The Fragile Absolute: Or, Why the Christian Legacy is Worth Fighting For [Hardcover]

Slavoj Zizek (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wo Es War | Publication Date: April 2000

"From now on, even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way; everything old has passed away, see, everything has become new!" Saint Paul's militant declaration from Corinthians asserts the revolutionary logic of a radical break with the past - with it, the age of cosmic balance and similar pagan babble is over. What does it mean to return to this stance in the modern world. The "Fragile Absolute" asserts that Christianity and Marxism should fight together against the onslaught of new spiritualism. The subversive core of the Christian legacy is much too precious to be left to the fundamentalists. This book offers a contribution from a Marxist to the 2000th anniversary of one who was well aware that to practice love in our world is to bring in the sword and fire.

Editorial Reviews

Review

With his characteristically frenetic and dizzying display of wit, Zizek will entertain and offend, but never bore. -- The Stranger

About the Author

Slavoj Zizek is Senior Researcher at the Institute for Social Studies in Ljubljana. His books include The Sublime Object of Ideology, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Lacan (But were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock), The Plague of Fantasies, and The Ticklish Subject.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Verso Books (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859847706
• ISBN-13: 978-1859847701
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #908,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"The most dangerous philosopher in the West," (says Adam Kirsch of The New Republic) Slavoj Zizek is a Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic. He is a professor at the European Graduate School, International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, Birkbeck College, University of London, and a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. His books include "First as Tragedy, Then as Farce;" "Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle;" "In Defense of Lost Causes;" "Living in the End Times;" and many more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zizek's clearest exposition yet., June 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fragile Absolute: Or, Why the Christian Legacy is Worth Fighting For (Hardcover)

Slovenia's most prolific theorist's newest offering may be the clearest statement of his radical blend of Lacanian psychoanalysis and Marxist social critique. Don't let the title scare you...Zizek has not become a militant fundamentalist. The book argues a shared impetus for change within Christianity (especially vis-a-vis St. Paul) and Marxism and proposes this "kernel" be used to bring these camps together for social good. Peppered with his trademark pop culture illustrations, this book is immensely readable and cogently argued. A great introduction to Zizek's thought.