Matthew Sharpe – författare

Matthew Sharpe''s debut collection, Stories from the Tube, was praised in the Los Angeles Times Book Review for its "wildly effective-and often touching-collisions of the banal and the surreal." Wiredcalled it "unsettling, lovely, creepy"; Forbes FYI heralded it as a "remarkable fiction debut." In Nothing Is Terrible, his first novel, Sharpe astonishes once again with the hallucinatory and hilarious story of a girl''s unusual coming-of-age and her search for love in unlikely places. Her name is Mary White, though she prefers to be called Paul, the name of her ill-fated twin brother. Bright, pragmatic, irreverent, and orphaned, she is being raised by her clueless aunt and uncle and fears she may be about to drown in dull suburban torpor-until she falls in love with her new sixth-grade teacher, Miss Skip Hartman. Devoted teacher and pupil run off to live in New York City, where Mary receives a very unconventional education (art dealers, drug dealers, boyfriends, epic piercings) and discovers redemptive power in even the most unorthodox kind of love, all of which she relates in the most Brontëan gentle-reader tone. In Nothing Is Terrible, Matthew Sharpe takes the bildungsroman and turns it upside down and inside out. Like a breakneck sprint through a Manhattan house of mirrors, it offers readers a giddily literate tour of the resourceful mind of a singular young woman.From the Hardcover edition.

This book provides students and experts alike with a new kind of introduction to Slavoj Zizek's political theory. Going beyond recounting Zizek's positions on ideology, capitalism, Leninism, Stalinism, fascism, and related matters, it offers readers an argumentative reconstruction of Zizek's ideas which places his prolific output in critical dialogue with political philosophy, critical theory, and the history of ideas.But this reconstruction is also a cautionary tale. It argues that Zizek, since 1995, has turned away from the Lacanian and Hegelian insights that made his first works so ground-breaking. Instead, Zizek and Politics examines how he has come to embrace a much more bleak, neo-Hobbesian position whose political implications are profoundly ambivalent.Key Features*Surveys all of Zizek's works from 1989 to 2008, focusing on the way his ideas concerning politics have developed*Includes concise reconstructions of Zizek's key political and philosophical ideas including ideology, the subject, the symptom, the ideological fantasy and the superego*Brings Zizek's ideas into dialogue with other key political thinkers and traditions*Situates Zizek's ideas in terms of contemporary political debates about the nature of justice, democracy, law and violence*Makes a new argument about Zizek's politics, moving debates concerning his work on to new terrain and putting the manifold criticisms of Zizek's work on a new footing

This book provides students and experts alike with a new kind of introduction to Slavoj Zizek's political theory. Going beyond recounting Zizek's positions on ideology, capitalism, Leninism, Stalinism, fascism, and related matters, it offers readers an argumentative reconstruction of Zizek's ideas which places his prolific output in critical dialogue with political philosophy, critical theory, and the history of ideas.But this reconstruction is also a cautionary tale. It argues that Zizek, since 1995, has turned away from the Lacanian and Hegelian insights that made his first works so ground-breaking. Instead, Zizek and Politics examines how he has come to embrace a much more bleak, neo-Hobbesian position whose political implications are profoundly ambivalent.Key Features*Surveys all of Zizek's works from 1989 to 2008, focusing on the way his ideas concerning politics have developed*Includes concise reconstructions of Zizek's key political and philosophical ideas including ideology, the subject, the symptom, the ideological fantasy and the superego*Brings Zizek's ideas into dialogue with other key political thinkers and traditions*Situates Zizek's ideas in terms of contemporary political debates about the nature of justice, democracy, law and violence*Makes a new argument about Zizek's politics, moving debates concerning his work on to new terrain and putting the manifold criticisms of Zizek's work on a new footing

