The Catastrophic Imperative : Subjectivity, Time and Memory in Contemporary Thought

Evoking the contemporary Zeitgeist of looming ecological, political and economic disaster, a distinguished group of thinkers invite a compelling reconsideration of the ways we, as representing subjects, might be more deeply implicated in catastrophic events than we ordinarily imagine.

Evoking the contemporary Zeitgeist of looming ecological, political and economic disaster, The Catastrophic Imperative brings together a distinguished group of thinkers who invite a compelling reconsideration of the ways we, as representing subjects, might be more deeply implicated in catastrophic events than we ordinarily imagine. From their individual historical, philosophical, psychoanalytic and literary perspectives, the contributors collectively put a non-eschatological thought of catastrophe to task. What emerges from this forcing ground is a logic that undermines our habitual understanding of causality, charging us with the disconcerting responsibility not to prevent but, in Jean Dupuy''s immortal words, to render the catastrophe unavoidable.

Contributing major new essays on Kant, Hegel, Derrida, Lacan, Badiou, Žižek, Deleuze, James, Coetzee, Barrès and Hitchcock, this collection also marks the long-overdue introduction of renowned German philosopher, Peter Sloterdijk, to the English-speaking world.

Contributors: Alain Badiou, Gert Buelens, Gil Chaitin, Justic Clemens, Tom Cohen, Joanna Hodge, J. Hillis Miller, Patience Moll, Dany Nobus, Aaron Schuster, Sjoerd van Tuinen and Eric Vogt.