The postmodern predicament : existential challenges of the twenty-first century / Bruce Ackerman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ackerman, Bruce A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Existentialism.

Life.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Yale University Press 2024

New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, [2024]

Summary:

One of our most influential political theorists offers a boundary-breaking—and liberating—perspective on the meaning of life in the internet age Human beings have taken one thing for granted since our earliest days: we are bodily creatures dealing with one another on a face-to-face basis. The internet has shattered this fundamental feature of human existence. We are suddenly living our lives in two worlds at once—shifting endlessly from virtual to physical reality as we reach out to others. Worse yet, we are developing different personal identities in our two worlds. We say and do things in virtual reality that flatly contradict our face-to-face commitments to family, friends, and fellow-workers—and vice versa. The Postmodern Predicament explores these dilemmas at each phase of the life cycle, beginning at the moment a young child picks up a cell phone. The existentialist tradition of the twentieth century provides a precious perspective on our postmodern dilemmas. Thinkers and doers like Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre considered the fragmentation of modern life as a central source of contemporary anxieties. Like them, Ackerman views the challenges of the internet age as a political, no less than personal, problem—and proposes concrete reforms that that could mobilize broad-based support for democracy against demagogic assaults on its very foundations.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION An Existential Question

PART I MODERNITY

Chapter 1 THE PRIORITY OF THE PRESENT

Chapter 2 THE STRANGER

Chapter 3 CITIZEN V. CONSUMER

Chapter 4 DEMOCRACY V. PLUTOCRACY

Chapter 5 MEANINGFUL WORK

Chapter 6 BECOMING A PERSON

Chapter 7 POSTMODERN LIFE CYCLES

PART II MY BODY, MYSELF

Chapter 8 UNCERTAINTY

Chapter 9 WHERE AM I?

Chapter 10 RECONSTRUCTING EXISTENTIALISM

PART III FACING THE FUTURE

Chapter 11 CRITIQUE

Chapter 12 RECONSTRUCTION

APPENDIX Funding the Stakeholder Society

NOTES

INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Print version: Ackerman, Bruce A. Postmodern predicament.

ISBN:

9780300277098

0300277091