THE BACKGROUND TO CONTEMPORARY CRITICAL THEORY: From Kant to Levi Strauss

Book Details

• Author: Jon Simons

• Brand: Rawat Publications

• Binding: Hardcover

• ISBN: 9788131609040

• Publication Year: 2017

• Language: English

• Package Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.6 x 1.0 inches

About the Book

The Background to Contemporary Critical Theory: From Kant to Levi Strauss offers an accessible introduction to key thinkers in critical post-Enlightenment European philosophy. This textbook aims to provide students and readers with a solid understanding of the intellectual tradition that shapes contemporary critical theory. The book covers essential figures whose work laid the groundwork for major philosophers like Derrida, Foucault, and Habermas.

With individual chapters dedicated to thinkers such as Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and many others, the book offers concise yet comprehensive explanations of their key concepts and their impact on subsequent philosophical developments. Each chapter contextualizes the thinker’s ideas, explains their relevance to ongoing intellectual traditions, and offers further reading recommendations. This book is particularly helpful for students, scholars, and readers without a formal philosophical background, making it ideal for those studying literary, cultural, social, or political theory.

Contents

• Introduction by Jon Simons

• Immanuel Kant by Jon Simons

• Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel by Matt F. Connell

• Karl Marx by Simon Tormey

• Friedrich Nietzsche by Jon Simons

• Max Weber by John Ellis and Jon Simons

• Sigmund Freud by Richard H. King

• Georg Lukács by Stuart Sim

• Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer by Matt F. Connell

• Edmund Husserl by William Hutson

• Martin Heidegger by David Woods

• Hans-Georg Gadamer by Nicholas H. Smith

• Ludwig Wittgenstein by Simon Tormey

• Hannah Arendt by Richard H. King

• Claude Lévi-Strauss by Christopher Johnson

About the Author

Jon Simons is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Culture at Indiana University. He is an expert in contemporary critical theory and has contributed extensively to the field. He is the author of Foucault and the Political (Routledge, 1995) and has edited and contributed to Contemporary Critical Theorists: From Lacan to Said (Edinburgh University Press, 2002 & 2004).