Search results for ""author ian james""

This introduction to the philosophy of Jean-Luc Nancy gives an overview of his philosophical thought to date and situates it within the broader context of contemporary French and European thinking. The book examines Nancy’s philosophy in relation to five specific areas: his account of subjectivity; his understanding of space and spatiality; his thinking about the body and embodiment; his political thought; and his contribution to contemporary aesthetics. In each case it shows the way in which Nancy develops or moves beyond some of the key concerns associated with phenomenology, post-structuralism, and what could broadly be termed the “post-modern.”

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This book gives a critical assessment of key developments in contemporary French philosophy, highlighting the diverse ways in which recent French thought has moved beyond the philosophical positions and arguments which have been widely associated with the terms 'post-structuralism' and 'postmodernism'. These developments are assessed through a close comparative reading of the work of seven contemporary thinkers: Jean-Luc Marion, Jean-Luc Nancy, Bernard Stiegler, Catherine Malabou, Jacques Rancière, Alain Badiou and François Laruelle. The book situates the writing of each philosopher in relation to earlier traditions of French thought. In differing ways, these philosophers decisively distance themselves from the linguistic paradigm which dominated so much twentieth-century thought in order to rethink philosophical conceptions of materiality, worldliness, shared embodied existence and human agency or subjectivity. They thereby open the way for a radical renewal of the claims, possibilities and transformative power of philosophical thinking itself. This book will be an indispensable text for students of philosophy and for anyone interested in current developments in philosophy and social thought.

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Interrogating the work of four contemporary French philosophers to rethink philosophy’s relationship to science and science’s relationship to realityThe Technique of Thought explores the relationship between philosophy and science as articulated in the work of four contemporary French thinkers—Jean-Luc Nancy, François Laruelle, Catherine Malabou, and Bernard Stiegler. Situating their writings within both contemporary scientific debates and the philosophy of science, Ian James elaborates a philosophical naturalism that is notably distinct from the Anglo-American tradition. The naturalism James proposes also diverges decisively from the ways in which continental philosophy has previously engaged with the sciences. He explores the technical procedures and discursive methods used by each of the four thinkers as distinct “techniques of thought” that approach scientific understanding and knowledge experimentally. Moving beyond debates about the constructed nature of scientific knowledge, The Technique of Thought argues for a strong, variably configured, and entirely novel scientific realism. By bringing together post-phenomenological perspectives concerning individual or collective consciousness and first-person qualitative experience with science’s focus on objective and third-person quantitative knowledge, James tracks the emergence of a new image of the sciences and of scientific practice. Stripped of aspirations toward total mastery of the universe or a “grand theory of everything,” this renewed scientific worldview, along with the simultaneous reconfiguration of philosophy’s relationship to science, opens up new ways of interrogating immanent reality.

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Experience the forces behind the changes in the IT, Mobile Telecom and Media industries through real-life cases from this converging market! Mobile Media and Applications - From Concept to Cash shows how to address the challenges of consumer marketing, technology strategy and delivery tactics for new 3G services from a pragmatic ‘how they did it’ approach. Combining the authors’ technical competence, business experience and consumer understanding, the book pinpoints the pitfalls and keys to success in the industry. The authors offer an end-to-end view, covering customer needs, analysis of the many complex value chains, the capabilities and limitations of the technologies, and the packaging and launch of new mobile services. Based on real case studies and experiences, analysis and advice is given to help the reader succeed in the real world. Mobile Media and Applications - From Concept to Cash: Explains how media companies can go mobile, how the telecoms, media and IT industries are converging and how even a frog can top the CD singles chart with a ringtone. Built heavily on case studies from real implementations and launches of services such as mobile TV, music and gaming. Describes how many service environments today are failing and highlights best practices to make them efficient and powerful. For the first time ever, the impact of mobile devices and customer behavior for mobile services is analyzed in depth. Offers an accompanying website with additional case studies, articles and links to the best developer forums and resources. Decision makers, professionals and application developers in the IT, Telecoms and Media industries, as well as enterprises, analysts, consultants, financial services, and journalists will find this an invaluable guide to creating successful mobile services. Advanced students in Electrical Engineering and Telecoms as well as business schools will find this book a useful addition to their reading list.

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A career-spanning collection of published and unpublished writings Catherine Malabou is one of the foremost, most innovative intelligences working in contemporary French philosophy today. Her work articulates a coherent conceptualisation of 'plasticity' by merging recent neurobiology and medicinal sciences with the history of philosophy and political theory.Across the essays gathered in Plasticity: The Promise of Explosion, Malabou carves a philosophical space between structuralism, deconstruction, cognitive psychology, psychoanalysis and speculative realism. By demonstrating the plastic transformability at the heart of these disciplines, a change that always promises future explosion, Malabou, as a female philosopher, also articulates the need to 'change difference' within patriarchal concepts of tradition itself.The collection is divided into four thematic parts, each of which showcases a major aspect of Malabou's conceptualisation of plasticity. In his introduction, Ian James situates Malabou's work within contemporary philosophy and navigates the contours of her unique work.

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