Download or read book Grandeur and Twilight of Radical Universalism written by Agnes Heller and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-04-14 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grandeur and Twilight of Radical Universalism provides a theoretical construction to the extraordinary events of the past several years in Europe and the Soviet Union, and China. These masterful essays attribute much of the problem of totalitarianism to its blind acceptance of a Marxist philosophy of practice. With the failure of communist practice, the collapse of the Marxian paradigm was quick to follow.At its roots this volume is a critique of the idea that we can have "scientific knowledge" of the social and political future. Totalitarian Marxism combined statements of history and claims of omniscience. Free choice was surrendered to history, and when the predicted outcomes fail to materialize, when communism came closer to being buried than capitalism, and western ideals of democracy proved far more compelling than inherited doctrines of authoritarianism, the outcome proved monumental and disastrous.The authors position themselves as evolving from critical Marxism to post-Marxism, and then post modernism. By this, they mean a modest view of life, one that moves beyond radical universalism and grand narrative, into a realization of individualism and equity concerns are central to the end of the twentieth century. The volume proceeds historically: from studies of the classic Marxian legacy; to the early twentieth century efforts of Lukacs, Weber and Adorno; proceeding to the disintegration of the Marxian paradigm in both its pure and revisionist forms. It ends with a study of options posed by this paradigmatic collapse - to consideration of the status of postmodernity and the choices between pure relativism and a theological fundamentalism. ,This is a work of absolute importance for political philosophy, the sociology of knowledge, and the history of ideas. In raising recent events to a theoretically meaningful framework, it represents a refreshing as well as remarkable step toward understanding Revolutions from 1789 to 1989.
Download or read book Freedom and Dissatisfaction in the Works of Agnes Heller written by Lucy Jane Ward and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2016-12-27 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ward’s book focuses on the work of the Hungarian philosopher Agnes Heller; prominent member of the Budapest School, a group of students who studied under the Marxist social theorist György Lukács. For both Marx and Heller (albeit in different ways) dissatisfaction emerges as the inevitable result of the expansion of need(s) within modernity and as a catalyst for the development of anthropological wealth (what Marx refers to as the 'human being rich in need'). Ward argues that dissatisfaction and the corresponding category of human wealth–as both motif and method–is central to grasping Heller’s seemingly disparate writings. While Marx postulates a radical overcoming of dissatisfaction, Heller argues dissatisfaction is integral not only to the on-going survival of modernity but also to the dynamics of both freedom and individual life. In this way Heller’s work remains committed to a position that both continually returns and departs, is both with and against, the philosophy of Marx. This book will be of interest to scholars of political philosophy, social theory, critical theory, and sociology.
Download or read book Marxism s Ethical Thinkers written by L. Wilde and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-01-20 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Marxism's uneasy relationship with ethics a small number of prominent theorists considered it imperative to highlight the moral principles implicit in Marx's social theory and to develop these ethics in the light of changing conditions. They developed a humanistic Marxism in stark contrast to the crude 'end justifies the means' approach of Stalinism. This collection brings together analyses by leading scholars on those thinkers who made significant contributions to ethical thinking within the Marxist tradition - Kautsky, Bloch, Fromm, Marcuse, Lefebvre, Macpherson and Heller.
Download or read book Eurocentrism a marxian critical realist critique written by Nick Hostettler and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The political and social structures of modernity are dominated by really eurocentric forms and relations, yet the theorisation of the eurocentricity of modernity remains barely developed. At the same time, modern political and social theory is fundamentally eurocentric, yet the critique of eurocentrism remains marginal to marxian and critical realist theory. Addressing the eurocentrism of both modernity and modern theory, Eurocentrism: A Marxian Critical Realist Critique discloses the deeply embedded constraints it imposes on historical and social reflexivity. Building on the insights of post-structuralism and post-colonialism, Eurocentrism shows how the powerful anti-eurocentric tendencies of the marxian critique of civil society and the critical realist critique of philosophy have been misunderstood or ignored. It develops the latent potential of these traditions to develop a systematically anti-eurocentric approach to understanding and explaining modernity.
