Magical Nominalism - (Life of Ideas) by Martin Jay (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In this bold and wide-ranging book, intellectual historian Martin Jay traces across several centuries the conflict between two versions of nominalism-"conventional" nominalism and what he calls "magical" nominalism. According to Jay, since at least William of Ockham, the conventional form of nominalism contributed to the disenchantment of the world by rejecting the notion of general terms as anything other than names we use to group particular objects together, rejecting the idea that they have any reference to a further, "higher" reality. Magical nominalism, instead, performs a reenchanting function by investing names with an auratic power of their own. Starting with the initial revolution of nominalism against Scholastic realism, Jay proceeds to unpack various "counterrevolutions" against nominalism itself. Ranging from theology to critical theory, philosophy of history, aesthetics, and political theory, engaging with thinkers including Adorno, Barthes, Bataille, Benjamin, and Derrida; artists such as Marcel Duchamp; and a range of contemporary theorists, this book provides us with a new way to understand humanity's intellectual path to modernity and its aftermath. Focusing on fundamental debates over the relationship between language and reality, Jay shows, allows for surprising, illuminating connections across thinkers, disciplines, and vast realms of human experience"--

Book Synopsis

A bold and wide-ranging study across centuries, examining the conflict between "conventional" and "magical" nominalism in philosophy, history, aesthetics, political theory, and photography.

In this magisterial new book, intellectual historian Martin Jay traces the long-standing competition between two versions of nominalism--the "conventional" and the "magical." Since at least William of Ockham, according to Jay, the conventional form of nominalism has contributed to the disenchantment of the world, by viewing general terms as nothing more than mere names we use to group particular objects together, rejecting the idea that they refer to a further, "higher" reality. Magical nominalism, instead, performs a reenchanting function, by investing proper names, disruptive events, and singular objects with an auratic power of their own. Drawing in part on Jewish theology, it challenges the elevation of the constitutive subject resulting from Ockham's reliance on divine will in his critique of real universals.

Starting with the fourteenth-century revolution of nominalism against Scholastic realism, Jay unpacks various "counterrevolutions" against nominalism itself, including a magical alternative to its conventional form. Focusing on fundamental debates over the relationship between language, thought, and reality, Jay illuminates connections across thinkers, disciplines, and vast realms of human experience. Ranging from theology and philosophy of history to aesthetics and political theory, this book engages with a range of artists and thinkers, including Adorno, Ankersmit, Badiou, Barthes, Bataille, Benjamin, Blumenberg, Derrida, Duchamp, Foucault, Kracauer, Kripke, and Lyotard. Ultimately, Magical Nominalism offers a strikingly original way to understand humanity's intellectual path to modernity.

Review Quotes

"As we have come to expect from one of our most distinguished and influential intellectual historians, Magical Nominalism is characterized by a broad genealogical sweep, detailed and circumspect historical and cultural analyses, and a masterful internal architecture. There is a great deal of wisdom in Jay's text, as well as an incorruptible generosity of Geist (mind, spirit, and intellect) that traverses the book's entirety."-- "Gerhard Richter, Brown University"

"Jay's intellectual historical elaboration of a struggle between "conventional" and "magical" nominalism is a tour de force that shows a deeply learned scholar pursuing an incredibly creative project that has the potential to impinge on a range of debates about modernity, whether in theology, political theory, aesthetics, history, or philosophy. It is a truly exciting book that will interest many. It is also just a joy to read."-- "Martin Shuster, University of North Carolina at Charlotte"