Experiments Against Reality (Paperback)

Roger Kimball

ISBN 10: 156663430X / ISBN 13: 9781566634304

Editore: Ivan R Dee, Inc, Chicago, 2002

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Paperback. Experiments Against Reality displays the sophistication, breadth of knowledge, and clarity of argument that have made Mr. Kimball one of the most trenchant critics of our contemporary culture. He begins by considering the influential poet and theorist T. E. Hulme, and shows how the work of Eliot, Auden, Wallace Stevens, Robert Musil, Elias Canetti, and others can be seen as efforts to articulate a convincing alternative to the intellectual and spiritual desolations of the age. Turning to the philosophical tradition, Mr. Kimball suggests how figures from Mill and Nietzsche to Bertrand Russell, Wittgenstein, Sartre, Heidegger, Foucault, and Roger Scruton have addressedor in many cases evadedthe defining moral imperatives of modernity. Finally he steps back to consider more generally the career of contemporary culturethe trivializing nature of the contemporary art world; the academic attack on historical truth and scientific rationality; the fate of the two cultures controversy. Experiments Against Reality offers continuing evidence of Mr. Kimball's stature as one of our most important cultural critics. Named an International Book of the Year by Mary Lefkowitz, Times Literary Supplement. A scathing critic but one whose tirades are usually justified. His intellectual rigor is refreshing. Experiments Against Reality demonstrates what criticism can be if you take away all the theoretical scaffolding inherent in, say, a deconstructionist, structuralist or feminist reading. Catherine Saint Louis, New York Times Book Review Displays the sophistication, breadth of knowledge, and clarity of argument of Mr Kimball. This book shows how the work of several authors can be seen as efforts to articulate a convincing alternative to the intellectual and spiritual desolations of the age. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Codice articolo 9781566634304

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Experiments Against Reality (Paperback)
• Editore: Ivan R Dee, Inc, Chicago
• Data di pubblicazione: 2002
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 156663430X
• ISBN 13: 9781566634304
• Rilegatura: Paperback
• Condizione: new

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

Confronting the dilemmas of modernist and postmodernist thought, Roger Kimball in this new collection of his work explores the literary and philosophical underpinnings of modernity as well as the state of our culture today. Experiments Against Reality displays the sophistication, breadth of knowledge, and clarity of argument that have made Mr. Kimball one of the most trenchant critics of our contemporary culture. He begins by considering the influential poet and theorist T. E. Hulme, and shows how the work of Eliot, Auden, Wallace Stevens, Robert Musil, Elias Canetti, and others can be seen as efforts to articulate a convincing alternative to the intellectual and spiritual desolations of the age. Turning to the philosophical tradition, Mr. Kimball suggests how figures from Mill and Nietzsche to Bertrand Russell, Wittgenstein, Sartre, Heidegger, Foucault, and Roger Scruton have addressed — or in many cases evaded — the defining moral imperatives of modernity. Finally he steps back to consider more generally the career of contemporary culture — the trivializing nature of the contemporary art world; the academic attack on historical truth and scientific rationality; the fate of the "two cultures" controversy. "Enlightenment," Mr. Kimball writes, "sought to emancipate man by liberating reason and battling against superstition. But reason liberated entirely from tradition has turned out to be rancorous and hubristic — in short, something irrational." Experiments Against Reality offers continuing evidence of Mr. Kimball's stature as one of our most important cultural critics.

Informazioni sull'autore

Roger Kimball is managing editor of the New Criterion and an art critic for the London Spectator. His other books include Lives of the Mind, Experiments Against Reality, The Long March, and Tenured Radicals. He lives in South Norwalk, Connecticut.