Download or read book Ideologies and the Corruption of Thought written by Joseph Gabel and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirty-five years ago Joseph Gabel pubÂlished a modern masterpiece, which in 1975 appeared in English as False ConÂsciousness: An Essay on Reificalion . Combining his special knowledge of existential psychiatry, axiology, MarxÂism, and political history, Gabel proÂposed the utterly novel idea that victims of serious mental disturbances (espeÂcially paranoia and schizophrenia) reÂproduce those distorted thought patÂterns commonly associated with ideoÂlogical beliefs at the collective level. Such beliefs initially had been laid bare in the 1920s by Gabel's intellectual progenitors, Karl Mannheim and George Lukacs. Gabel's remarkable innovation was to transfer the private crisis of mental collapse into the analytic frameÂwork previously reserved for ideological critique, making him an expert on what was later called "the micro-macro probÂlem." Ideologies and the Corruption of Thought includes Gabel's essays over the last 40 years, characteristically treating micro and macro theoretical matters simultaneously. Originally writÂten in French and German, they have been recast in idiomatic English and bibliographically updated. Using a unique mode and vocabulary of analyÂsis, Gabel offers theoretical investigaÂtions of McCarthyism and Stalinism (original and more recent types), as well as Althusser, Orwell, and Jonathan Swift in his capacity as a psychiatric theorist. He also explores anti-Zionism, anti-Semitism, and a fascinating case study of a paranoid who regarded himÂself as the pope. In addition this volume includes a range of general commentarÂies on ideological "thought," utopianism, and false consciousness. This rich feast of social and political analysis and theory illuminates a range of contemporary concernsâracism, Utopian fantasy, ethnocentrism, anti-Semitism, the interplay of social strucÂture and mental illness, and ideological transformations of social lifeâwhich only Gabel's unique mixture of the cliniÂcal and the political could achieve. It will be studied with interest by all theoÂrists and politically alert readers in the social sciences, philosophy, and related fields of study.
Download or read book Critical Theories and the Budapest School written by John Rundell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-06 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical Theories and the Budapest School brings together new perspectives on the Budapest School in the context of contemporary developments in critical theory. Engaging with the work of the prominent group of figures associated with Georg Lukács, this book sheds new light on the unique and nuanced critiques of modernity offered by this school, informed as its members’ insights have been by first-hand experiences of Nazism, Soviet-type societies, and the liberal-democratic West. With studies of topics central to contemporary critical theory, such as the political and historical consciousness of modernity, the importance of bio-politics, the complexity of the human condition, and the relevance of comedy and friendship to developing critical perspectives, the authors draw on the works of Ágnes Heller, Maria Márkus, György Márkus, and Ferenc Fehér, demonstrating their enduring relevance to critical theory today and the ways in which these philosophers can inform new perspectives on culture and politics. An innovative reassessment of the Budapest School and the importance of its legacy, this book opens a much-needed and neglected dialogue with other schools and traditions of critical theorizing that will be of interest to scholars of sociology, philosophy, and social theory.
Download or read book Worlds of Difference written by Peter Pericles Trifonas and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-12-22 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The varying interests of competing minority groups often part company with regard to how to achieve an equitable community. Worlds of Difference rethinks the traditional interpretation of the principle of educational equity in light of this difficulty. Theorists and educational practitioners influenced by many disparate schools of thought reflect upon the possibilities of a "curriculum of difference" in relation to questions of language, culture, and media at the forefront of global education issues today. Collectively, the authors argue that education in theory and practice must reawaken an ethical consciousness that affirms the negative values of difference, but still recognizes the uniqueness and particularity of each group.
