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A culmination of de Man's thoughts on philosophy, politics and history. The book presents an inquiry into the relation of rhetoric, epistemology and aesthetics, that offers radical notions of materiality. De Man reads Kant and Hegel with a combination of philosophical vigour and interpretive pressure. The texts collected here were written or delivered as lectures during the last years of Man's life, between 1977 and 1983. Many of them have never been available previously in any form; these include essays from Kant's materialism, his relation to Schiller, and the concept of irony.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Paul de Man was one of the primary exponents of deconstruction, the theoretical approach which redefined philosophy and literary studies in the 1980s. This book contains some of his most radical approaches to the great philosophers, challenging traditional interpretations with indisputable incision. It only gets four stars because, like all of de Man's work, it's almost unintelligible and requires a commentary of its own (see Hillis Miller for both excellent writings on de Man and comprehensible deconstructive theory of his own). Inicidentally, the reviewer below is not wrong about de Man's personal history, but he completely misunderstands deconstructive theory. It has nothing to do with moral relativism, overt or covert; indeed, de Man never wrote on deconstructive ethics, for which see Derrida and Levinas. Surely we shouldn't let a chequered past stand in the way of discovering and benefiting from de Man's philosophical insights?
3 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Paul De Man spent his early years in Europe as a confirmed Anti-Semitic fascist. When the Nazis invaded his homeland, he actively collaborated in creating and disseminating virulent polemics against Jews. After the war De Man fled to America. He was hired to teach at Yale (great background check, guys) while desperately attempting to conceal his wartime activities. De Man became famous at Yale for founding the School of Deconstructionism, an intellectually disreputable philosophy which claimed that works of art may be freely interpreted by observers without consideration for the creator's intentions. In other words, Hitler's "Mein Kampf" might have one meaning to a Bantu and another meaning to a Swede without concern for Hitler's intentions. This type of moral equivocation appealed to members of the politically correct sect, which faithfully regurgitated De Man's shallow assertions. Early in his Yale career De Man's European escapades became known to the senior staff and faculty at Yale. When confronted by his accusers, De Man lied. Yale never publicized De Man's record of violent bigotry (great moral courage, guys), allowing De Man to proselytize his message of moral relativism for decades without public recognition of the Great Scholar's character or moral fitness.
In the person of Paul De Man the politically correct are forced to confront the true nature of their inhuman philosophy. Thomas Jefferson preached freedom and liberalism while owning slaves, in direct contradiction of his philosophy, becoming a hypocrite. De Man preached genocide against helpless minorities, lied after the fact, and never apologized for his actions. In doing so he conformed perfectly to the moral relativism of political correctness. Deconstructionism became the intellectual shield behind which hides the totalitarian urge.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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1 review
18 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Difficult, necessary reading.
4 Nov 1999
Format:Paperback
I just want to suggest that the person who previously reviewed this book makes a confusion between De Man's life and the content of this book. To say that this book is trite is mindless.
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