Idealism without Absolutes

Extends the boundaries of Romantic culture from its pre-Kantian past to contemporary theory and beyond.Idealism without Absolutes offers an ambitious and broad reconsideration of Idealism in relation to Romanticism and subsequent thought. Linking Idealist and Romantic philosophy to contemporary theory, the volume explores the multiplicity of different philosophical incarnations of Idealism and materialism, and shows how they mix with and invade each other in philosophy and culture. The contributors discuss a wide range of major figures in the long Romantic period, from Kant and Hegel to Nietzsche, as well as key figures defining the contemporary intellectual debate, including Freud, Heidegger, Adorno, Lyotard, Derrida, de Man, and Deleuze and Guattari. While preserving the significance of the historical period extending from Kant to the early nineteenth century, the volume gives the concept of Romantic culture a new historical and philosophical meaning that extends from its pre-Kantian past to our own culture and beyond.Tilottama Rajan is Canada Research Chair in English and Theory at the University of Western Ontario. She has published several books, including the coedited volume (with David L. Clark), Intersections: Nineteenth-Century Philosophy and Contemporary Theory, published by SUNY Press. Arkady Plotnitsky is Professor of English, a University Faculty Scholar, and Director of the Theory and Cultural Studies Program at Purdue University. He has published several books, including, most recently, The Knowable and the Unknowable: Modern Science, Nonclassical Thought and the Two Cultures.