Karel Kosík and the Dialectics of the Concrete by Landa, Ivan; Grim Feinberg, Joseph; Mervart, Jan;

Short description:

The eighteen articles in this book present fresh looks at the meaning of politics, praxis, labour, dialectics and modernity in the work of Czech philosopher Karel Kosík, best known for his book Dialectics of the Concrete.

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Long description:

Karel Kosík (1926?2003) was one of the most remarkable Czech Marxist philosophers of the twentieth century. His reputation as a creative thinker is owed largely to his philosophical ?blockbuster? Dialectics of the Concrete, first published in Czechoslovakia in 1963. In reintroducing Kosík?s philosophy to English-speaking readers, we show that Kosík?s work is important not only as a leading intellectual document of the Prague Spring, but also as an original theoretical contribution with international impact that sheds light on the meaning of labour and praxis, cognition and economic structure, and revolution and the crises of modernity.




Contributors include: Ian Angus, Siyaves Azeri, Vít Bartoš, Jan Černý, Joseph Grim Feinberg, Diana Fuentes, Gabriella Fusi, Tomáš Hermann, Tomáš Hříbek, Xiaohan Huang, Peter Hudis, Petr Kužel, Ivan Landa, Michael Löwy, Jan Mervart, Anselm K. Min, Tom Rockmore, Francesco Tava, and Xinruo Zhang.

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Table of Contents:

IAcknowledgements

Notes on Authors



Introduction

 Joseph Grim Feinberg, Ivan Landa, Jan Mervart

Part&&&x00A0;1 The Reform Years and the Origins of Dialectics of the Concrete

1 Karel Kos&&&x00ED;k as a Public Intellectual of the Reform Years

 Jan Mervart



2 Karel Kos&&&x00ED;k and His &&&x2018;Radical Democrats&&&x2019;: The Janus Face of Dialectics of the Concrete

Moving from a Historical to a Systematic Approach to Philosophy

 Tom&&&x00E1;&&&x0161; Hermann

Part&&&x00A0;2 Praxis and Labour

3 Praxis in Progress: On the Transformations of Kos&&&x00ED;k&&&x2019;s Thought

 Francesco Tava



4 Labour and Time: Karel Kos&&&x00ED;k&&&x2019;s Temporal Materialism

 Ivan Landa



5 Inception of Culture from the Ontology of Labour: The Original Contribution of Karel Kos&&&x00ED;k to a Marxian Theory of Culture

 Ian Angus



6 &&&x2018;The Philosophy of Labour&&&x2019; and Karel Kos&&&x00ED;k&&&x2019;s Criticism of &&&x2018;Care&&&x2019;

 Siyaves Azeri



7 Kos&&&x00ED;k, Luk&&&x00E1;cs and the Thing in Itself

 Tom Rockmore

Part&&&x00A0;3 Modernity, Nation, and Globalisation

8 The Ontological Dialectic and the Critique of Modernity: Based on the Interpretation of Kos&&&x00ED;k&&&x2019;s Concrete Totality

 Xinruo Zhang and Xiaohan Huang



9 And the &&&x2018;Thing Itself&&&x2019; Is Man: Radical Democracy and the Roots of Humanity

 Joseph Grim Feinberg



10 The Dialectic of Concrete Totality in the Age of Globalisation: Karel Kos&&&x00ED;k&&&x2019;s Dialectics of the Concrete Fifty Years Later

 Anselm K. Min

Part&&&x00A0;4 Intellectual Encounters

11 Kos&&&x00ED;k&&&x2019;s Notion of &&&x2018;Positivism&&&x2019;

 Tom&&&x00E1;&&&x0161; H&&&x0159;&&&x00ED;bek



12 Kos&&&x00ED;k&&&x2019;s Concept of &&&x2018;Concrete Totality&&&x2019;: A Structuralist Critique

 V&&&x00ED;t Barto&&&x0161;



13 The World of the Pseudoconcrete, Ideology and the Theory of the Subject (Kos&&&x00ED;k and Althusser)

 Petr Ku&&&x017E;el



14 Karel Kos&&&x00ED;k and Martin Heidegger: From Marxism to Traditionalism

 Jan &&&x010C;ern&&&x00FD;

Part&&&x00A0;5 Influence and Reception

15 A Route of Critical Thought: Between Italian and Czech Intellectuals

 Gabriella Fusi



16 Karel Kos&&&x00ED;k in Mexico: Adolfo S&&&x00E1;nchez V&&&x00E1;zquez and the Dialectics of the Concrete

 Diana Fuentes



17 Karel Kos&&&x00ED;k and US Marxist Humanism

 Peter Hudis

Postscript: Looking Backwards

18 Spirit of Resistance: Note for an Intellectual Biography of Karel Kos&&&x00ED;k

 Michael L&&&x00F6;wy



References

Index

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