Philosophizing Madness from Nietzsche to Derrida

Description

Drawing connections between madness, philosophy and autobiography, this book addresses the question of how Nietzsche's madness might have affected his later works. It also explores why continental philosophy after Nietzsche is so fascinated with madness, and how it (re)considers, (re)evaluates and (re)valorizes madness. To answer these questions, the book analyzes the work of three major figures in twentieth-century French philosophy who were significantly influenced by Nietzsche: Bataille, Foucault and Derrida, examining the ways in which their responses to Nietzsche’s madness determine how they understand philosophy as well as philosophy’s relation to madness. For these philosophers, posing the question about madness renders the philosophical subject vulnerable and implicates it in a state of responsibility towards that about which it asks. Out of this analysis of their engagement with the question of madness emerges a new conception of 'autobiographical philosophy', which entails the insertion of this vulnerable subject into the philosophical work, to which each of these philosophers adheres or resists in different ways. Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Introduction (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 1-12 Front Matter ....Pages 13-13 Nietzsche and Autobiographical Philosophy (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 15-47 Nietzsche’s Intuitive Movement in a Labyrinth of Contradictions and Masks (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 49-61 Nietzsche and Madness (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 63-84 Front Matter ....Pages 85-85 Bataille and Autobiographical Philosophy (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 87-103 Heterogeneity, Inner Experience and the ‘Ethics of Vulnerability’ (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 105-111 Bataille and Madness (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 113-133 Front Matter ....Pages 135-135 History of Madness: Is There Such a Thing as Madness? (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 137-156 Foucault and Autobiographical Philosophy (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 157-170 Foucault and Madness (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 171-184 Front Matter ....Pages 185-185 The Debate: Derrida on Foucault via Descartes (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 187-203 Derrida and Madness (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 205-213 Derrida and Autobiographical Philosophy (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 215-225 Front Matter ....Pages 227-227 Post-Nietzschean Possibilities and Responsibilities (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 229-243 Being ‘in the Distance of Madness’ (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 245-256 Conclusion (Angelos Evangelou)....Pages 257-264 Back Matter ....Pages 265-286