Zizek and Heidegger: The Question Concerning Techno-Capitalism(Continuum Studies in Continental Philosophy)

Filling a genuine gap in Zizek interpretation - through examining his relationship with Martin Heidegger, the author offers a new and useful overview of Zizek's work."Zizek and Heidegger" offers a radical new interpretation of the work of Slavoj Zizek, one of the world's leading contemporary thinkers, through a study of his relationship with the work of Martin Heidegger. Thomas Brockelman argues that Zizek's oeuvre is largely a response to Heidegger's philosophy of finitude, an immanent critique of it which pulls it in the direction of revolutionary praxis. Brockelman also finds limitations in Zizek's relationship with Heidegger, specifically in his ambivalence about Heidegger's technophobia.Brockelman's critique of Zizek departs from this ambivalence - a fundamental tension in Zizek's work between a historicist critical theory of techno-capitalism and an anti-historicist theory of revolutionary change. In addition to clarifying what Zizek has to say about our world and about the possibility of radical change in it, "Zizek and Heidegger" explores the various ways in which this split at the center of his thought appears within it - in Zizek's views on history or on the relationship between the revolutionary leader and the proletariat or between the analyst and the analysand.

Table of Contents:
Preface: Le Style Zizek and the Question of Finitude Part I: Zizek and Heidegger: The Alpha and the Omega 1. Thinking, Finitely: Zizek on Heidegger on Finitude 2. Zizek and the Other Heidegger: Technology and Danger Part II: Slowing Zizek Down: Modernity and Techno-Capitalism 3. Missing the Point: Slavoj Zizek on Perspective, Modernity and Subjectivity 4. The Techno-Capitalist Danger: Ideology and Contemporary Society Part III: The Split Subject of History 5. Splitting History: Zizek on Utopia and Revolution 6. The Pervert and the Philosopher (as witnessed by) the Theologian and the Analyst Bibliography

About the Author :
Thomas Brockelman is Professor of Philosophy at Le Moyne College, USA. His previous publications include The Frame and the Mirror: On Collage and the Postmodern (Northwestern University Press, 2001).

Review :
"Through a highly innovative gesture, Brockelman introduces a unique way of reinterpreting the entirety of the Žižek's oeuvre through the lens of his under-explored rapport with Heidegger. The thought-provoking picture of Žižek that emerges from Brockelman's careful reading is of someone who takes up the challenge of "thinking the unthought" of Heidegger's treatments of finitude and technology in light of the contemporary dominance of global capitalism. Brockelman makes an important contribution to our understanding of Žižek." - Adrian Johnston, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, USA "Brockelman's Zizek and Heidegger offers a sparkling new assessment of Slavoj Zizek's voluminous publications by way of their different stances on human finitude. This is the first book to bring the two authors together under this heading, and it sheds invaluable new light on both thinkers. An astute and insightful philosophicalanalysis throughout makes this a unique landmark text in the study of Zizek's challenging oeuvre: Brockelman's book is the most consistently and profoundly philosophical approach ever taken to the brilliant Slovenian thinker. In the process, it casts fresh light on the question of "techno-capitalism" as this emerges in Zizek's revision of Heidegger on technology." - Edward Casey, Distinguished Professor, SUNY at Stony Brook, USA, author of numerous books, including Getting Back into Place and The World at a Glance. ... makes a significant contribution to Žižek studies and deserves to be read by those who seek to better understand his work.