Illusion and Fetishism in Critical Theory

A study of Nietzsche, Benjamin, Castoriadis and the Situationists
1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-1-032-55677-2
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 218 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 476 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought

Through the negative dialectics of Theodore Adorno, Illusion and Fetishism in Critical Theory offers an examination of Nietzsche, Benjamin, Castoriadis and the Situationists, who put the concept of illusion at the forefront of their philosophical thought.

Vasilis Grollios argues that these political philosophers, except Castoriadis, have up to now been wrongly considered by many scholars to be far from the line of thinking of negative dialectics, Critical Theory and the early Frankfurt School/Open Marxist tradition. He illustrates how these thinkers focused on the illusions of capitalism and attempted to show how capitalism, by its innate rationale, creates social forms that are presented as unavoidable and universal, yet are historically specific and of dubious sustainability.

Providing a unique overview of concepts including illusion, totality, fetishization, contradiction, identity thinking and dialectics, Grollios expertly reveals how their understanding of critique can help us open cracks in capitalism and radicalize democratic social practice today. Illusion and Fetishism in Critical Theory is a must read for scholars of political theory and political philosophy, critical theory, the Frankfurt School, sociology and democratic theory.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Grollios, Vasilis

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Westliche Philosophie: Transzendentalphilosophie, Kritizismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface Introduction 1.Alienation, Illusion, Fetishism and Non-Identity Thinking in Nietzsche’s Critical Theory 2. Negativity and Illusion in Walter Benjamin’s Dialectics 3.Cornelius Castoriadis’s Social Imaginary, Socialism and Autonomy Reconsidered. A Critical Theory Reading 4. Debunking the Illusions of the Spectacle Through Negative Dialectics. How the Open Marxism of the Situationists Cracks Capitalism

Über Autor(innen)

Vasilis Grollios holds a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, where he has taken all his degrees (B.A., M.A. in the history of philosophy and Ph.D.). He was a holder of a postdoctoral fellowship with the Greek Institute of Research and Technology. He has taught at various Greek universities and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of York, UK. Grollios is the author of Negativity and Democracy. Marxism and the Critical Theory Tradition (Routledge 2017) and has been published in academic journals such as Constellations, Critical Sociology and Philosophy and Social Criticism.