Argues for a pragmatist orientation for postmodern theory.
Taking up the problem that has stalled contemporary theory --
its treatment of the object of knowledge, the "outside", as nothing
but what a particular discourse makes of it -- this book suggests a
solution: a reinvigorated, posthumanist form of pragmatism.
Author Cary Wolfe investigates three of the most significant
strains of postmodern theory (pragmatism, systems theory, and
poststructuralism) and shows how each confronts the specter of an
"outside" not wholly constituted by discourses, language games, and
interpretive communities. He then assesses these confrontations in
light of an essentially pragmatic view of theory, one that
constantly asks what practical and material difference it makes,
and to whom, how these issues are negotiated.
Unique in its collation of major theorists rarely considered
together, Critical Environments incorporates detailed discussions
of the work of Richard Rorty, Walter Benn Michaels, Stanley Cavell,
Humberto Maturana, Francisco Varela, Niklas Luhmann, Michel
Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Fredric Jameson, and others, and ranges
across fields from feminist philosophy of science to the theory of
ideology. An answer to the widespread charge of relativism leveled
against postmodern theory, this work will inspire new kinds of
critical thought.
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