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Popular Culture As Art and Knowledge
A Critique of Authoritarian Neoliberalism and the Crisis of Democracy
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2019
Summary
This volume settles the debate between analytic and continental philosophy. It turns to art, more specifically popular culture, to demonstrate the validity of continental philosophy. Drawing on the philosophy of Georg Hegel (perhaps the most important of continental philosophers), James Kreines holds that reason in the world metaphysically exists. Reasons of the world are reasons of the Hegelian Absolute. Thus, similar to the fact that gravity is curves in the space-time continuum along which matter moves – reasons are the grooves in the Absolute along which human decision-making occurs. Art allows us to conceptualize, understand, speculate about the grooves (reasons) of the Absolute.
Two key points can be drawn from Kreines’s position: first, normative values are embedded in reality. Thus, in complete contradistinction to analytic philosophy, there is no bifurcation between the empirical and the normative – to exist is to have normative value. Secondly, the role of social science is to cogitate, explore, identify the reasons of the world that shape social, political norms. Such an approach would decisively move the social sciences away from an emphasis on statistically significant patterns of human behavior (e.g., voting studies) and toward an approach that seeks to analyze the reasons of the world that motivate/shape social and political decisions. Art (particularly popular culture) becomes an important source in identifying the way that people reason about the world and how they perceive political elites reasoning in the world.
To adjudicate between continental and analytic philosophy this book on relies on the broadcast iterations of Star Trek, as well as Nazi cinema. With regard to contemporary American politics, in addition to Star Trek, it draws on the television series Game of Thrones, Veep, House of Cards, and The Man in the High Castle. Popular culture is germane to philosophy and contemporary politics because television/movie creators frequently try to attract viewers by conveying authentic philosophical and political motifs. Conversely, viewers seek out authentic movies and television shows. This is in contrast to opinion surveys (for instance), as the formation of the data begins with the surveyor seeking to directly solicit an opinion – however impromptu or shallow.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2019
ISBN-Print
978-1-4985-8977-2
ISBN-Online
978-1-4985-8978-9
Publisher
Lexington, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
118
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
Introduction No access
Chapter One. Deconstruction versus Reason in the World No access Pages 1 - 12
Chapter Two. The Absolute and Nazi Cinema No access Pages 13 - 30
Chapter Three. Star Trek, Scientism, the Progressive Dialectic, and the Pre-Theoretical No access Pages 31 - 38
Chapter Four. Star Trek and the Ontology of Things No access Pages 39 - 48
Chapter Five. Star Trek, Love, and Instrumental Reason No access Pages 49 - 60
Chapter Six. Justice as Dialectic: Blue Bloods versus Dirty Harry No access Pages 61 - 70
Chapter Seven. Nazi Takeover of America: The Man in the High Castle and Star Trek No access Pages 71 - 86
Chapter Eight. Post-9/11 Politics on Television: Veep, House of Cards, Game of Thrones, and Star Trek: Enterprise No access Pages 87 - 98
Conclusion. Art as Knowledge of Metaphysics and Politics No access Pages 99 - 102