Download or read book The Revival of Political Imagination written by Teppo Eskelinen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-07-23 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Revival of Political Imagination offers a unique examination of the methodological aspects of utopia. Discussing utopia as a tool for social criticism, method and imaginative spaces - rather than in terms of its content - this volume analyses the function of utopias, to develop utopias as methodology and to show how instrumental utopian modes of thought can be in such diverse fields such as education, labour, and housing. Including discussions of traditional and contemporary utopias, as well as various forms of expression of utopian hope, from literature to social science and cultural practices, The Revival of Political Imagination is both analytical and practical in its elucidation of how political theory can function to foster our imaginative skills.
Download or read book The Adventures of Transcendental Philosophy written by Eduardo Mendieta and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2002-07-23 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Karl-Otto Apel is one of the most important German philosophers of the 20th century, and is finally coming to be recognized as such. However, his work is still poorly understood and inadequately treated throughout most of the world. In The Adventures of Transcendental Philosophy, critical theory scholar Eduardo Mendieta examines the philosophical origins of discourse ethics through the prism of Apel's thought. Mendieta finds that Apel fundamentally transformed German philosophy, which had become stagnant in the years before World War II, and deeply influenced later thinkers such as JYrgen Habermas. Apel's turn toward pragmatism and analytic philosophy helped him bring the concept of a linguistic paradigm shift to Germany.
Download or read book Marxism the Millennium and Beyond written by M. Cowling and published by Springer. This book was released on 2000-10-31 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection investigates the "state of play" in studies informed by Marxism. Among other contributions, it includes an essay on state theory by Bob Jessop, a discussion of fundamental socialist values using analytical Marxism by Alan Carling.
Download or read book Agnes Heller written by Simon Tormey and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thorough examination of Agnes Heller's political thought covers a range of subjects, from Marxian anthropology, through aesthetics, the philosophy of history, ethical socialism, postmodernism, and the political forms of the modern state. Simon Tormey treats Heller's work historically and thematically, placing it in a postmodern, 21st-century context.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Social Theory written by George Ritzer and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2004-08-11 with total page 1053 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Click ′Additional Materials′ for downloadable samples The Encyclopedia of Social Theory is an indispensable reference source for anyone interested in the roots of contemporary social theory. It examines the global landscape of all the key theories and the theorists behind them, presenting them in the context needed to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Theories covered include • Critical Theory • Enlightenment • Ethnomethodology • Exchange Theory • Feminism • Marxist Theory • Multiculturalism • Phenomenology • Postmodernism • Rational Choice • Structural Fundamentalism Led by internationally renowned scholar George Ritzer, the Encyclopedia of Social Theory draws together a team of more than 200 international scholars covering the developments, achievements, and prospects of social theory from its inception in the 18th century to the present. Understanding that social theory can both explain and alter the social world, this two-volume set serves as not only a foundation for learning, but also an inspiration for creative and reflexive engagement with the rich range of ideas it contains. Key Themes • American Social Theory • British Social Theory • Comparative and Historical Theory • Cultural Theory • Economic Sociology • Feminist Theory • French Social Theory • German Social Theory • Macrosociological Theories • Marxist and Neo-Marxist Approaches • Method and Metatheory • Network and Exchange Theories • Other/Multiple National Traditions • Politics and Government • Postmodern Theory • Psychoanalytic Theory • Schools and Theoretical Approaches • Symbolic Interaction and Microsociology • Theorists • Topics and Concepts in Social Theory Key Features • More than 300 entries from fourteen countries • Master Bibliography • Reader′s Guide • Extensive biographical coverage of major theorists • Extensive cross-referencing
Download or read book Poststructuralism Marxism and Neoliberalism written by Michael A. Peters and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2001-10-23 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This introduction to the politics of poststructuralism focuses on two interrelated themes: the culture of Western Marxism and contemporary neoliberal capitalism. Poststructuralism is not a form of anti-Marxism, Peters argues; indeed, poststructural philosophers view themselves in some kind of relationship to the legacy of Marx. Either they have been Marxist or still view themselves as Marxist. In a post-Marxist era they have invented new ways of reading and writing Marx. Peters critically engages neoliberalism, an ideology that is committed to the revitalization of homo economicus and neoclassical economics. This book is a deconstruction of neoliberalism, considered as a world-historical political project aimed at a form of globalisation.
