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On the Way to Theory

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Book

Pages: 496

Illustrations: 27 illustrations

Published: October 2024

Author: Lawrence Grossberg

Subjects
Theory and Philosophy, Cultural Studies

In On the Way to Theory, Lawrence Grossberg introduces the major ways of thinking that provide the backstory for contemporary Western theory. Asking readers to think about thinking, Grossberg traces cultural and critical theory’s foundations from the contested enlightenments to modern and postmodern conceptualizations of power, experience, language, and existence. He introduces key figures as historical characters and lays out the unique set of tools for thought that their “deep theories” offer. Through finely tuned and accessible descriptions of their concepts and logics, Grossberg highlights thinkers including Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze, and Hall, defining the possibilities of their thought. This book is essential for those interested in how theories shape our understanding of the world, influence our choices, and define our realities. It challenges us to recognize the multiplicity and complexities of ways of thinking in our quest for knowledge and understanding. By setting out a story of theoretical foundations, Grossberg invites readers to think toward the future of theory and expand conversations around theoretical scrutiny and criticism.

Praise

“With an extraordinarily broad vision and in wonderfully accessible language, Lawrence Grossberg provides a modern Guide for the Perplexed that lays out the background necessary for anyone facing the challenges of contemporary theory.” - Michael Hardt, author of The Subversive Seventies

“Offering a robust account of some notoriously difficult thinkers and their relationships to each other, On the Way to Theory presents a convincing case for a specific genealogy of contemporary theoretical thought as it bears upon the humanities and social sciences. This clearly written, unique, and highly distinctive resource will prove utterly indispensable to its readers.” - Jeremy Gilbert, coauthor of Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (and How We Win It Back)

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Author/Editor Bios Table Of Contents Rights Additional Information

Author/Editor Bios

Lawrence Grossberg is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author and editor of numerous books, including Cultural Studies 1983, Cultural Studies in the Future Tense, Bringing It All Back Home, and Dancing in Spite of Myself, all also published by Duke University Press.

Preface xiii
In Takes a Community . . . xvii
Introduction 1
I. On Thinking about Thinking
1. Thinking and Theorizing 17
2. Modernity, Crisis, Politics (First Interregnum) 31
II. Enlightenment Routes
3. Beginnings 43
4. Enlightenment(s) 53
5. Rationalism and Descartes 73
6. Empiricism and Hume 83
7. Spinoza 97
A Brief Coffee Break 113
III. Modern Routes.
Modern Beginnings
8. Kant's Copernican Revolution 119
9. Kant and Critique 131
10. Hegel and Dialectics 145
11. Hegel and Totality 157
12. Second Modernity (Second Interregnum) 169
Power and the Limits of Reason
13. Marx and Dialectical Materialism 175
14. Marx and Historical Materialism 193
15. Nietzsche 211
16. Psychoanalysis and Freud 227
Phenomenology
17. Phenomenology and Husserl 243
18. Heidegger 257
Linguistic Turns
19. Pragmatism 279
20. Wittgenstein 295
21. Structuralism 305
22. Structuralism and Subjectivity 323
23. The Postmodern (Third Interregnum) 337
IV. Routes into the Post
24. Heidegger Again 359
25. Poststructuralism and Derrida 372
26. Deleuze 389
V. Contextual Humilities
27. Deleuze and Guattari 403
28. Foucault and Critique 417
29. Foucault and Knowledge/Power 429
30. Stuart Hall 441
Postscript 455
Bibliography 457
Index 471

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