Description

The modern turn in political philosophy established the ontological primacy of the ego, reducing the community to a mere assemblage of individuals, and led to the repudiation of natural duties in favor of inherent individual rights. The modern project culminated in the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose emphasis on radical individuation left human beings both liberated and exiled. Individuals were free to create (and to recreate) themselves anew, but they were simultaneously uprooted from any larger community. Indeed, the very possibility of shared meaning, let alone shared political life, was called into question. This volume consists of essays addressing the efforts of philosophers, artists, caretakers, and—perhaps most importantly—teachers to reestablish a foundation for political life in postmodernity. The origins of these efforts are diverse, and their modes are varied. Individuals seek communion with the divine, either with or through others; they pursue friendship among strangers; and they search for meaningful relationships in both the classroom and the public square. Reflecting the various means by which individuals seek communion with others and with the transcendent, divine Other, the essays contained in this volume explore the modes through which individuals forge relationships with others in an age of isolation.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Wayne Parent

Introduction: The Search for Community in the Postmodern Age
N. Susan Laehn
Thomas R. Laehn

Chapter 1: The Subversiveness of Desire: Descartes, Hobbes, and the Suppression of the Erotic in Modern Thought
Thomas R. Laehn

Chapter 2: Political Participation as Participation in the Transcendent
William P. Schulz, Jr.

Chapter 3: Toward a Politics of Care: Heidegger, Freedom, and the Moral-Political Posture of Authentic Solicitude
Andrea D. Conque

Chapter 4: Subjectivity in Crisis: Emmanuel Levinas and Albert Camus on Exile and Hospitality
N. Susan Laehn

Chapter 5: The Poets & Professor
Peter A. Petrakis

Chapter 6: The Role of Care Structures in Wendell Berry's Hannah Coulter: Surrogacy, Memory, and Membership in Port William, Kentucky
Drew Kennedy Thompson

Chapter 7: Terror, Nihilism, and Joy: Reconsidering Camus's Confrontation with Political Violence
John Randolph LeBlanc
William Paul Simmons

Chapter 8: The Birth of Tragedy: Political Theor

Product details

Published Feb 15 2021
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 228
ISBN 9781793631206
Imprint Lexington Books
Illustrations 1 b/w photos;
Dimensions 230 x 161 mm
Series Political Theory for Today
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

N. Susan Laehn

Anthology Editor

Thomas R. Laehn

Contributor

Andrea Conque

Andrea Conque, University of Louisiana at Lafayett…

Contributor

David D. Corey

Contributor

N. Susan Laehn

Contributor

Thomas R. Laehn

Contributor

W. King Mott

Afterword

James F. Lea

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