Now that the collective death of mankind has become a possibility,
no other thought can remain unimpaired. Harry Redner traces
historically the onset of this acute state of Nihilism from what
might be called the Faustian revolution, symbolized by Faust's
pronouncement "In the beginning was the Deed." Redner reflects on
the passage of the three main Fausts, from Marlowe's to Goethe's to
Thomas Mann's, and this reflection serves as the dramatic metaphor
for a review of the relationship of Progress to Nihilism in modern
civilization. Starting with an exposition of the key Faustian
thinkers-Marx, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger-the book
proceeds by examining the dominant modern ideas on Man, Time, and
Nihilism with reference to Foucault, Derrida, and Althusser. It
focuses on Language, which is a key preoccupation of all these
thinkers but has not yet been taken far enough to afford a basis
for the explanation of fundamental changes in civilization.
Language in its creative and destructive functions, as constituting
both the conscious and unconscious of a culture, is reconceived so
as to account for the hidden link between Progress and Nihilism.
The author then explores sociologically the dominant aspects of
Progress in terms of the ideas of Weber, Adorno, and Marcuse on
Technology, Subjectivity, and Activism. Finally, an extensive
literary study of the three main Fausts concludes with a coda on
the future of music. In the Beginning Was the Deed is lucid and
direct, tinged with wry humor. Redner represent Man in the nuclear
age and reflects on that representation, seeking to comprehend our
era, draw ethical and political conclusions, and explore action as
a response to the threat of annihilation. This title is part of UC
Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of
California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest
minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist
dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed
scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology.
This title was originally published in 1982.
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