Marking time : on the anthropology of the contemporary / Paul Rabinow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rabinow, Paul.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anthropology--Philosophy.

Anthropology.

Contemporary, The.

Physical Description:

xiv, 149 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2008]

Summary:

In "Marking Time," Paul Rabinow presents his most recent reflections on the anthropology of the contemporary. Drawing richly on the work of Michel Foucault, John Dewey, Niklas Luhmann, and, most interestingly, German painter Gerhard Richter, Rabinow offers a set of conceptual tools for scholars examining cutting-edge practices in the life sciences, security, new media and art practices, and other emergent phenomena. Taking up topics that include bioethics, anger and competition among molecular biologists, the lessons of the "Drosophila" genome, the nature of ethnographic observation in radically new settings, and the moral landscape shared by scientists and anthropologists, Rabinow shows how anthropology remains relevant to contemporary debates. By turning abstract philosophical problems into real-world explorations and offering original insights, "Marking Time" is a landmark contribution to the continuing re-invention of anthropology and the human sciences.

Contents:

On the Anthropology of the Contemporary 1

Inquiry 6

Elements 7

The Legitimacy of the Contemporary

2000: Drosophila Lessons 14

The Future of Human Nature 20

Bio-ethics: The Question Concerning Humanism 22

Nature 25

Security, Danger, Risk 16

Contemporary Formations 28

Adjacency

Timing 35

Situating: Tolerance and Benevolence 36

Telos: A Zone of Discomfort 44

Untimely Work 48

Observation

Bildung 54

Observing the Future 57

Responsibility to Ignorance 60

Observing Observers Observing 62

Observing First-order Observers 64

Chronicling Observation 66

Original History 67

Writing Things: Deictic Not Epideictic 69

Vehement Contemporaries

Rugged Terrain 78

Elements of a Contemporary Moral Landscape 80

Genomics as Ethical Terrain 81

Agon in the Genomic Terrain 84

Thumos: Appropriate Anger 90

Vehement Contemporaries 98

Marking Time: Gerhard Richter

Contemporary Modern 101

Biotechnical Forms 103

Richter: Double Negations 106

Art Critics and Others 106

Our Contemporary 108

Nature 109

Photography 112

Marking Time 116

Abstract Images 119

Remediation 122

Objects 124

Remedation 127.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [141]-145) and index.

ISBN:

9780691133621

069113362X

9780691133638

0691133638

OCLC:

85485213

Online:

Publisher description

Contributor biographical information