Critical Environments: Postmodern Theory and the Pragmatics of the "Outside" (Theory Out of Bounds Series, Band 13) - Softcover

Wolfe, Cary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0816630194 ISBN 13: 9780816630196

Verlag: University of Minnesota Press, 1998

Inhaltsangabe

Argues for a pragmatist orientation for postmodern theory.

Taking up the problem that has stalled contemporary theory-its treatment of the object of knowledge, the "outside," as nothing but what a particular discourse makes of it-this book suggests a solution: a reinvigorated, posthumanist form of pragmatism.

Author Cary Wolfe investigates three of the most significant strains of postmodern theory (pragmatism, systems theory, and poststructuralism) and shows how each confronts the specter of an "outside" not wholly constituted by discourses, language games, and interpretive communities. He then assesses these confrontations in light of an essentially pragmatic view of theory, one that constantly asks what practical and material difference it makes, and to whom, how these issues are negotiated. Wolfe concludes by comparing the pragmatist view of the relation of theory to politics with important work in contemporary post-Marxism. In arguing for a pragmatist orientation for postmodern theory, Wolfe deploys continental critical theory to avoid the nativism and "American exceptionalism" that has traditionally accompanied pragmatist philosophy.

Unique in its collation of major theorists rarely considered together, Critical Environments incorporates detailed discussions of the work of Richard Rorty, Walter Benn Michaels, Stanley Cavell, Humberto Maturana, Francisco Varela, Niklas Luhmann, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Fredric Jameson, and others, and ranges across fields from feminist philosophy of science to the theory of ideology. Wolfe draws on recent work in systems theory to articulate a properly postmodern pragmatism. In doing so, he offers American readers a detailed introduction to systems theory, which he situates and critiques in the broader context of philosophical pragmatism, the theory of democratic social antagonism, and materialist theories of ideology, knowledge, and power. An answer to the widespread charge of relativism leveled against postmodern theory, his work will enhance and inspire new kinds of critical thought.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Cary Wolfe is associate professor of English, American studies, and cultural studies at Indiana University.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: University of Minnesota Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1998
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0816630194
• ISBN 13: 9780816630196
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 208
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Mare Nostrum Group B.V.; gpsr@mare-nostrum.co.uk; ; Doelen 72; Breda; 4831 GR; Niederlande