Slavoj Zizek has emerged as the pre-eminent European cultural theorist of the last decade and has been described as the ultimate Marxist/Lacanian cultural studies scholar. His large and growing body of work has generated considerable controversy, yet his texts are not structured as standard academic tomes. In Slavoj Zizek: A Little Piece of the Real, Matthew Sharpe undertakes the difficult task of drawing out an evolving argument from all of Zizek's texts from 1989 to 2001, and reads them as the bearers of a single theoretical project, providing an authoritative, reliable, clearly written and well-structured account of Zizek's demanding body of work. From an exposition of Zizek's social and philosophical critical theory the book moves to a critical analysis of Zizek's theoretical project and its political implications. Sharpe concludes by suggesting that Zizek's work, however, raises as many questions as it answers; questions both about Zizek's theoretical system and to the wider new Left in today's world.

Slavoj Zizek has emerged as the pre-eminent European cultural theorist of the last decade and has been described as the ultimate Marxist/Lacanian cultural studies scholar. His large and growing body of work has generated considerable controversy, yet his texts are not structured as standard academic tomes. In Slavoj Zizek: A Little Piece of the Real, Matthew Sharpe undertakes the difficult task of drawing out an evolving argument from all of Zizek's texts from 1989 to 2001, and reads them as the bearers of a single theoretical project, providing an authoritative, reliable, clearly written and well-structured account of Zizek's demanding body of work. From an exposition of Zizek's social and philosophical critical theory the book moves to a critical analysis of Zizek's theoretical project and its political implications. Sharpe concludes by suggesting that Zizek's work, however, raises as many questions as it answers; questions both about Zizek's theoretical system and to the wider new Left in today's world.

"Understanding Psychoanalysis" presents a broad introduction to the key concepts and developments in psychoanalysis and its impact on modern thought. Charting pivotal moments in the theorization and reception of psychoanalysis, the book provides a comprehensive account of the concerns and development of Freud''s work, as well as his most prominent successors, Melanie Klein and Jacques Lacan.The work of these leading psychoanalytic theorists has greatly influenced thinking across other disciplines, notably feminism, film studies, poststructuralism, social and cultural theory, the philosophy of science and the emerging discipline of neuropsychoanalysis. Analysing this engagement with other disciplines and their key theorists, "Understanding Psychoanalysis" argues for a reconsideration of psychoanalysis as a resource for philosophy, science, and cultural studies.

"Understanding Psychoanalysis" presents a broad introduction to the key concepts and developments in psychoanalysis and its impact on modern thought. Charting pivotal moments in the theorization and reception of psychoanalysis, the book provides a comprehensive account of the concerns and development of Freud''s work, as well as his most prominent successors, Melanie Klein and Jacques Lacan.The work of these leading psychoanalytic theorists has greatly influenced thinking across other disciplines, notably feminism, film studies, poststructuralism, social and cultural theory, the philosophy of science and the emerging discipline of neuropsychoanalysis. Analysing this engagement with other disciplines and their key theorists, "Understanding Psychoanalysis" argues for a reconsideration of psychoanalysis as a resource for philosophy, science, and cultural studies.

In this first ever introduction to philosophy as a way of life in the Western tradition, Matthew Sharpe and Michael Ure take us through the history of the idea from Socrates and Plato, via the medievals, Renaissance and Enlightenment thinkers, to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, Foucault and Hadot. They examine the kinds of practical exercises each thinker recommended to transform their philosophy into manners of living.Philosophy as a Way of Life also examines the recent resurgence of thinking about philosophy as a practical, lived reality and why this ancient tradition still has so much relevance and power in the contemporary world.

In this first ever introduction to philosophy as a way of life in the Western tradition, Matthew Sharpe and Michael Ure take us through the history of the idea from Socrates and Plato, via the medievals, Renaissance and Enlightenment thinkers, to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, Foucault and Hadot. They examine the kinds of practical exercises each thinker recommended to transform their philosophy into manners of living.Philosophy as a Way of Life also examines the recent resurgence of thinking about philosophy as a practical, lived reality and why this ancient tradition still has so much relevance and power in the contemporary world.

