Boštjan Nedoh - Böcker

The essays in this collection revitalise political theology through the lens of psychoanalysis, unlocking its emancipatory potential and providing new ways to think about the political. They are united by a conviction that there is something in political theology worth fighting for. Banishing the misconception of political theology as reactionary or paradoxical, they push the discipline forward by drawing on the insights of psychoanalysis and a re-engagement with theology.While Sigmund Freud was at times dismissive of religion, he also used his inquiry into it to completely re-theorize the political in a way that this book’s team of leading scholars bring to the fore. Each chapter uses psychoanalysis as a point of departure for serious engagement with political theology, eliciting the radical potential at the nexus of the political and the theological. This powerfully productive approach unearths new strands of political theology and refreshing perspectives on established concepts like universality, ideology, law, authority, the neighbor. Covering ideas from libidinal politics to the political economy of laziness, Political Theology and its Discontents demonstrates that a deep and sincere engagement with theology can give us a new view of the political.

It is often said that Lacan is the most radical representative of structuralism, a thinker of negativity and alienation, whereas Deleuze is pictured as a great opponent of the structuralist project, a vitalist and a thinker of creative potentialities of desire. It seems the two cannot be further apart. This volume of 12 new essays breaks the myth of their foreignness (if not hostility) and places the two in a productive conversation. By taking on topics such as baroque, perversion, death drive, ontology/topology, face, linguistics and formalism the essays highlight key entry points for a discussion between Lacan's and Deleuze's respective thoughts. The proposed lines of investigation do not argue for a simple equation of their thoughts, but for a ‘disjunctive synthesis’, which acknowledges their differences, while insisting on their positive and mutually informed reading.

A reconfiguration of the reception of Deleuze and Lacan in contemporary Continental philosophyIt is often said that Lacan is the most radical representative of structuralism, a thinker of negativity and alienation, whereas Deleuze is pictured as a great opponent of the structuralist project, a vitalist and a thinker of creative potentialities of desire. It seems the two cannot be further apart. This volume of 12 new essays, breaks the myth of their foreignness (if not hostility) and places the two in a productive conversation. By taking on topics such as baroque, perversion, death drive, ontology/topology, face, linguistics and formalism the essays highlight key entry points for a discussion between Lacan's and Deleuze's respective thoughts. The proposed lines of investigation do not argue for a simple equation of their thoughts, but for a 'disjunctive synthesis', which acknowledges their differences, while insisting on their positive and mutually informed reading.ContributorsLorenzo Chiesa, European University at St Petersburg and the Freud Museum in St Petersburg, Russia. Guillaume Collett, University of Kent, UK.Adrian Johnston, University of New Mexico and Emory Psychoanalytic Institute in Atlanta, USA. Peter Klepec, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia. Paul M. Livingston, University of New Mexico, USA. Bostjan Nedoh, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia. Laurent de Sutter, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. Samo Tomsic, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. Tadej Troha, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia.Scott Wilson, Kingston University, UK. Andreja Zevnik, University of Manchester, UK. Alenka Zupancic, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia and European Graduate School, Switzerland.

When it comes to the question of objectivity in current philosophical debates, there is a growing prominence of two opposite approaches: nominalism and realism. By absolutising intersubjectivity, the nominalist approach is moving towards the abandonment of the very notion of truth and objective reality. For its part, the realist approach insists on the category of the object-in-itself as irreducible to any kind of subjective mediation. Despite their seeming mutual exclusiveness, both approaches share a fundamental presupposition, namely, that of a neat separation between the spheres of subjectivity and objectivity as well as between fiction and truth. This collection offers a rethinking of the relationship between objectivity and fiction through engaging with a series of 'objective fictions', including such topics as fetishes, semblances, lies, rumours, sophistry, fantasies and conspiracy theories. It does so through engagement with modern and contemporary philosophical traditions and psychoanalytic theory, with all of these orientations being irreducible to either nominalist or realist approaches.

Rethinks objectivity and fiction in contemporary philosophy, psychoanalysis and Marxism beyond the realism nominalism divideRethinks the concept of objectivity through its relation to fiction beyond their mere oppositionConceptualises 'objective fictions'Highlights a shared background underpinning realist and nominalist approaches to the relation between subjectivity and objectivityRevitalises modern/contemporary philosophical currents, psychoanalytic theory and the Marxist critique of political economy beyond the realism-nominalism divideIncludes contributions from a mix of renowned thinkers and from the new generation, including Slavoj i ek, Mladen Dolar, Frank Ruda and Samo Tom i?Relying on contemporary continental philosophy, psychoanalytic theory and the Marxist tradition, this volume moves beyond the deadlock between nominalism and realism. It rethinks the relationship between objectivity and fiction through engaging with a series of 'objective fictions', including fetishes, semblances, lies, rumours, sophistry, fantasies, and conspiracy theories, among other phenomena. What all these phenomena exhibit are paradoxical entanglements of subjectivity with objectivity and of fiction with truth.When it comes to questions of objectivity in current philosophical debates and public discourse, we are witnessing the re-emergence and growing importance of two classical, opposed approaches: nominalism and (metaphysical) realism. Today's nominalist stances, by absolutizing intersubjectivity, are moving towards the abandonment of the very notion of truth and objective reality. By contrast, today's realist positions, including those bound up with scientific discourse, insist on the category of the object-in-itself as irreducible to any kind of subjective mediation. However, despite their seeming mutual exclusivity, both approaches share fundamental presuppositions, namely, those of neat separations between the spheres of subjectivity and objectivity as well as between the realms of fiction and truth.