Philosophy

ISBN: 9780415773812
Title: WORLD OF PERCEPTION
Author: MERLEAU-PONTY MAURICE
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

'In simple prose Merleau-Ponty touches on his principle themes. He speaks about the body and the world, the coexistence of space and things, the unfortunate optimism of science - and also the insidious stickiness of honey, and the mystery of anger.' - James Elkins Maurice

Merleau-Ponty was one of the most important thinkers of the post-war era. Central to his thought was the idea that human understanding comes from our bodily experience of the world that we perceive: a deceptively simple argument, perhaps, but one that he felt had to be made in the wake of attacks from contemporary science and the philosophy of Descartes on the reliability of human perception.

From this starting point, Merleau-Ponty presented these seven lectures on The World of Perception to French radio listeners in 1948.

Available in a paperback English translation for the first time in the Routledge Classics series to mark the centenary of Merleau-Ponty's birth, this is a dazzling and accessible guide to a whole universe of experience, from the pursuit of scientific knowledge, through the psychic life of animals to the glories of the art of Paul Cezanne.

Imprint: ROUTLEDGE
RRP: $29.99

ISBN: 9781786630926
Title: WORLD THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL : An Enquiry into the Future of the Three Enemies of the Rational Soul
Author: BERNAL J D
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK

A pioneering book proposing a transhumanist vision of the future, from one of the most influential visionary scientists of the twentieth century

Deemed by Arthur C. Clarke to be "the most brilliant attempt at scientific prediction ever made", The World, the Flesh and the Devil is most famous for having been the first to propose the so-called Bernal Sphere, a type of space habitat intended for permanent residence. Written by one of the most well-known and controversial scientists of the twentieth century, this futuristic essay explores radical changes to human bodies and intelligence, as well as suggesting their impact on society in the future. It includes far-reaching visions of the future of space research and colonisation, material sciences, genetic engineering and near-technology, as well as the idea of a universal brain of the species to be created by technological means. In Bernal's view, it will be possible for the material conditions of civilisation to reach a state of materialist utopia on earth. For all three realms, the world, the flesh and the devil, Bernal attempted to map out the utmost limit of technoscientific progress of which he could conceive, and found that there are almost no limits.

Introduced by McKenzie Wark

Imprint: VERSO
RRP: $19.99

ISBN: 9780099786405
Title: ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE
Author: PIRSIG ROBERT M
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance caused a sensation when it was first published in 1974.The story of the narrator, his son Chris and their month-long motorcycle odyssey from Minnesota to California profoundly affected an entire generation. Both personal and philosophical, this book is a compelling study of relationships, values, madness and, eventually, enlightenment.

Imprint: Vintage Classics
RRP: $14.99

ISBN: 9780262535304
Title: ZIZEKS JOKES : (DID YOU HEAR THE ONE ABOUT HEGEL AND NEGATION?)
Author: ZIZEK SLAVOJ
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: BACK IN STOCK SOON

Zizek as comedian: jokes in the service of philosophy.

"A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes."- Ludwig Wittgenstein

The good news is that this book offers an entertaining but enlightening compilation of Zizekisms. Unlike any other book by Slavoj Zizek, this compact arrangement of jokes culled from his writings provides an index to certain philosophical, political, and sexual themes that preoccupy him. Zizek's Jokes contains the set-ups and punch lines-as well as the offenses and insults-that Zizek is famous for, all in less than 200 pages.

So what's the bad news? There is no bad news. There's just the inimitable Slavoj Zizek, disguised as an impossibly erudite, politically incorrect uncle, beginning a sentence, "There is an old Jewish joke, loved by Derrida..." For Zizek, jokes are amusing stories that offer a shortcut to philosophical insight. He illustrates the logic of the Hegelian triad, for example, with three variations of the "Not tonight, dear, I have a headache" classic: first the wife claims a migraine; then the husband does; then the wife exclaims, "Darling, I have a terrible migraine, so let's have some sex to refresh me!" A punch line about a beer bottle provides a Lacanian lesson about one signifier. And a "truly obscene" version of the famous "aristocrats" joke has the family offering a short course in Hegelian thought rather than a display of unspeakables.

Zizek's Jokes contains every joke cited, paraphrased, or narrated in Zizek's work in English (including some in unpublished manuscripts), including different versions of the same joke that make different points in different contexts. The larger point being that comedy is central to Zizek's seriousness.

Imprint: MIT PRESS
RRP: $29.99