"Introducing Rousseau" presents a maverick thinker whose ideas revolutionised our understanding of childhood, education, government, language and much"Introducing Rousseau" presents a maverick thinker whose ideas revolutionised our understanding of childhood, education, government, language and much else. What is the value of civilisation? Rousseau first posed this question. His answer - that civilisation corrupts natural goodness and increases inequality between humans - shocked his Enlightenment contemporaries and still challenges us today. Did Rousseau inspire the French Revolution? Can we trace Romanticism, psychoanalysis and Existentialism back to him? This great introduction charts Rousseau's turbulent life of lost innocence, persecution and paranoia.
About the Author Dave Robinson has taught philosophy for many years and has written Introducing guides to ethics, Rousseau, Kierkegaard, political philosophy and many others. He is now a lecturer in Critical Studies and lives in Devon. Oscar Zarate is one of the UK's leading graphic artists who has illustrated many Introducing titles. His graphic novel A Small Killing won the Will Eisner Prize. ...more
Martin Heidegger - philosophy's 'hidden king', or leading exponent of a dangerously misguided secular mysticism. Heidegger has been acclaimed as the mMartin Heidegger - philosophy's 'hidden king', or leading exponent of a dangerously misguided secular mysticism. Heidegger has been acclaimed as the most powerfully original philosopher of the twentieth century. Profoundly influential on deconstruction, existentialism and phenomenology, he stands behind all major strands of post-structuralist and postmodern thought. Heidegger announced the end of philosophy and of humanism, and was a committed Nazi and vocal supporter of Hitler's National Socialism. Was Heidegger offering a deeply conservative mythology or a crucial deconstruction of philosophy as we have known it? "Introducing Heidegger" provides an accessible introduction to his notoriously abstruse thinking, mapping out its historical contexts and exploring its resonances in ecology, theology, art, architecture, literature and other fields. The book opens up an encounter with a kind of thinking whose outlines might still not yet be clear, and whose forms might still surprise us. ...more
INTRODUCING guide to the hugely influential German thinker. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is one of the greatest thinkers of all time. No other philosINTRODUCING guide to the hugely influential German thinker. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is one of the greatest thinkers of all time. No other philosopher has had such a profound impact on the ideas and political events of the 20th century. Hegel's influential writings on philosophy, politics, history and art are parts of a larger systematic whole. They are also among the most difficult in the entire literature of philosophy. Introducing Hegel guides us through a spectacular system of thought which aimed to make sense of history. The book also provides new perspectives on contemporary postmodern debates about 'metanarratives' (Lyotard) and the 'end of history' (Fukuyama). It is an ideal introduction to this crucial figure in the history of philosophy, and is indispensable for anyone trying to understand such key modern thinkers as Marx, Lacan, Satre and Adorno.
About the Author Lloyd Spencer is Senior Lecturer in the School of Media at Trinity and All Saints, a college of the University of Leeds. He has written Introducing the Enlightenment and a biographical study of Walter Benjamin. Andrzej Krauze is a cartoonist and illustrator whose work is published regularly in the Guardian, the New Statesman and the Sunday Telegraph. ...more
'Excellent clarity' - New Scientist 'A splendid job' - New Statesman
Jacques Lacan is now regarded as a major psychoanalytical theorist alongside Freud 'Excellent clarity' - New Scientist 'A splendid job' - New Statesman
Jacques Lacan is now regarded as a major psychoanalytical theorist alongside Freud and Jung, although recognition has been delayed by fierce arguments over his ideas. Written by a leading Lacanian analyst, "Introducing Lacan" guides the reader through his innovations, including his work on paranoia, his addition of structural linguistics to Freudianism and his ideas on the infant 'mirror phase'. It also traces Lacan's influence in postmodern critical thinking on art, literature, philosophy and feminism. This is the ideal introduction for anyone intrigued by Lacan's ideas but discouraged by the complexity of his writings. ...more