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Meaning, Subjectivity, Society
Making Sense of Modernity
Series: - International Comparative Social Studies, Volume: 22
Author:
This book grapples with questions at the core of philosophy and social theory â Who am I? Who are we? How are we to live? That is, questions of what humans are capable of, the ânatureâ of our relationships to each other and to the world around us, and how we should live. They appear to be both prohibitive and seductive â that they are ultimately irresolvable makes it tempting to leave them alone, yet we cannot do that either. This interdisciplinary investigation proceeds primarily as a dialogue with Cornelius Castoriadis and Charles Taylor.
Karl E. Smith is Lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology at La Trobe University, where he completed his Ph.D. (2007). He has published articles on subjectivity, religion and modernity in Thesis Eleven and the European Journal of Social Theory.
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. TheMeaning of Meaning
Framing a theory of meaning
Magma
Signification and language
Signification and the first natural stratum
The radical imaginary
Meaning
Social imaginary significations
The unsayable
Qualitative distinctions
Conclusion
2. The Self
Introduction
A brief discussion about the word
Time and narrative
Embodiment
Social orientation
Webs of interlocution
Subject-referring properties
Corporeal limitations
Seeking the no-self
Other than good
Knowing and doing
Conclusion
3. The Subject
Introduction
For-itself
Living-being
The psyche
The social individual
Autonomy
Excursus on reality
Conclusion
4. TowardsModernity
The social-historical
Modernity
Conclusion
5. Autonomy
Introduction
Mapping autonomy
Capitalismand autonomy
Relativizing autonomy
Conclusion
6. Reformulating the Project of Autonomy
Religion and autonomy
Cultural creativity
Creating meaning
Autonomy and meaning
Theory of action
Power and autonomy
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. TheMeaning of Meaning
Framing a theory of meaning
Magma
Signification and language
Signification and the first natural stratum
The radical imaginary
Meaning
Social imaginary significations
The unsayable
Qualitative distinctions
Conclusion
2. The Self
Introduction
A brief discussion about the word
Time and narrative
Embodiment
Social orientation
Webs of interlocution
Subject-referring properties
Corporeal limitations
Seeking the no-self
Other than good
Knowing and doing
Conclusion
3. The Subject
Introduction
For-itself
Living-being
The psyche
The social individual
Autonomy
Excursus on reality
Conclusion
4. TowardsModernity
The social-historical
Modernity
Conclusion
5. Autonomy
Introduction
Mapping autonomy
Capitalismand autonomy
Relativizing autonomy
Conclusion
6. Reformulating the Project of Autonomy
Religion and autonomy
Cultural creativity
Creating meaning
Autonomy and meaning
Theory of action
Power and autonomy
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Those interested in questions of meaning, self-identity, subjectivity; the relations between religion, capitalism and democracy in modern society; and the thought of Cornelius Castoriadis and Charles Taylor.