The Concept of World from Kant to Derrida

In the mid-eighteenth century metaphysics was broadly understood as the study of three areas of philosophical thought: theology, psychology and cosmology. This book examines the fortunes of the third of these formidable metaphysical concepts, the world. Sean Gaston provides a clear and concise account of the concept of world from the mid-eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth century, exploring its possibilities and limitations and engaging with current issues in politics and ecology. He focuses on the work of five principal thinkers: Kant, Hegel, Husserl, Heidegger and Derrida, all of whom attempt to establish new grounds for seeing the world as a whole. Gaston presents a critique of the self-evident use of the concept of world in philosophy and asks whether one can move beyond the need for a world-like vantage point to maintain a concept of world. From Kant to the present day this concept has been a problem for philosophy and it remains to be seen if we need a new Copernican revolution when it comes to the concept of world.

Table of Contents:
Preface: Writing on the World / 1. The Kantian World / 2. Hegel and the World as Spirit / 3. Husserl and the Phenomenological World / 4. Heidegger and the Problem of World / 5. Derrida and the End of the World / 6. World, Fiction and the Earth / Bibliography / Index

About the Author :
Sean Gaston is Reader in English and the History of Philosophy at Brunel University, UK. His previous publications include Derrida and Disinterest (Continuum, 2005), The Impossible Mourning of Derrida (Continuum, 2006), Starting with Derrida (Continuum, 2007) and Derrida, Literature and War (Continuum, 2009).

Review :
'Sean Gaston's The Concept of World from Kant to Derrida is a thorough and thoroughly compelling study of a range of essential concepts associated with "world" in modernity ... Students of phenomenology, in particular, will benefit from this work, not least of all in its brilliant reading of Jacques Derrida.' 'This is a rich and original book ... [It] exemplifies the richness of continental philosophy for contemporary issues, social, ethical or political.' 'Beginning with Kant’s transcendental idea of the world and ending with Derrida’s theory of the world as a necessary fiction, Gaston does a fantastic job of using each philosopher’s writings and his own final chapter on contemporary philosophical problems to show how the concept of world is still problematic: we can’t become immersed in the world and simultaneously transcend it to create a unified whole .... [T]he writing is clear and easy to follow so that it will appeal to both readers who are new to philosophy and also to scholars with an interest in continental philosophy.' 'One of the greatest strengths of the book is the engagement with Derrida’s newly published series of seminars and lectures ... [I]t should be read by anyone interested in the way that the concept of world has been interpreted in Continental philosophy.' 'Sean Gaston sets out to provide an account of the concept of world from the mid-eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth century, exploring its possibilities and limitations and engaging with current issues in politics and ecology. He focuses on the work of five principal thinkers: Kant, Hegel, Husserl, Heidegger and Derrida, all of whom attempt to establish new grounds for seeing the world as a whole ... Gaston masterfully provides insight into (and a fluid reading experience of) Kant’s dense writing style relaying Kant’s regulative and categorical uses of the world as idea ... The ideas contained within this book generate a desire and a demand to return to first material. There is a wealth of exploration to do and with Gaston hitting his stride in relation to Derrida and synthesising the thinkers around the concept of the world there develops a shared enthusiasm to trace the concept elsewhere.'