Theory does not exist : comparative ancient and modern explorations in psychoanalysis, deconstruction, and rhetoric / Paul Allen Miller.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miller, Paul Allen, 1959- author.

Series:

Anthem symplokē studies in theory ; Volume 1.

Anthem symploke Studies in Theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Critical theory.

Philosophy.

Psychoanalysis.

Deconstruction.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxviii, 185 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Anthem Press, 2024.

Summary:

<i>Theory Does Not Exist: Comparative Ancient and Modern Explorations in Psychoanalysis, Deconstruction, and Rhetoric</i> is a collection of essays that makes a strong case for a comparative approach to what we term 'theory' today. It argues that our disciplinary boundaries create artificial divisions between philosophy, rhetoric, and literature, which historically would not have been recognized and which have come to function as conceptual straitjackets. These essays contend that a concerted engagement with the crucial texts in these debates over the last 2500 years not only offers a better understanding of the issues involved but also provides the necessary political, ethical, and existential tools for fashioning a better and more inclusive life. <i>Theory Does Not Exist</i> offers a full-throated defense of the humanities and crucial counterarguments against the reduction of education to the vocational and the operational.

Contents:

Cover

Praise

Halftitle Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication Page

Contents

Acknowledgments

Theory Does Not Exist: an Introduction

Chapter 1 Debits and Credits or Accounting for My Life: A Defense of Reading and Humanistic Education

Chapter 2 The Trouble with Theory: A Comparatist Manifesto

Chapter 3 Placing the Self in the Field of Truth: Irony and Self-Fashioning in Ancient and Postmodern Rhetorical Theory

Chapter 4 Rhetoric and Deconstruction: Plato, the Sophists, and Philosophy

Chapter 5 The Platonic Remainder: Derrida's Khôra and the Corpus Platonicum

Chapter 6 Cicero Reads Derrida Reading Cicero: A Politics and a Friendship to Come

Chapter 7 On Borders, Race, and Infinite Hospitality: Foucault, Derrida, and Camus

Chapter 8 Sartre, Politics, and Psychoanalysis: It Don't Mean a Thing If It Aint Got Das Ding

Chapter 9 Enjoyment beyond the Pleasure Principle: Antigone, Julian of Norwich, and the Use of Pleasures

Chapter 10 Lacan le con: Luce Tells Jacques Off

Chapter 11 The Repeatable and the Unrepeatable: Žižek and the Future of the Humanities, or Assessing Socrates

Chapter 12 Theory Does Not Exist

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 13 Jun 2025).

ISBN:

9781839990878

1839990872

9781839990861

1839990864

OCLC:

1430659997