Zizek Responds!

Description

Responses to the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek have been, like Zizek himself, extreme. Critics have accused him of charlatanism on the one hand, while others have lauded his genius, especially as a public intellectual, on the other. This makes it difficult to find any kind of nuanced or interesting critical appraisal of his work. At its best Zizek's work provides a new foundation of dialectical philosophy, beyond the glitz of stardom or oversimplified sinister disdain. Zizek Responds! combines philosophers and theorists engaging with Zizek's philosophy in order to explore its unnoticed implications, its conceptual problems, or its unrealized potential. With detailed and lively responses from Zizek himself, this book offers an unique insight into how this thinker might explain, clarify and hone some of his most controversial and misunderstood ideas. At once an introduction to Zizek's most important concepts and a rare and novel insight into his thoughts on the criticisms of his work, this is indispensible reading for both Zizekians and their critics.

Dominik Finkelde (ed.) is Professor of Epistemology and Contemporary Philosophy at the Munich School of Philosophy, Germany. He is the author and editor of many books on German Idealism and thinkers such as Kant, Benjamin, Lacan, Badiou and Zizek including Parallax: The Dialectics of Mind and World, ed. with C. Menke and S. Zizek (Bloomsbury, 2021). Todd McGowan (ed.) is Professor of Theory and Film at the University of Vermont, USA. He is the author of many books on politics, film and contemporary theory including Universality and Identity Politics (2020). Slavoj Zizek (author) is a Slovenian philosopher holding Professorships across the world. He is one of the most prominent, popular and controversial philosophers working today.

The contributors to this book let the ancient Socratic utopia of philosophical conversation become real: helping the unborn thoughts of the other to be born. The special twist here is the fact that this 'maieutic' service is mutual: As a most rare chance, the commentators get responses to their responses by the most inspiring philosopher of our time. * Robert Pfaller, Professor of Philosophy, University of Art and Industrial Design, Linz, Austria * In Zizek Responds!, some of his most perceptive interlocutors engage his thought on topics including German Idealism, speculative realism, psychoanalysis, dialectical materialism, subjectivity, and the contemporary possibilities of political transformation. Uniformly illuminating, both the essays and Zizek's own responses elicit the continued dynamism and deep relevance of his ever-expanding oeuvre. * Paul M. Livingston, Professor of Philosophy, University of New Mexico, USA * Zizek responds to his interlocutors in much the same way that a bridge player responds to their partner's opening bid. It doesn't matter who ends up being the dummy, as long as they succeed in defeating their common enemy. * Andrew Cutrofello, Professor of Philosophy, Loyola University Chicago, USA *