Rationalist Empiricism - (Idiom: Inventing Writing Theory) by Nathan Brown (Hardcover)

About the Book

Rationalist Empiricism is a study of the dialectical relation between reason and experience in ancient, modern, and contemporary philosophy, engaging as well with political theory, the science of measurement, and experimental photography. Across these fields, it shows that coordinating the discrepant claims of rationalism and empiricism is the key to reconciling the speculative and critical vocations of theory and practice.

Book Synopsis

Rationalist Empiricism is a study of the dialectical relation between reason and experience in ancient, modern, and contemporary philosophy, engaging as well with political theory, the science of measurement, and experimental photography. Across these fields, it shows that coordinating the discrepant claims of rationalism and empiricism is the key to reconciling the speculative and critical vocations of theory and practice.

Review Quotes

Rationalist Empiricism advances a wholly original and utterly convincing philosophical position, brilliantly bringing together studies in visual art, science, politics, and the history of philosophy. This will be one of the most important theoretical works of the past twenty years or more. It represents a renewal of theory in the best possible sense.---Audrey Wasser, author of The Work of Difference

Exhibiting extraordinary range and depth, Nathan Brown takes on the most important philosophical issues of our time: the relation between reason and reality, sapience and sentience, the possibility of revolution and the material conditions of freedom. Inviting serious debate on fundamental questions, this book reawakens our sense of the true, the good, and the beautiful.---Martin Hägglund, author of This Life

About the Author

Nathan Brown is Associate Professor of English and Canada Research Chair in Poetics at Concordia University, Montreal, where he directs the Centre for Expanded Poetics.