Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewBlack has . . . outlined a convincing criticism of the dogmatic view that the philosophical logic of Hegel represents the logic of capital. . . .The majority of the book offers important arguments providing reasons for recognising the importance of philosophy for studying the character of contemporary capitalism. Black also relates these themes to the historically important work of Marx, Hegel and Lukács. This book can be recommended in the study of the role of philosophy for promotion of perceptive study of capitalism. * Marx and Philosophy Review of Books *
The well-respected historian of philosophy, David Black, has shown himself to be a consummate philosopher, so much so that he has produced a work that will stand the test of time as a major contribution to the Marxist tradition of philosophical works. His new work is a major achievement, and one that speaks directly to the historical times that we unhappily inhabit. This work is more than a feast for academics, it is necessary fuel for revolution, a revolution that is in the making and that will benefit greatly from this work. Should the coming socialist revolution begin to turn into its opposite, this is the work that we will need to read—again and again—to get back on track. -- Peter McLaren, Honorary Chair Professor and Director of the Center for Critical Studies, Northeast Normal University, China
Table of ContentsIntroduction Part One The Philosophical Roots of Anti-Capitalism 1 – The 'Secret Identity' of the Commodity Form 2 – The Capitalism of Philosophy? The Greek Origins of Abstraction 3 – Rethinking the 'Origins of Abstraction' 4 – Comedy and Tragedy 5 – The Poiesis of Orpheus –Fragmentation and Wholeness 6 – Hegel's Minerva 7 – Community and Civil Society 8 – Kant and the 'Autonomous Intellect' 9 – Capitalism: De-Socialized Labor 10 – Absolute Negativity as Anti-Capitalism Part Two Critique of the Situationist Dialect: Art, Class-Consciousnesness, and Reification 1 – Art Surrealism and the Crisis of the Object In the Beginning was the Letter Unitary Urbanism, Dérive and Détournement Asger Jorn, the Artists and the Founding of the Situationist International 2 – Class Consciousness Socialisme ou Barbarie The Critique of Everyday Life and the Hegelian Dialectic 3 – Reification The Theory of the Spectacle-Commodity and the Influence of Georg Lukács Situationist Council Communism The Integrated Spectacle and Globalization Part Three Essays Labor and Value: from the Greek Polis to Globalized State-Capitalism Reification in the 21st Century – Lukács' Dialectic Ends of History and New Beginnings: Hegel and the 'Dialectics of Philosophy and Organization' Conclusion – Philosophy and Revolution in the Twenty-First Century
