This book is an original investigation into Slavoj Žižek's return to German Idealism in the wake of Lacanian psychoanalysis. As is well known, Žižek creates productive friction between these traditions by isolating their mutually compatible notions of the death drive, paving the way for Žižek's highly original model of the subject. Joseph Carew systematizes the stark metaphysical consequences of Žižek's account. If the emergence of the Symbolic out of the Real marks the advent of a completely self-enclosed structural system, then we must posit the absolute as a fragile not-all wrought by negativity and antagonism.

In Ontological Catastrophe, Joseph Carew takes up the central question guiding Slavoj Zizek philosophy: How could something like phenomenal reality emerge out of the meaninglessness of the Real? Carefully reconstructing and expanding upon his controversial reactualization of German Idealism, Carew argues that Zizek offers us an original, but perhaps terrifying, response: experience is possible only if we presuppose a prior moment of breakdown as the ontogenetic basis of subjectivity. Drawing upon resources found in Zizek, Lacanian psychoanalysis, and post-Kantian philosophy, Carew thus develops a new critical metaphysics-a metaphysics which is a variation upon the late German Idealist theme of balancing system and freedom, realism and idealism, in a single, self-reflexive theoretical construct-that challenges our understanding of nature, culture, and the ultimate structure of reality. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

"In Ontological Catastrophe, Joseph Carew takes up the central question guiding Slavoj Žižek's philosophy: How could something like phenomenal reality emerge out of the meaninglessness of the Real? Carefully reconstructing and expanding upon his controversial reactualization of German Idealism, Carew argues that Žižek offers us an original, but perhaps terrifying, response: experience is possible only if we presuppose a prior moment of breakdown as the ontogenetic basis of subjectivity. Drawing upon resources found in Žižek, Lacanian psychoanalysis, and post-Kantian philosophy, Carew thus develops a new critical metaphysics--a metaphysics which is a variation upon the late German Idealist theme of balancing system and freedom, realism and idealism, in a single, self-reflexive theoretical construct--that challenges our understanding of nature, culture, and the ultimate structure of reality."--Publisher's description.

In 'Ontological Catastrophe: }i~ek and the Paradoxical Metaphysics of German Idealism', Joseph Carew delves deep into the complex interplay between Slavoj }i~ek's philosophy and the metaphysical propositions of German Idealism. Carew's book meticulously examines }i~ek's unique blend of psychoanalysis, Marxism, and continental philosophy, offering insightful analyses of the paradoxes inherent in German Idealist thought. Carew's writing is erudite and densely packed with references to key philosophical texts, making this book essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary continental philosophy and its intersections with psychoanalysis. Carew's ability to navigate through }i~ek's intricate ideas while situating them within the broader context of German Idealism showcases his deep understanding of both philosophical traditions. Joseph Carew, a respected scholar in the field of continental philosophy, brings his expertise to this groundbreaking work, shedding new light on the philosophical implications of }i~ek's theories and their connection to German Idealism. 'Ontological Catastrophe' is a must-read for philosophers, academics, and students seeking to explore the complexities of contemporary philosophy through the lens of }i~ek and German Idealism.

The ‘death’ of German Idealism has been decried innumerable times since its revolutionary inception, whether it be by the 19th-century critique of Western metaphysics, phenomenology, contemporary French philosophy, or analytic philosophy. Yet in the face of two hundred years of sustained, extremely rigorous attempts to leave behind its legacy, German Idealism has resisted its philosophical death sentence. For this exact reason it is timely ask: What remains of German Idealism? In what ways does its fundamental concepts and texts still speak to us? Drawing together new and established voices from scholars in Kant, Fichte, Hegel, and Schelling, this volume offers a fresh look on this time-honoured tradition. It uses myriad of recently developed conceptual tools to present new and challenging theories of its now canonical figures.

This book brings together the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Jacques Lacan around their treatments of ‘astonishment,’ an experience of being struck by something that appears to be extraordinarily significant. Both thinkers have a central interest in the dissatisfaction with meaning that these experiences generate when we attempt to articulate them, to bring language to bear on them. Maria Balaska argues that this frustration and difficulty with meaning reveals a more fundamental characteristic of our sense-making capacities –namely, their groundlessness. Instead of disappointment with language’s sense-making capacities, Balaska argues that Wittgenstein and Lacan can help us find in this revelation of meaning’s groundlessness an opportunity to acknowledge our own involvement in meaning, to creatively participate in it and thereby to enrich our forms of life with language.

Slavoj Žižek is the most popular and discussed philosopher in the world today. His prolific writings – across philosophy, psychoanalysis, political and social theory, film, music and religion – always engage and provoke. The power of his ideas, the breadth of his references, his capacity for playfulness and confrontation, his willingness to change his mind and his refusal fundamentally to alter his argument – all have worked to build an extraordinary international readership as well as to elicit much critical reaction. The Žižek Dictionary brings together leading Žižek commentators from across the world to present a companion and guide to Žižekian thought. Each of the 60 short essays examines a key term and, crucially, explores its development across Žižek’s work and how it fits in with other concepts and concerns. The dictionary will prove invaluable both to readers coming to Žižek for the first time and to those already embarked on the Žižekian journey.

This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched. What are we to make of Western Buddhism? Glenn Wallis argues that in aligning their tradition with the contemporary wellness industry, Western Buddhists evade the consequences of Buddhist thought. This book shows that with concepts such as vanishing, nihility, extinction, contingency, and no-self, Buddhism, like all potent systems of thought, articulates a notion of the “real.” Raw, unflinching acceptance of this real is held by Buddhism to be at the very core of human “awakening.” Yet these preeminent human truths are universally shored up against in contemporary Buddhist practice, contravening the very heart of Buddhism. The author's critique of Western Buddhism is threefold. It is immanent, in emerging out of Buddhist thought but taking it beyond what it itself publicly concedes; negative, in employing the “democratizing” deconstructive methods of François Laruelle's non-philosophy; and re-descriptive, in applying Laruelle's concept of philofiction. Through applying resources of Continental philosophy to Western Buddhism, A Critique of Western Buddhism suggests a possible practice for our time, an "anthropotechnic", or religion transposed from its seductive, but misguiding, idealist haven.

This new, completely revised and re-written edition of Aesthetics and subjectivity brings up to date the original book's account of the path of German philosophy from Kant, via Fichte and Holderlin, the early Romantis, Schelling, Hegel, Schleimacher, to Nietzsche, in view of recent historical research and contemporary arguments in philosophy and theory in the humanities.

In 2010, Cartoon Network debuted a new animated series called Adventure Time, and within just a few short years the show became both a pop culture phenomenon and a critical darling. But despite all the admiration, not many works of scholarship have assessed the show through a critical lens. This anthology is an attempt to fill this scholarly oversight and spark a wider conversation about the show's deeper themes. Across 15 scholarly essays, this book's contributors study Adventure Time from a variety of angles, proving just how insightful the series really is. From a consideration of BMO's queer identity to a psychoanalytic reading of Lemongrab and an examination of how anime has impacted the show, the topics explored in this anthology are diverse and unique and are likely to appeal to scholars and fans alike.