibliography of Foucault’s shorter works in English, cross-referenced to the standard French edition Dits et Ecrits

`As a companion to Foucault's original texts, carefully showing what he's done and why - and how that could be applied elsewhere - it's outstanding' - www.theory.org.uk `Very much a `hands-on' tool kit of a book, scholarly but accessible.... a very useful textbook which approaches its subject in an original way' - Sociological Research Online `At last, a student-friendly guide that answers the question: "Yes, but how do you do Foucault?" Kendall and Wickham address the thorny question of how-to-Foucault in a clear, distinctive manner that stands out in the secondary literature on this important thinker' - Toby Miller, New York University This book provides a clear, straightforward guide to those who want to apply the work of Foucault to their own field of interest. The authors employ an accessible style to encourage readers to engage with Foucault's work by tackling the issues that students most often raise. The book is organized around the following themes: history, archaeology, genealogy and discourse as the cornerstones of Foucault's methods; and science and culture as important objects of analysis for those using Foucault's methods. The book enables the reader to understand how Foucault's contribution to social thought can be applied and opens up possibilities for researchers to use Foucault rather than merely discuss him.