In this first ever introduction to philosophy as a way of life in the Western tradition, Matthew Sharpe and Michael Ure take us through the history of the idea from Socrates and Plato, via the medievals, Renaissance and Enlightenment thinkers, to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, Foucault and Hadot. They examine the kinds of practical exercises each thinker recommended to transform their philosophy into manners of living.Philosophy as a Way of Life also examines the recent resurgence of thinking about philosophy as a practical, lived reality and why this ancient tradition still has so much relevance and power in the contemporary world.

In this first ever introduction to philosophy as a way of life in the Western tradition, Matthew Sharpe and Michael Ure take us through the history of the idea from Socrates and Plato, via the medievals, Renaissance and Enlightenment thinkers, to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, Foucault and Hadot. They examine the kinds of practical exercises each thinker recommended to transform their philosophy into manners of living.Philosophy as a Way of Life also examines the recent resurgence of thinking about philosophy as a practical, lived reality and why this ancient tradition still has so much relevance and power in the contemporary world.

Albert Camus is a thinker who matters deeply for the 21st century.Camus was a man of the Left, without believing in inevitable progress; he wrestled with nihilism but only in order to seek paths beyond it; he repudiated belief in God yet wrestled profoundly with religious questions; he defended “Western civilization” and adored the ancient Greeks, whilst denouncing reactionary politics; he explored the darkest human experiences, yet defended moderation, love and dialogue.He matters today, firstly, because the problems he addressed remain ours: widespread cynicism and despair, democratic collapse, the rise of authoritarianisms, alienation from nature and a fascination with extremes. Secondly, because the solutions he explored to these problems were so highly original and balanced, relative to more widely-credited schools of thought: whether liberalism, Marxism, or fascism, or existentialism, postmodernism, or postcolonialism.This book, written by an established expert on Camus’ work, can serve for new readers as an introduction to Camus’ philosophical ideas. More than another critical commentary. Why Camus Matters engages Camus in our contemporary debates, seeking in his thinking a thread out of the labyrinth of the global culture wars, and sources of democratic renewal.

Albert Camus is a thinker who matters deeply for the 21st century.Camus was a man of the Left, without believing in inevitable progress; he wrestled with nihilism but only in order to seek paths beyond it; he repudiated belief in God yet wrestled profoundly with religious questions; he defended “Western civilization” and adored the ancient Greeks, whilst denouncing reactionary politics; he explored the darkest human experiences, yet defended moderation, love and dialogue.He matters today, firstly, because the problems he addressed remain ours: widespread cynicism and despair, democratic collapse, the rise of authoritarianisms, alienation from nature and a fascination with extremes. Secondly, because the solutions he explored to these problems were so highly original and balanced, relative to more widely-credited schools of thought: whether liberalism, Marxism, or fascism, or existentialism, postmodernism, or postcolonialism.This book, written by an established expert on Camus’ work, can serve for new readers as an introduction to Camus’ philosophical ideas. More than another critical commentary. Why Camus Matters engages Camus in our contemporary debates, seeking in his thinking a thread out of the labyrinth of the global culture wars, and sources of democratic renewal.

Albert Camus is a thinker who matters deeply for the 21st century.Camus was a man of the Left, without believing in inevitable progress; he wrestled with nihilism but only in order to seek paths beyond it; he repudiated belief in God yet wrestled profoundly with religious questions; he defended Western civilization and adored the ancient Greeks, whilst denouncing reactionary politics; he explored the darkest human experiences, yet defended moderation, love and dialogue. He matters today, firstly, because the problems he addressed remain ours: widespread cynicism and despair, democratic collapse, the rise of authoritarianisms, alienation from nature and a fascination with extremes. Secondly, because the solutions he explored to these problems were so highly original and balanced, relative to more widely-credited schools of thought: whether liberalism, Marxism, or fascism, or existentialism, postmodernism, or postcolonialism. This book, written by an established expert on Camus' work, can serve for new readers as an introduction to Camus' philosophical ideas. More than another critical commentary. Why Camus Matters engages Camus in our contemporary debates, seeking in his thinking a thread out of the labyrinth of the global culture wars, and sources of democratic renewal.

