Herder : aesthetics against imperialism / John K. Noyes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Noyes, John K. (John Kenneth), 1955- author.

Series:

German and European studies.

German and European Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Herder, Johann Gottfried, 1744-1803--Aesthetics.

Herder, Johann Gottfried.

Aesthetics, German--18th century.

Aesthetics, German.

Philosophy, German--18th century.

Philosophy, German.

Imperialism.

Enlightenment.

Tyskland.

Local Subjects:

Tyskland.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (417 p.)

Place of Publication:

Toronto, [Ontario] ; Buffalo, [New York] ; London, [England] : University of Toronto Press, 2015.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Among his generation of intellectuals, the eighteenth-century German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder is recognized both for his innovative philosophy of language and history and for his passionate criticism of racism, colonialism, and imperialism. A student of Immanuel Kant, Herder challenged the idea that anyone - even the philosophers of the Enlightenment - could have a monopoly on truth.In Herder: Aesthetics against Imperialism, John K. Noyes plumbs the connections between Herder's anti-imperialism, often acknowledged but rarely explored in depth, and his epistemological investigations. Noyes argues that Herder's anti-rationalist epistemology, his rejection of universal conceptions of truth, knowledge, and justice, constitutes the first attempt to establish not just a moral but an epistemological foundation for anti-imperialism. Engaging with the work of postcolonial theorists such Dipesh Chakrabarty and Gayatri Spivak, this book is a valuable reassessment of Enlightenment anti-imperialism that demonstrates Herder's continuing relevance to postcolonial studies today.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Postcolonial Theory and Herder's Anti-Imperialism

1. From Epistemology to Aesthetics

2. From Organic Life to the Politics of Interpretation

3. From Human Restlessness to the Politics of Difference

4. From the Location of Language to the Multiplicity of Reason

5. From Human Diversity to the Politics of Natural Development

6. The Aesthetics of Revolution and the Critique of Imperialism

Conclusion: Herder, Postcolonialism, and the Antinomy of Universal Reason

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4426-2298-9

1-4426-2297-0

OCLC:

939273523