Synopses & Reviews
In this enlightening new
Very Short Introduction, Simon Critchley shows us that Continental philosophy encompasses a distinct set of philosophical traditions and practices, with a compelling range of problems all too often ignored by the analytic tradition. He discusses the ideas and approaches of philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Habermas, Foucault, and Derrida. He also introduces key concepts such as existentialism, nihilism, and phenomonology, by explaining their place in the Continental tradition.
The perfect guide for anyone interested in the great philosophers, this volume explains in lucid, straightforward language the split between Continental and Anglo-American philosophy and the importance of acknowledging Continental philosophy.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
About the Author
Simon Critchley is Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research, USA. He also teaches at Tilburg University and the European Graduate School. His many books include
Very Little... Almost Nothing, Infinitely Demanding, The Book of Dead Philosophers, The Faith of the Faithless, and, most recently with Tom McCarthy,
The Mattering of Matter:
Documents from the Archive of the International Necronautical Society. A new work on Hamlet called
Stay, Illusion! was published in 2013 by Pantheon Books, co-authored with Jamieson Webster. Simon is the series moderator of 'The Stone', a philosophy column in The New York Times, to which he is a frequent contributor.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Introduction
1. The gap between knowledge and wisdom
2. Origins of Continental Philosophy - How to get from Kant to German Idealism
3. Two Cultures in Philosophy - the need for both spectacles and eyes to see with
4. Can philosophy change the world? Critique, praxis, emancipation
5. What is to be done? How to respond to nihilism
6. A case study in misunderstanding: Heidegger and Carnap
7. Scientism versus obscurantism: avoiding the traditional predicament in philosophy
8. Sapere aude - the exhaustion of theory and the promise of philosophy
Further Reading
References
Index