Figures of the Thinkable by Castoriadis

Figures of the Thinkable
(Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics)
by Cornelius Castoriadis
Helen Arnold (Translator)

# Paperback: 304 pages
# Publisher: Stanford University Press; 1 edition (July 18, 2007)

In this posthumous collection of writings, Cornelius Castoriadis (1922-1997) pursues his incisive analysis of modern society, the philosophical basis of our ability to change it, and the points of intersection between his many approaches to this theme. His main philosophical postulate, that the human subject and society are not predetermined, asserts the primacy of creation and the possibility of creative, autonomous activity in every domain. This argument is combined with penetrating political and social criticism, opening numerous avenues of critical thought and action.

The book’s wide-ranging topics include the core worldview of ancient Athens, where the idea of self-creation and self-limitation made democracy possible; the wealth of poetic resources; a deconstruction of the so-called rationality of capitalism and of the current conception of democracy, along with a discussion of what a radical, revolutionary project means today; the role of what he calls the radical imagination in the creation of both societal institutions and history; the roots of hate; a psychoanalytic view of human development torn between heteronomy and autonomy; the role of education in forming autonomous individuals; and notions of chaos, space, and number.

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The Imaginary Institution of Society by Castoriadis

The Imaginary Institution of Society
by Cornelius Castoriadis
Kathleen Blamey (Translator)

# Paperback: 426 pages
# Publisher: The MIT Press (January 9, 1998)

Thirty years ago Castoriadis founded the French journal Socialisme ou Barbarie, the title of which stated the alternatives he then saw confronting capitalism. Like Bruno Rizzi, James Burnham, and Milovan Djilas, who worked through an early belief in Marxism to develop a critique of Marxism from the Left, Castoriadis came to conclude that Marxism itself ends in the barbarism of a new class of bureaucrats. The first half of the present work consists of Castoriadis's trenchant critique, while the second half attempts to explain society's origin and function from a new viewpoint. Castoriadis's social theory, a product of more recent years, holds that society arises from the creative imagination, especially in language. Although his presentation is abstract, it is often punctuated by striking examples. This title belongs in most academic collections. Brent A. Nelson, Univ. of Arkansas, Technology Campus Lib., Little Rock
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"[T]he most original, ambitious, and reflective attempt to think through the liberating mediation of history, society, external and internal nature once again as praxis."
-- Jürgen Habermas, The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity

"Castoriadis's The Imaginary Institution of Society is a work of great power and originality. As a work of social theory, I would argue that it belongs in a class with the writings of Habermas and Arendt."
-- Jay Bernstein, University of Essex

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