Meaning, Subjectivity, Society

Making Sense of Modernity
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-90-04-18172-4
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 22, 266 Seiten, Format (B × H): 165 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 612 g

Reihe: International Comparative Social Studies

This book grapples with questions at the core of philosophy and social theory – Who am I? Who are we? How are we to live? That is, questions of what humans are capable of, the ‘nature’ of our relationships to each other and to the world around us, and how we should live. They appear to be both prohibitive and seductive – that they are ultimately irresolvable makes it tempting to leave them alone, yet we cannot do that either. This interdisciplinary investigation proceeds primarily as a dialogue with Cornelius Castoriadis and Charles Taylor.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Smith, Karl E

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophische Anthropologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. TheMeaning of Meaning
Framing a theory of meaning
Magma
Signification and language
Signification and the first natural stratum
The radical imaginary
Meaning
Social imaginary significations
The unsayable
Qualitative distinctions
Conclusion

2. The Self
Introduction
A brief discussion about the word
Time and narrative
Embodiment
Social orientation
Webs of interlocution
Subject-referring properties
Corporeal limitations
Seeking the no-self
Other than good
Knowing and doing
Conclusion

3. The Subject
Introduction
For-itself
Living-being
The psyche
The social individual
Autonomy
Excursus on reality
Conclusion

4. TowardsModernity
The social-historical
Modernity
Conclusion

5. Autonomy
Introduction
Mapping autonomy
Capitalismand autonomy
Relativizing autonomy
Conclusion

6. Reformulating the Project of Autonomy
Religion and autonomy
Cultural creativity
Creating meaning
Autonomy and meaning
Theory of action
Power and autonomy
Conclusion

Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Karl E. Smith is Lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology at La Trobe University, where he completed his Ph.D. (2007). He has published articles on subjectivity, religion and modernity in Thesis Eleven and the European Journal of Social Theory.