Confronting Desire

This classic work by one of the most important philosophers and critics of our time charts the genesis and trajectory of the desiring subject from Hegel's formulation in Phenomenology of Spirit to its appropriation by Kojève, Hyppolite, Sartre, Lacan, Deleuze, and Foucault. Judith Butler plots the French reception of Hegel and the successive challenges waged against his metaphysics and view of the subject, all while revealing ambiguities within his position. The result is a sophisticated reconsideration of the post-Hegelian tradition that has predominated in modern French thought, and her study remains a provocative and timely intervention in contemporary debates over the unconscious, the powers of subjection, and the subject.

By applying psychoanalytic perspectives to key themes, concepts, and practices underlying the development enterprise, Confronting Desire offers a new way of analyzing the problems, challenges, and potentialities of international development. Ilan Kapoor makes a compelling case for examining development's unconscious desires and in the process inaugurates a new field of study: psychoanalytic development studies. Drawing from the work of Jacques Lacan and Slavoj Žižek, as well as from psychoanalytic postcolonial and feminist scholarship, Kapoor analyzes how development's unconscious desires "speak out," most often in excessive and unpredictable ways that contradict the outwardly rational declarations of its practitioners. He investigates development's many irrationalities—from obsessions about growth and poverty to the perverse seductions of racism and over-consumption. By deploying key psychoanalytic concepts—enjoyment, fantasy, antagonism, fetishism, envy, drive, perversion, and hysteria—Confronting Desire critically analyzes important issues in development—growth, poverty, inequality, participation, consumption, corruption, gender, "race," LGBTQ politics, universality, and revolution. Confronting Desire offers prescriptions for applying psychoanalysis to development theory and practice and demonstrates how psychoanalysis can provide fertile ground for radical politics and the transformation of international development.

First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

For over a decade, Rekindling Desire has helped to restore and affirm pleasure-oriented sexuality for thousands of people. Drawing on respected therapist Barry McCarthy’s extensive knowledge and experience, this updated third edition offers strategies and solutions for no-sex relationships and low sexual desire. Contained within are psychosocial sexual skill exercises that will develop communication and confidence, as well as fascinating case studies that illustrate a wide range of couples’ sexual frustrations. The shame, embarrassment, and hesitancy that individuals feel with themselves, and the resentment and blame they can feel towards their sexual partners, are explored and put into context. With an individualized relapse prevention plan to ensure sexual gains are maintained and built upon, the book encourages couples to work as a team to minimize guilt and maximize intimacy. Rekindling Desire, 3rd edition fully celebrates female and male sexuality, challenges inhibitions and avoidance, and promotes satisfying, secure, and sexual relationships. Whether you are married, cohabitating, or dating, it will help renew sexual desire and empower people of all sexual orientations and ages on the path towards healthy, pleasure-oriented sexuality.

Desires matter. What are desires? Many believe that desire is a motivational state: desiring is being disposed to act. This conception aligns with the functionalist approach to desire and the standard account of desire's role in explaining action. According to a second influential approach, however, desire is first and foremost an evaluation: desiring is representing something as good. After all, we seem to desire things under the guise of the good. Which understanding of desire is more accurate? Is the guise of the good even right to assume? Should we adopt an alternative picture that emphasizes desire's deontic nature? What do neuroscientific studies suggest? Essays in the first section of the volume are devoted to these questions, and to the puzzle of desire's essence. In the second part of the volume, essays investigate some implications that the various conceptions of desire have on a number of fundamental issues. For example, why are inconsistent desires problematic? What is desire's role in practical deliberation? How do we know what we want? This volume will contribute to the emergence of a fruitful debate on a neglected, albeit crucial, dimension of the mind.

A Love Story for Susan is a story of hope in our world. This book describes the journey taken by the author into his mind. There, he faced the darkness of his personal hell, earning the right to stand in the brilliance of God's light at journey's end. The journey into self is a journey any person can choose to take. This book appeals to those people who are struggling with the meaning of their existence. It is a struggle many are choosing to face at this time because the desire to discover one's truth is a desire that lives in all of us. A Love Story for Susan convincingly demonstrates the importance of love in the healing of a human mind. The author's story is an inspirational example of how to transmute pain into strength and gain a new life by doing so. His goal was simply to find his true self. Little did he know that God waits patiently for those who make the journey to truth, the journey to self. A Love Story for Susan is the story of the author's journey home.

A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) are major plays by Tennessee Williams, one of America's most significant dramatists. They both received landmark productions and are widely-studied and performed around the world. The plays have also inspired popular screen adaptations and have generated a body of important and lasting scholarship. In this indispensable Reader's Guide, Thomas P. Adler: - Charts the development of the criticism surrounding both works, from the mid-twentieth century through to the present day - Provides a readable assessment of the key debates and issues - Examines a range of theoretical approaches from biographical and New Criticism to feminist and queer theory In so doing, Adler helps us to appreciate why these plays continue to fascinate readers, theatregoers and directors alike.

God of Desire presents Sanskrit tales of the Indian deity Kāmadeva as he battles the ascetic god Śiva, assists the powerful goddess Devī, and incarnates as the charming son of Kṛṣṇa. Exploring the imagery and symbolism of the god of desire in art and ritual, Catherine Benton reflects on the connection of Kāmadeva to parrots, makaras (gharials), and apsarases (celestial nymphs), and to playful devotional rituals designed to win his favor. In addition to examining the Hindu literature, Benton also highlights two Buddhist forms of Kamadeva, the demonic Māra, who tries to persuade the Buddha to trade enlightenment for the delights of a woman, and the ever-youthful Mañjuśri, who cuts through ignorance with the bodhisattva sword of wisdom. Tales of Kāmadeva from the Hindu and Buddhist traditions present desire as a powerful force continually redefining the boundaries of chaos and order and gently pulling beyond the ephemeral lure of passionate longings.