Albert Camus is a thinker who matters deeply for the 21st century.Camus was a man of the Left, without believing in inevitable progress; he wrestled with nihilism but only in order to seek paths beyond it; he repudiated belief in God yet wrestled profoundly with religious questions; he defended Western civilization and adored the ancient Greeks, whilst denouncing reactionary politics; he explored the darkest human experiences, yet defended moderation, love and dialogue. He matters today, firstly, because the problems he addressed remain ours: widespread cynicism and despair, democratic collapse, the rise of authoritarianisms, alienation from nature and a fascination with extremes. Secondly, because the solutions he explored to these problems were so highly original and balanced, relative to more widely-credited schools of thought: whether liberalism, Marxism, or fascism, or existentialism, postmodernism, or postcolonialism. This book, written by an established expert on Camus' work, can serve for new readers as an introduction to Camus' philosophical ideas. More than another critical commentary. Why Camus Matters engages Camus in our contemporary debates, seeking in his thinking a thread out of the labyrinth of the global culture wars, and sources of democratic renewal.

Slavoj Zizek has emerged as the pre-eminent European cultural theorist of the last decade and has been described as the ultimate Marxist/Lacanian cultural studies scholar. His large and growing body of work has generated considerable controversy, yet his texts are not structured as standard academic tomes. In Slavoj Zizek: A Little Piece of the Real, Matthew Sharpe undertakes the difficult task of drawing out an evolving argument from all of Zizek''s texts from 1989 to 2001, and reads them as the bearers of a single theoretical project, providing an authoritative, reliable, clearly written and well-structured account of Zizek''s demanding body of work. From an exposition of Zizek''s social and philosophical critical theory the book moves to a critical analysis of Zizek''s theoretical project and its political implications. Sharpe concludes by suggesting that Zizek''s work, however, raises as many questions as it answers; questions both about Zizek''s theoretical system and to the wider new Left in today''s world.

Slavoj Zizek has emerged as the pre-eminent European cultural theorist of the last decade and has been described as the ultimate Marxist/Lacanian cultural studies scholar. His large and growing body of work has generated considerable controversy, yet his texts are not structured as standard academic tomes. In Slavoj Zizek: A Little Piece of the Real, Matthew Sharpe undertakes the difficult task of drawing out an evolving argument from all of Zizek''s texts from 1989 to 2001, and reads them as the bearers of a single theoretical project, providing an authoritative, reliable, clearly written and well-structured account of Zizek''s demanding body of work. From an exposition of Zizek''s social and philosophical critical theory the book moves to a critical analysis of Zizek''s theoretical project and its political implications. Sharpe concludes by suggesting that Zizek''s work, however, raises as many questions as it answers; questions both about Zizek''s theoretical system and to the wider new Left in today''s world.

Challenging widespread misunderstandings, this book shows that central to key enlightenment texts was the practice of estranging taken-for-granted prejudices by adopting the perspective of Others.The enlightenment’s key progenitors, led by Montesquieu, Voltaire and Diderot, were more empiricist than rationalist, and more critical than utopian. Moreover, each was an artful exponent of the ‘proto-postmodernist’ practice of asking Europeans to review what they considered unquestionable through the eyes of Others: Persians, women, Tahitians, Londoners, natives and naïves, the blind, and even imaginary extra-terrestrials. This book aims to show that this self-estrangement, as a means to gain critical distance from one’s taken-for-granted assumptions, was central to the enlightenment, and remains vital for critical and constructive sociopolitical thinking today.

