Toward a Philosophy of the ACT (Symposia on Latin America Series) [Hardcover]

M. M. Bakhtin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0292765347 | ISBN-13: 978-0292765344 | Publication Date: October 1993 | Edition: 1

Rescued in 1972 from a storeroom in which rats and seeping water had severely damaged the fifty-year-old manuscript, this text is the earliest major work (1919-1921) of the great Russian philosopher M. M. Bakhtin. Toward a Philosophy of the Act contains the first occurrences of themes that occupied Bakhtin throughout his long career. The topics of authoring, responsibility, self and other, the moral significance of "outsideness," participatory thinking, the implications for the individual subject of having "no-alibi in existence," the difference between the world as experienced in actions and the world as represented in discourse--all are broached here in the heat of discovery. This is the "heart of the heart" of Bakhtin, the center of the dialogue between being and language, the world and mind, "the given" and "the created" that forms the core of Bakhtin's distinctive dialogism. A special feature of this work is Bakhtin's struggle with the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Put very simply, this text is an attempt to go beyond Kant's formulation of the ethical imperative. Toward a Philosophy of the Act will be important for scholars across the humanities as they grapple with the increasingly vexed relationship between aesthetics and ethics.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

Product Details

• Hardcover: 106 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1 edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292765347
• ISBN-13: 978-0292765344
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,812,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I have not fully explorede this book . . ., October 3, 2011

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This review is from: Toward a Philosophy of the Act (University of Texas Press Slavic Series) (Paperback)

This seems as if it will be a very good book. Bahktin is always difficult for me and takes time to sink in and become a part of the brain content. It was just what I expected. Service was excellent, as usual.