Madness and death in philosophy / Ferit Guven.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Güven, Ferit, 1966-

Series:

SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy.

SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Death--History.

Death.

Insanity (Law)--History.

Insanity (Law).

Philosophy--History.

Philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (233 p.)

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Ferit Güven illuminates the historically constitutive roles of madness and death in philosophy by examining them in the light of contemporary discussions of the intersection of power and knowledge and ethical relations with the other. Historically, as Güven shows, philosophical treatments of madness and death have limited or subdued their disruptive quality. Madness and death are linked to the question of how to conceptualize the unthinkable, but Güven illustrates how this conceptualization results in a reduction to positivity of the very radical negativity these moments represent. Tracing this problematic through Plato, Hegel, Heidegger, and, finally, in the debate on madness between Foucault and Derrida, Güven gestures toward a nonreducible, disruptive form of negativity, articulated in Heidegger's critique of Hegel and Foucault's engagement with Derrida, that might allow for the preservation of real otherness and open the possibility of a true ethics of difference.

Contents:

Plato : death and madness in the Phaedo and Phaedrus

Hegel : the madness of the soul and the death of spirit

Heidegger : death as negativity

Heidegger : madness, negativity, truth, and history

Foucault : the history of madness

Conclusion : madness is not a thing of the past.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-210) and index.

ISBN:

9780791483565

0791483568

9781423743965

1423743962

OCLC:

461441961