Outsider theory : intellectual histories of unorthodox ideas / Jonathan P. Eburne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eburne, Jonathan P. (Jonathan Paul), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Facts (Philosophy).

Intellectual life--21st century.

Intellectual life.

Philosophy, Modern--21st century.

Philosophy, Modern.

Intellectual life--20th century.

Philosophy, Modern--20th century.

Errors.

Common fallacies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis, MN : University of Minnesota Press, [2018]

Summary:

A vital and timely reminder that modern life owes as much to outlandish thinking as to dominant ideologies What do the Nag Hammadi library, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code , speculative feminist historiography, Marcus Garvey's finances, and maps drawn by asylum patients have in common? Jonathan P. Eburne explores this question as never before in Outsider Theory , a timely book about outlandish ideas. Eburne brings readers on an adventure in intellectual history that stresses the urgency of taking seriously--especially in an era of fake news--ideas that might otherwise be discarded or regarded as errant, unfashionable, or even unreasonable. Examining the role of such thinking in contemporary intellectual history, Eburne challenges the categorical demarcation of good ideas from flawed, wild, or bad ones, addressing the surprising extent to which speculative inquiry extends beyond the work of professional intellectuals to include that of nonprofessionals as well, whether amateurs, unfashionable observers, or the clinically insane. Considering the work of a variety of such figures--from popular occult writers and gnostics to so-called outsider artists and pseudoscientists--Eburne argues that an understanding of its circulation and recirculation is indispensable to the history of ideas. He devotes close attention to ideas and texts usually omitted from or marginalized within orthodox histories of literary modernism, critical theory, and continental philosophy, yet which have long garnered the critical attention of specialists in religion, science studies, critical race theory, and the history of the occult. In doing so he not only sheds new light on a fascinating body of creative thought but also proposes new approaches for situating contemporary humanities scholarship within the history of ideas. However important it might be to protect ourselves from "bad" ideas, Outsider Theory shows how crucial it is for us to know how and why such ideas have left their impression on modern-day thinking and continue to shape its evolution.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface: Enemies of the Truth

Introduction

PART I. ALIEN GODS

1. The Alien Knowledge of Nag Hammadi

2. Gnostic Materialism

PART II. MYTHOMORPHOSES

3. So Dark, the Con of Man

4. The Chalice, the Blade, and the Bifurcation Point

PART III. SOVEREIGN INSTITUTIONS

5. Garveyism and Its Involutions

6. The Sade Industry

PART IV. PRODUCTS OF MIND

7. Cartographorrhea: On Psychotic Maps

8. Communities of Suspicion: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Laws of Science

Coda: Thought from Outer Space

Notes

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4529-5824-6

OCLC:

1043954806