Challenging widespread misunderstandings, this book shows that central to key enlightenment texts was the practice of estranging taken-for-granted prejudices by adopting the perspective of Others.The enlightenment’s key progenitors, led by Montesquieu, Voltaire and Diderot, were more empiricist than rationalist, and more critical than utopian. Moreover, each was an artful exponent of the ‘proto-postmodernist’ practice of asking Europeans to review what they considered unquestionable through the eyes of Others: Persians, women, Tahitians, Londoners, natives and naïves, the blind, and even imaginary extra-terrestrials. This book aims to show that this self-estrangement, as a means to gain critical distance from one’s taken-for-granted assumptions, was central to the enlightenment, and remains vital for critical and constructive sociopolitical thinking today.

"Understanding Psychoanalysis" presents a broad introduction to the key concepts and developments in psychoanalysis and its impact on modern thought. Charting pivotal moments in the theorization and reception of psychoanalysis, the book provides a comprehensive account of the concerns and development of Freud's work, as well as his most prominent successors, Melanie Klein and Jacques Lacan.The work of these leading psychoanalytic theorists has greatly influenced thinking across other disciplines, notably feminism, film studies, poststructuralism, social and cultural theory, the philosophy of science and the emerging discipline of neuropsychoanalysis. Analysing this engagement with other disciplines and their key theorists, "Understanding Psychoanalysis" argues for a reconsideration of psychoanalysis as a resource for philosophy, science, and cultural studies.

A group of survivors arrive in Virginia from the demolished Manhattan, planning to establish an outpost, find oil, and exploit the Indians controlling the area. Plans go awry however in both violent and humorous manners. At the heart of the story is Pocahontas, who speaks Valley Girl, Ebonics, Old English, and Algonquin—sometimes all in the same sentence. And she pursues a heated romance with settler Johnny Rolfe via text messaging, instant messaging, and, ultimately, telepathy.Deadly serious and seriously funny, Matthew Sharpe’s fictional retelling of one of America''s original myths is a history of violence, a cross-cultural love story, and a tragicomic commentary on America’s past and present.

This is the first book applying Stoic philosophy, and its extraordinary exercises in resilience and self-care, to the epidemic problem of bullying and ‘mobbing’. Aimed preeminently at targets, it offers guidance on managing negative emotions, and making good decisions, in what for many people is the greatest challenge of their lives.

This book is a collection of specifically commissioned articles on the key continental European philosophical movements since 1914. It shows how each of these bodies of thought has been shaped by their responses to the horrors set in train by World War I, and considers whether we are yet ‘post-post-war’. The outbreak of World War I in August 1914,set in chain a series of crises and re-configurations, which have continued to shape the world for a century: industrialized slaughter, the end of colonialism and European empires, the rise of the USA, economic crises, fascism, Soviet Marxism, the gulags and the Shoah.  Nearly all of the major movements in European thinking (phenomenology, psychoanalysis, Hegelianism, Marxism, political theology, critical theory and neoliberalism) were forged in, or shaped by, attempts to come to terms with the global trauma of the World Wars. This is the first book to describe the development of these movements after World War I, andas such promises to be of interest to philosophers and historians of philosophy around the world.

Camus, Philosophe: To Return to our Beginnings is the first book on Camus to read Camus in light of, and critical dialogue with, subsequent French and European philosophy. It argues that, while not an academic philosopher, Albert Camus was a philosophe in more profound senses looking back to classical precedents, and the engaged French lumières of the 18th century. Aiming his essays and literary writings at the wider reading public, Camus’ criticism of the forms of ‘political theology’ enshrined in fascist and Stalinist regimes singles him out markedly from more recent theological and messianic turns in French thought. His defense of classical thought, turning around the notions of natural beauty, a limit, and mesure makes him a singularly relevant figure given today’s continuing debates about climate change, as well as the way forward for the post-Marxian Left.