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.

• PrefaceAcknowledgements Introduction 1. TheMeaning of MeaningFraming a theory of meaningMagmaSignification and languageSignification and the first natural stratumThe radical imaginaryMeaningSocial imaginary significations The unsayableQualitative distinctionsConclusion2. The SelfIntroductionA brief discussion about the wordTime and narrativeEmbodimentSocial orientationWebs of interlocutionSubject-referring propertiesCorporeal limitationsSeeking the no-selfOther than goodKnowing and doingConclusion3. The SubjectIntroductionFor-itselfLiving-beingThe psycheThe social individualAutonomyExcursus on realityConclusion4. TowardsModernityThe social-historicalModernityConclusion5. AutonomyIntroductionMapping autonomyCapitalismand autonomyRelativizing autonomyConclusion6. Reformulating the Project of AutonomyReligion and autonomyCultural creativityCreating meaningAutonomy and meaningTheory of actionPower and autonomyConclusionBibliographyIndex