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Philosophy & Critical Theory Books in this online selection represent only a sliver of what we offer in the store. If you've got a particular book in mind and want to check on its availability, call us at 415-362-8193.

<<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>>     sort list by title | author Violence Big Ideas/Small Books Slavoj Žižek Philosopher, cultural critic, and agent provocateur Slavoj Žižek constructs a fascinating new framework to look at the forces of violence in our world. Using history, philosophy, books, movies, Lacanian psychiatry, and jokes, Slavoj Žižek examines... The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media Walter Benjamin Benjamin’s famous “Work of Art” essay sets out his boldest thoughts—on media and on culture in general—in their most realized form, while retaining an edge that gets under the skin of everyone who reads it. In this essay the visual arts of the... Two Regimes of Madness, Revised Edition Texts and Interviews 1975-1995 Gilles Deleuze People tend to confuse winning freedom with conversion to capitalism. It is doubtful that the joys of capitalism are enough to free peoples.... The American "revolution" failed long ago, long before the Soviet one. Revolutionary situations and... A Guide to Philosophy in Six Hours and Fifteen Minutes Witold Gombrowicz Recommended by Paul, City Lights Books In this inspired book, the eminent Polish author Witold Gombrowicz reflects on seven great philosophers. He discusses Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Sartre, and Heidegger in six "one-hour" essays... Existentialism Is a Humanism Jean Paul Sartre It was to correct common misconceptions about his thought that Sartre accepted an invitation to speak on October 29, 1945, at the Club Maintenant in Paris. The unstated objective of his lecture (“Existentialism Is a Humanism”) was to... Imperial San Francisco Urban Power, Earthly Ruin Gray Brechin First published in 1999, this celebrated history of San Francisco traces the exploitation of both local and distant regions by prominent families--the Hearsts, de Youngs, Spreckelses, and others--who gained power through mining, ranching, water and... City of Quartz Excavating the Future in Los Angeles, New Edition Mike Davis A fully updated edition of Mike Davis's visionary work.No metropolis has been more loved or more hated. To its official boosters, "Los Angeles brings it all together." To detractors, LA is a sunlit mortuary where "you can rot without feeling it." To... A Field Guide to Getting Lost Rebecca Solnit A Field Guide to Getting Lost is about the stories we use to navigate our way through the world and the places we traverse, from wilderness to cities, in finding ourselves or losing ourselves. Written as a series of autobiographical essays, it draws on... On Hashish Walter Benjamin Walter Benjamin's posthumously published collection of writings on hashish is a detailed blueprint for a book that was never written--a "truly exceptional book about hashish," as Benjamin describes it in a letter to his friend Gershom Scholem. A... Berlin Childhood around 1900 Walter Benjamin Begun in Poveromo, Italy, in 1932, and extensively revised in 1938, Berlin Childhood around 1900 remained unpublished during Walter Benjamin's lifetime, one of his "large-scale defeats." Now translated into English for the first time in book form... The Politics of Friendship Jacques Derrida The most influential of contemporary philosophers explores the idea of friendship and its political consequences, past and... Minima Moralia Reflections on a Damaged Life Theodor Adorno A reflection on everyday existence in the "sphere of consumption of late Capitalism," this work is Adorno's literary and philosophical masterpiece. Ethics An Essay on the Understanding of Evil (Wo Es War) Alain Badiou Alain Badiou explodes the facile assumptions behind the recent ethical turn by governments of the West. He shows how our prevailing ethical principles serve to reinforce an ideology of the status quo and ultimately fail to provide a framework... The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory David Macey The most up-to-date and authoritative introduction to critical theory available, this acclaimed dictionary provides an ideal overview of the full range of theories, schools of thought, and theorists. Whether it's Arendt or Woolf, object relations or... <<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>>