Pascalian Meditations - Hardcover
In this major work, Bourdieu pushes the critique of scholastic reason to a point which most questionings leave untouched, making explicit the presuppositions entailed by the situation of skhole, the free time, liberated from the urgencies of the world, that allows a free and liberated relation to the world. And it is philosophers who, not content with engaging these presuppositions in their practice, have brought them into the order of discourse, not so much to analyse them as to legitimate them. This critique of scholastic reason can be made in the name of Pascal because his thought expressed the features of human existence which the scholastic outlook ignores - his concern with symbolic power, his refusal of the ambition of foundation, his attention, devoid of all populist naivety, to 'ordinary people' and his determination to seek the raison d'etre of the seemingly most illogical behaviour rather than condemning or mocking it. Through this Pascalian critique, Bourdieu charts a negative philosophy which calls into question our most fundamental presuppositions and renews the traditional interrogation of violence, power, time, history, the universal and even the purpose and direction of existence, with a debt to the heretical philosophers such as Wittgenstein, Austin, Dewey and Peirce.
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From the Inside Flap:
A synthesis of forty years’ work by France’s leading sociologist, this book pushes the critique of scholarly reason to a new level. It is a brilliant example of Bourdieu’s unique ability to link sociological theory, historical information, and philosophical thought.
Pascalian Meditations makes explicit the presuppositions of a state of “scholasticism,” a certain leisure liberated from the urgencies of the world. Philosophers, unwilling to engage these presuppositions in their practice, have brought them into the order of discourse, not so much to analyze them as to legitimate them. This situation is the primary systematic, epistemological, ethical, and aesthetic error that Bourdieu subjects to methodological critique.
This critique of scholarly reason is carried out in the name of Pascal because he, too, pointed out the features of human existence that the scholastic outlook ignores: he was concerned with symbolic power; he refused the temptation of foundationalist thinking; he attended (without populist naïveté) to “ordinary people”; and he was determined to seek the raison d’être of seemingly illogical behavior rather than condemning or mocking it.
Through this critique, Bourdieu charts a negative philosophy that calls into question some of our most fundamental presuppositions, such as a “subject” who is free and self-aware. This philosophy, with its intellectual debt to such other “heretical” philosophers as Wittgenstein, Austin, Dewey, and Peirce, renews traditional questioning of the concepts of violence, power, time, history, the universal, and the purpose and direction of existence.
From the Back Cover:
Pascalian Meditations makes explicit the presuppositions of a state of “scholasticism,” a certain leisure liberated from the urgencies of the world. Philosophers, unwilling to engage these presuppositions in their practice, have brought them into the order of discourse, not so much to analyze them as to legitimate them. This situation is the primary systematic, epistemological, ethical, and aesthetic error that Bourdieu subjects to methodological critique.
This critique of scholarly reason is carried out in the name of Pascal because he, too, pointed out the features of human existence that the scholastic outlook ignores: he was concerned with symbolic power; he refused the temptation of foundationalist thinking; he attended (without populist naïveté) to “ordinary people”; and he was determined to seek the raison d’être of seemingly illogical behavior rather than condemning or mocking it.
Through this critique, Bourdieu charts a negative philosophy that calls into question some of our most fundamental presuppositions, such as a “subject” who is free and self-aware. This philosophy, with its intellectual debt to such other “heretical” philosophers as Wittgenstein, Austin, Dewey, and Peirce, renews traditional questioning of the concepts of violence, power, time, history, the universal, and the purpose and direction of existence.
“This book will surely endure a a major classic of late twentieth-century social theory.”_—Philosophy in Review
“This latest book by France’s preeminent sociologist provides a compact presentation of his concerns, methods, and leading concepts. . . . The book will be an excellent introduction to Bourdieu’s fruitful thought for philosophers and social theorists.”—Ethics
“This latest book by France’s preeminent sociologist provides a compact presentation of his concerns, methods, and leading concepts. . . . The book will be an excellent introduction to Bourdieu’s fruitful thought for philosophers and social theorists.”—Ethics
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- PublisherPolity Pr
- Publication date2000
- ISBN 10 074562054X
- ISBN 13 9780745620541
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages264
- Rating
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