The New French Philosophy
Ian James
Polity
This book gives a critical assessment of key developments in  contemporary French philosophy, highlighting the diverse ways in which  recent French thought has moved beyond the philosophical positions and  arguments which have been widely associated with the terms  'post-structuralism' and 'postmodernism'. These developments are  assessed through a close comparative reading of the work of seven  contemporary thinkers: Jean-Luc Marion, Jean-Luc Nancy, Bernard  Stiegler, Catherine Malabou, Jacques Rancière, Alain Badiou and François  Laruelle.<p>The book situates the writing of each philosopher in relation to earlier  traditions of French thought. In differing ways, these philosophers  decisively distance themselves from the linguistic paradigm which  dominated so much twentieth-century thought in order to rethink  philosophical conceptions of materiality, worldliness, shared embodied  existence and human agency or subjectivity. They thereby open the way  for a radical renewal of the claims, possibilities and transformative  power of philosophical thinking itself.</p><p>This book will be an indispensable text for students of philosophy and  for anyone interested in current developments in philosophy and social  thought.</p>