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The theme of the philosopher as therapist dominates Nietzsche''s entire opus, from his earliest writings to the Zarathustra period and beyond. Nietzsche wishes to hasten the coming and future sanctification of a new type of synthetic human being, and his entire teaching is shaped by his own struggles against illness.Yet few Nietzsche scholars have paid this crucial therapeutic element of his thought sufficient attention.This collection of essays by leading scholars in the field is composed around the Nietzschean insight, which has its roots in the Hippocratic tradition of ancient medicine, that beliefs, behaviours, ideals and patterns of striving are not things for which individuals or even cultures are responsible. Rather, they are symptoms of what an individual or culture is, which symptoms require diagnostic interpretation and evaluation. The book identifies three principal approaches in Nietzsche''s philosophy: diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic. Each essay takes up this essential insight into Nietzsche''s therapeutic philosophy from a different perspective and collectively they reveal an array of insightful approaches to self-induced enhancement, for both individuals and cultures.

The concept of resistance has always been central to the reception of Hegel''s philosophy. The prevalent image of Hegel''s system, which continues to influence the scholarship to this day, is that of an absolutist, monist metaphysics which overcomes all resistance, sublating or assimilating all differences into a single organic ''Whole''. For that reason, the reception of Hegel has always been marked by the question of how to resist Hegel: how to think that which remains outside of or other to the totalizing system of dialectics.In recent years the work of scholars such as Catherine Malabou, Slavoj ┼╜i┼╛ek, Rebecca Comay and Frank Ruda has brought considerable nuance to this debate. A new reading of Hegel has emerged which challenges the idea that there is no place for difference, otherness or resistance in Hegel, both by refusing to reduce Hegel''s complex philosophy into a straightforward systematic narrative and by highlighting particular moments within Hegel''s philosophy which seem to counteract the traditional understanding of dialectics.This book brings together established and new voices in this field in order to show that the notion of resistance is central to this revaluation of Hegel.

An introduction examining the controversies surrounding Nietzsche's thought and its legacy for politics, making a case for a fresh examination of the topic. An international team of leading scholars provide vital new perspectives on both core and novel topics including justice, democratic and the Enlightenment.

This volume presents the concepts of schizoanalysis and ecosophy as Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze understood them, in interviews and analyses by their contemporaries and followers. This accessible yet authoritative introduction is written by distinguished specialists, combining testimonies from some of Guattari''s colleagues at the La Borde psychiatric clinic where he practiced, with expository essays on his main ideas, schizoanalysis and ecosophy, as well as his relations with Lacan. The last section of the book deals with the subsequent creative application of those ideas by his philosophical and psychoanalytic followers situated within the contemporary moment. This collection also provides the crucial historical context of France at the time Guattari was developing his concepts, including the role of the Maoists and the significance of the political situation in Algeria.

In the past two and a half decades, Walter Benjamin''s early essay ''Towards the Critique of Violence'' (1921) has taken a central place in politico-philosophic debates. The complexity and perhaps even the occasional obscurity of Benjamin''s text have undoubtedly contributed to the diversity, conflict, and richness of contemporary readings. Interest has heightened following the attention that philosophers such as Jacques Derrida and Giorgio Agamben have devoted to it. Agamben''s own interest started early in his career with his 1970 essay, ''On the Limits of Violence'', and Benjamin''s essay continues to be a fundamental reference in Agamben''s work.Written by internationally recognized scholars, Towards the Critique of Violence is the first book to explore politico-philosophic implications of Benjamin''s ''Critique of Violence'' and correlative implications of Benjamin''s resonance in Agamben''s writings. Topics of this collection include mythic violence, the techniques of non-violent conflict resolution, ambiguity, destiny or fate, decision and nature, and the relation between justice and thinking. The volume explores Agamben''s usage of certain Benjaminian themes, such as Judaism and law, bare life, sacrifice, and Kantian experience, culminating with the English translation of Agamben''s ''On the Limits of Violence''.

Spinoza''s political thought has been subject to a significant revival of interest in recent years. As a response to difficult times, students and scholars have returned to this founding figure of modern philosophy as a means to help reinterpret and rethink the political present. Spinoza''s Authority makes a significant contribution to this ongoing reception and utilization of Spinoza''s political thought, and takes the 1670 text, Theologico-Political Treatise, as a primary focal point. By taking the concept of authority as an original framework, this books asks: How is authority related to ethics, ontology, and epistemology? What are the social, historical and representational processes that produce authority and resistance? And what are the conditions of effective resistance? Spinoza''s Authority features a roster of internationally established theorists of Spinoza''s work, and covers key elements of Spinoza''s political philosophy, including: questions of authority, the resistance to authority, sovereign power, democratic control, and the role of Spinoza''s "multitudes".