Though contemporary European philosophy and critical theory have long had a robust engagement with Christianity, there has been no similar engagement with Buddhism-a surprising lack, given Buddhism's global reach and obvious affinities with much of Continental philosophy. This volume fills that gap, bringing together three scholars to offer individual, distinct, yet complementary philosophical takes on Buddhism. Focused on "nothing"-essential to Buddhism, of course, but also a key concept in critical theory from Hegel and Marx through deconstruction, queer theory, and contemporary speculative philosophy-the book explores different ways of rethinking Buddhism's nothing. Through an elaboration of "sunyata," or emptiness, in both critical and Buddhist traditions; an examination of the problem of praxis in Buddhism, Marxism, and psychoanalysis; and an explication of a "Buddaphobia" that is rooted in modern anxieties about nothingness, Marcus Boon, Eric Cazdyn, and Timothy Morton open up new spaces in which the radical cores of Buddhism and critical theory are renewed and revealed.
About the AuthorMarcus Boon is professor of English at York University in Toronto. Eric Cazdyn is the Distinguished Professor of Aesthetics and Politics at the University of Toronto. Timothy Morton is the Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Book InformationISBN 9780226233260
Author Marcus BoonFormat Paperback
Page Count 296
Imprint University of Chicago PressPublisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 397g
Dimensions(mm) 22mm * 14mm * 2mm