Vicious Circles - (Cultural Memory in the Present) by Arvi Särkelä

Book Synopsis

How can social critique respond to a catastrophic world? From Emerson to Adorno, a tradition of radical social critique has flourished that utilizes methods which disclose rather than judge the form of life: instead of trying to say what is wrong and what would be better, these criticisms seek to show how the world is false and to reveal how we might escape the vicious circles of present society--pointing out its catastrophic state and directing readers to the real possibilities for another form of life.

This book presents an incisive history of critical disclosure by looking at its common metaphors. As Särkelä illuminates, circular metaphors continually interact in the works of 19th- and 20th-century European and American authors including not just Emerson and Adorno, but also Nietzsche, Tarde, Freud, and Dewey. By reconstructing the driving examples of such disclosing critical gestures, Särkelä articulates their similarities and differences, and considers their potential for contemporary social critique. The result points the way toward the cultivation of critical skills relevant for our own age of catastrophe.

Review Quotes

"Särkelä succeeds brilliantly in his principal task of placing disclosing critique on the radar screen of social philosophers. I am confident that this book will quickly become a classic text in critical theory, both within and outside the boundaries of the Frankfurt School." --Frederick Neuhouser, Columbia University

"Vicious Circles advances an exciting, ambitious, and original vision of disclosive critique. Through the careful excavation of prominent historical exemplars, Särkelä develops a compelling alternative to the normative, juridical conceptions of critique that predominate in contemporary critical theory." --Amy Allen, Pennsylvania State University

"What are the conditions and nature of effective social criticism? In this groundbreaking study of disclosive critique without conceptual guardrails, Särkelä moves the terms of this long-standing debate decisively forward." --Espen Hammer, Temple University

About the Author

Arvi Särkelä is a Lecturer and Researcher at ETH Zurich. He focuses on the philosophy and history of critique, especially in 19th- and 20th-century Europe and Northern America.