Critical Encounters - by Fred Dallmayr (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Critical Encounters, a study of contemporary philosophy and political and social theory, inserts itself into ongoing conversations at the junctures of philosophy and political thought, and modernity and post-modernism. Through dialogue and critique Fred R. Dallmayr seeks to find a viable path for political theory in the midst of contemporary discussions in philosophy and the social sciences, discussions influenced or overshadowed by twentieth-century phenomenology, hermeneutics, critical theory, structuralism, pragmatism, and deconstruction.

Dallmayr's perspective is delivered not as direct exposition, but through a series of critical encounters with some of the leading spokesmen of contemporary thought. His path points in the direction of a political theory construed as "practical ontology" or a pragmatism with ontological overtones. Dallmayr presupposes that such a renewed ontology can be articulated as only a strand in a larger conversational fabric. Against this weave he profiles his critical responses and engaging dialogues.

Among the voices to which Dallmayr responds are: Apel's linguistic foundationalism; Habermas's bifurcation of instrumental system and life-world; Ricoeur's phenomenological antinomies; Gadamer's lingering hermeneutical idealism; Derrida's preference for nihilation of being; Bernstein's Deweyan pragmatism; and Macintyre's pragmatic traditionalism. Among contemporary social and political theorists attention is given to Giddens, Luhmann, and Theunissen.

Review Quotes

"A difficult but rewarding book... [it] consists of a collection of essays on leading figures in 20th-century philosophy that represents a number of different philosophical traditions primarily Continental, although not entirely. There are essays on Nietzsche, T. Adorno, J. Habermas, K.-O. Apel, H.-G. Gadamer, P. Ricoeur, R. Bernstein, A. MacIntyre, Derrida, and others. Each essay focuses on interpretation of the philosopher, revealing Dallmayr's tremendous grasp of a difficult body of contemporary philosophical literature." --Choice

"Dallmayr leads us through the subterranean depths of the issues of subjectivity and objectivity, communication and interpretation, dialogue and praxis. He is right in insisting that political thought must explore these issues or be trapped in a discipline flooded with conventional assumptions..." --Perspective

About the Author

Fred Dallmayr is the Emeritus Packey J. Dee professor of Political Theory at the University of Notre Dame and author of, most recently, Peace Talks--Who Will Listen? (University of Notre Dame Press, 2004).