Download or read book Max Weber written by Alan Sica and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most profound and enduring social theorist of sociology's classical period, Max Weber speaks as cogently to concerns of the new century as he did to those of the past. In Max Weber and the New Century, Alan Sica demonstrated Weber's preeminent position and lasting vitality within social theory by applying his ideas to a broad range of topics of contemporary concern. Max Weber: A Comprehensive Bibliography is a companion volume that offers some 4,600 bibliographic listings of work on Weber, making it the most complete guide to the literature in English and a testament to the continued vitality of Weber's thought. Sica's work supersedes all previous bibliographical efforts covering the Weber literature, both in the quantity and accuracy of its references, and the clarity and convenience of its format. In order to demonstrate the enormous variety of Weberiana in English, Sica has adopted a liberal criterion for inclusion, rather than a critical one, choosing to mix the best with what may be more routine work. Following a preface in which previous bibliographies and bibliographic problems are discussed, the volume opens with a series of five specialized bibliographies. The first lists Weber's works in English translation. The second lists reviews of Weber's major works including those translated into English, while the third covers reviews of recent books and other work on Weber. The fourth section contains a selection of dissertations and theses relating to Weber or his ideas. The fifth includes primary and secondary sources treating Weber on rationality and rationalization processes. The last and largest section offers a comprehensive Weber bibliography of works in English. This large-scale endeavor attempts to identify with accuracy and completeness the entire universe of Weber scholarship in English. It will be an essential scholarly tool for sociologists, historians, economists, and students of cultural and intellectual history.
Download or read book The Devil in History written by Vladimir Tismaneanu and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2014-03-14 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Devil in History is a provocative analysis of the relationship between communism and fascism. Reflecting the author’s personal experiences within communist totalitarianism, this is a book about political passions, radicalism, utopian ideals, and their catastrophic consequences in the twentieth century’s experiments in social engineering. Vladimir Tismaneanu brilliantly compares communism and fascism as competing, sometimes overlapping, and occasionally strikingly similar systems of political totalitarianism. He examines the inherent ideological appeal of these radical, revolutionary political movements, the visions of salvation and revolution they pursued, the value and types of charisma of leaders within these political movements, the place of violence within these systems, and their legacies in contemporary politics. The author discusses thinkers who have shaped contemporary understanding of totalitarian movements—people such as Hannah Arendt, Raymond Aron, Isaiah Berlin, Albert Camus, François Furet, Tony Judt, Ian Kershaw, Leszek Kolakowski, Richard Pipes, and Robert C. Tucker. As much a theoretical analysis of the practical philosophies of Marxism-Leninism and Fascism as it is a political biography of particular figures, this book deals with the incarnation of diabolically nihilistic principles of human subjugation and conditioning in the name of presumably pure and purifying goals. Ultimately, the author claims that no ideological commitment, no matter how absorbing, should ever prevail over the sanctity of human life. He comes to the conclusion that no party, movement, or leader holds the right to dictate to the followers to renounce their critical faculties and to embrace a pseudo-miraculous, a mystically self-centered, delusional vision of mandatory happiness.
Download or read book The Routledge Dictionary of Twentieth Century Political Thinkers written by Robert Benewick and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-09-11 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edtion has been revised and extended to include eleven new entries on Berlin, Chomsky, Derrida, Rorty and many others. Comprising 169 entries, it also includes non-Western political thinkers.
Download or read book 1993 written by Patt Leonard and published by M.E. Sharpe. This book was released on 1996 with total page 662 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, and selected government publications on East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union published in the United States and Canada
