Fictive Theories : Towards a Deconstructive and Utopian Political Imagination / by S. McManus.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McManus, Susan.

Series:

Studies in European Culture and History, 2945-6282

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political science.

Political science--Philosophy.

Social sciences--Philosophy.

Social sciences.

Knowledge, Theory of.

World politics.

Political Theory.

Political Philosophy.

Social Philosophy.

Epistemology.

Political Science.

Political History.

Local Subjects:

Political Theory.

Political Philosophy.

Social Philosophy.

Epistemology.

Political Science.

Political History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (VII, 227 p.)

Edition:

1st ed. 2005.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan US : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Summary:

Fictive Theories is a significant and innovative intervention in key debates in political theory concerning the ways theory should be philosophically grounded, and the task that political theory should set itself. Susan McManus argues that political theory has been grounded in controlling fictions (from fictions of human nature, to morals laws) that function to close possibility. Starting by interrogating the often hidden work of fictions in political theories, she argues that all theorizing is a form of world-creating. Rather than hiding the fictions at work in political theory, McManus argues that theory should become self-consciously fictive, and that there are political and ethical advantages to so doing. She then develops a uniquely deconstructive and utopian understanding of the project of political theory grounded in the 'fictive': a creative and future-oriented imagination. Rather than seeking to provide blueprints of how a polity should be organized, fictive theories seek to fabricate futures through the anticipatory articulation of possibility. Drawing on a rich range of thinkers from the traditions of political theory (Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant), deconstructive theory (Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida) and utopian studies (Ernst Bloch), this book will be of interest to researchers, teachers and students in the fields of political theory, utopian studies, literary theory and cultural studies.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Politics of Fictive Theories: Reading/Writing/Theory

Part I Speculative Beginnings

Chapter One: Hobbes: Restraining Fictions

Chapter Two: Rousseau: Conceiving the Inconceivable

Excursus "Mere High-Flown Fantasy . . .?" (Kant on Holiday)

Part II Fictions of Self-Evidence

Chapter Three: Stirner (with Marx and Derrida): Neither Material nor Utopian?

Chapter Four: Epiphany and / or Politics? Nietzsche

I. Reading/Writing Nietzsche

II. Nihilism

and Beyond? Errors for Life

III. Nietzsche's Ressentiment? Or, What is Written on Zarathustra's Tablets?

Part III Fabricating the Future

Chapter Five: Bloch's Utopian Imagination: Fictive Theories

Toward a Conclusion: Fictive Theories and Creative Epistemologies of Possibility

Notes

Bibliography

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [171]-219) and index.

ISBN:

9786611367695

9781281367693

1281367699

9781403966681

1403966680

OCLC:

560030309