War and social theory : world, value and identity / Neal Curtis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Curtis, Neal.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War (Philosophy).

Sociology--Philosophy.

Sociology.

Physical Description:

xv, 210 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

Summary:

Neal Curtis argues that wars, as interpretive-intensive activities, are about preserving and extending a sense of worldhood. This means that while the techniques and logistics of warfare are addressed, the main concern is the metaphysics or ontology of war - the organization of good and evil, order and chaos, self and other, human and inhuman, subject and object, identity and difference, life and death. These tensions are central to the grammar of warfare and central to the making and preserving of worlds. The book offers eight studies of war from within sociology, philosophy and psychoanalytic frameworks, seeking to offer a full account of the theoretical positions being addressed by, among others, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Marcuse, Freud, Butler, Virilio, Scarry, Bataille, Schmitt, Hardt and Negri and to identify those components that contribute to an ontology of war. At a time when the 'war against terror' is used to legitimize the extension of a very specific set of values across the globe, such an exploration is timely and necessary.

Contents:

1 Power and Polemos 1

2 Life and Death 23

3 Master and Slave 45

4 Community and Sacrifice 67

5 Injuring and Mourning 89

6 Friend and Enemy 111

7 Media and Machine 133

8 Economy and Empire 156.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-205) and index.

ISBN:

1403933715

OCLC:

60835672

Publisher Number:

9781403933713 (hbk.)