Figure of this world : Agamben and the question of political ontology / Matthew Abbott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Abbott, Matthew.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Agamben, Giorgio, 1942---Criticism and interpretation.

Agamben, Giorgio.

Agamben, Giorgio, 1942-.

Philosophy, Italian--20th century.

Philosophy, Italian.

Political science--Philosophy.

Political science.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

viii, 220 pages ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Agamben and the question of political ontology

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2014.

Summary:

A fundamental re-reading of Agamben that defends and develops his philosophy as post-Heideggerian political ontology, Mathew Abbott argues that Agamben's thought is misunderstood when read in terms of critical theory or traditional political philosophy, and shows it should instead understood as engaging in political ontology: study of the political stakes of the question of being. Abbot demonstrates the crucial influence of Martin Heidegger on Agamben's work, locating it in the post-Heideggerian tradition of the critique of metaphysics. He also positions it in relation to the thought of Benjamin, Nietzsche, Levinas, Nancy, and Wittgenstein. As he clarifies Agamben's philosophy, links are made with Wittgenstein's picture theory and Heidegger's concept of the world-picture, showing the importance of this for understanding - and potentially overcoming - the forms of alienation characteristic of the society of the spectacle. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: the figure of this world

1. The question of political ontology

2. The poetic experience of the world

3. The myth of the earth

4. The unbearable

5. The creature before the law

6. The animal for which animality is an issue

7. Understanding the happy

8. The picture and its captives

9. The passing of the figure of this world.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-213) and index.

ISBN:

0748684093

9780748684090

OCLC:

850856343