Discipline and Critique

Kant, Poststructuralism, and the Problem of Resistance

By Andrew Cutrofello

Subjects: Continental Philosophy
Series: SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy
Paperback : 9780791418567, 168 pages, February 1994
Hardcover : 9780791418550, 168 pages, February 1994

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Table of contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

1. The Search for a Metadeduction of the Juridical Model of Critique

2. From the Transcendental to the Genealogical and Back: Kant avec Foucault?

3. The Role of Discipline in Kant's Court of Reason

4. The White Wall above Me and the Black Hole within Me: Kant's Care of the Self

5. The Problem of Heteronomy Recast: How Do You Get Out of a Disciplinary Matrix?

6. From Principles to Strategies: A "B Edition" of Kant's Second Critique

7. "The Name of Lampe Must Now Be Entirely Forgotten": Kant in an Imaginary Voice

8. Practicing Philosophy As a Discipline of Resistance

Notes

Bibliography

Index of Names

Description

Andrew Cutrofello demonstrates that in light of Michel Foucault's genealogical criticisms of the juridical model of power, it is possible to develop a postjuridical model of Kantian critique. Recasting game theory's celebrated "prisoner's dilemma" in Foucauldian terms, Cutrofello illuminates the techniques of mutual betrayal that train bodies to reason themselves into complicity with forces of subjugation. He shows how a genealogically reformulated version of Kantian ethics can provide the basic parameters of a "discipline of resistance" to such forces, and he argues for a more nuanced assessment of the stakes involved in the demise of philosophy as a disciplinary formation. Along the way, Cutrofello presents fascinating readings of Kant's own "care of the self" ethic, drawing on the conceptual resources of Gilles Deleuze, Jacques Lacan, and Luce Irigaray. This tour-de-force will prompt social theorists to reconsider the way power functions in our modern/postmodern world.

Andrew Cutrofello is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Reviews

"This is an excellently written, witty, and challenging book. It extends a Foucauldian debate on 'discipline' through an interesting critique of Kantian moralism and opens up new perspectives on a principled resistance in philosophy. " — Martin Donougho, University of South Carolina

"Anyone interested in the current debates on poststructuralism and postmodernism, as well as anyone interested in the history of philosophy, or the connection between more 'traditional' philosophy and 'poststructuralist' philosophy, will find this work accessible and important. " — Tamsin Lorraine, Swarthmore College

"It will prove useful and exciting not only to the many continental philosophers who are finding that they can no longer ignore normative issues but also to theorists across the disciplines. " — Cynthia Willett, University of Kansas