Lived Topographies

Gary Backhaus teaches philosophy at Morgan State University. John Murungi is professor of philosophy and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Towson University.

These essays, in investigation of the vitality embedded in lived space, are a must read for all those interested in the phenomenology of embodiment. If the body in the world inhabits zones of sacredness, deadness, memory, violence, political contestation, oppression and technological oversight, we need to find principles that this book seeks of care and cultivation that can be located in the spaces we share. Time, empathy, vision, language, love, community and other core phenomena of being human are kinetic experiences and not to be found primarily "within," but must be blazed topographically.

• Chapter 1 IntroductionPart 2 Section I: Narrative or Semiotic MediationChapter 3 Exploration in Dead Space: The East End of London, EnglandChapter 4 "The Whole Land is Sacred"-Story and the Navajo Sense of PlaceChapter 5 Terra Incognita/Terra Nullius: Modern Imperialism, Maps, and DeceptionChapter 6 Land Makes the Man: Topography and National Character in German SchoolbooksPart 7 Section II: Technological MediationChapter 8 Totalitarian Topographies: Ground Zero of Embargo ZonesChapter 9 Between Battlefield and Battlescape: Info-Age Technology and the Topography of WarChapter 10 Daniel Libeskind: From the End of Architecture to the Space of MemoryPart 11 Section III: Mediation by SurveillanceChapter 12 Utilitarian Topographies of the Public Sphere: State Surveillance and the Case for Public AnonymityChapter 13 Categorial Imperatives for Future Slaves: Some Topographical Axioms of Deontology