Ethics of the Real

Download or read book Ethics of the Real written by Alenka Zupančič and published by Verso. This book was released on 2000 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea of Kantian ethics is both simple and revolutionary: it proposes a moral law independent of any notion of a pre-establishment of fear. In attempting to interpret sucha a revcolutionary proposition in a more 'humane' light, and to turn Kant into our contemporary—someone who can help us with our own ethical dilemmas—many Kantian scholars have glossed over its apparent paradoxes and impossible claims. This book is concerned with doing exactly the opposite. Kant, thank God, is not our contemporary; he stands against the grain of our times. Lacan on the face of it appears to be the very antithesis of Kant—the wild theorist of psychoanalysis compared to the sober Enlightenment figure. His concept of the Real, however, provides perhaps the most useful backdrop to this new interpretation of Kantian ethics. Constantly juxtaposing her readings of the two philosophers, Alenka Zupancic summons up and 'ethics of the Real', and clears the ground for a radical restoration of the disruptive element in ethics.