Freedom from the Free Will: On Kafka's Laughter

Dimitris Vardoulakis

Published by SUNY Press 2016

Freedom from the Free Will

On Kafka's Laughter

Dimitris Vardoulakis

In the series SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781438462417

Overview
Contents

About this book

Brings Kafka’s fiction into conversation with philosophy and political theory.

Author / Editor information

Dimitris Vardoulakis is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Western Sydney University, Australia. He has written and edited several books, including (with Andrew Benjamin) Sparks Will Fly: Benjamin and Heidegger, also published by SUNY Press.

Reviews

"...very highly recommended." — Midwest Book Review

"Vardoulakis's original new book contributes to the fields of Kafka studies, political theory, and contemporary European philosophy by forcefully realigning our understanding of the problem of freedom and the free will as it traverses Kafka's literary texts. Its greatest strength lies in its careful and rigorous exposition of the refractory concepts of freedom that circulate through Kafka's most canonical works." — Gerhard Richter, author of Inheriting Walter Benjamin

"Freedom from the Free Will is at the forefront of a vibrant new development in Kafka studies that, without succumbing to old debates about Kafka's supposed 'religiosity,' rigorously works out the philosophical undercurrents and theoretical consequences of his literary practices. The laughing, playful Kafka encountered in Vardoulakis's book creates concepts of freedom that cannot be found elsewhere." — Peter Fenves, author of The Messianic Reduction: Walter Benjamin and the Shape of Time

Topics

Front Matter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
A Note on Referencing Kafka’s Works Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Preamble Kafka’s Laughter Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Kafka’s Cages Laughter and the Free Will Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
The Abrahamic Laughter The Topography of Freedom in “The Judgment” and The Metamorphosis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
The Return of the Body The Ethics of Laughter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
The Law of Freedom Reading The Trial through Spinoza Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
Executing Violence The Drama of Power in “In the Penal Colony” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
A Triple or a Single Will? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: SUNY Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 212
Illustrations
- Other: Total Illustrations: 0
Keywords: Literature : Literary Criticism; Philosophy : Philosophy of Literature; Politics and Law : Political Philosophy; Philosophy : Philosophy; Philosophy : Continental Philosophy

eBook

Published: August 30, 2016
ISBN: 9781438462417