Critique and Praxis

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Pub Date 11 Aug 2020 | Archive Date 03 Nov 2020

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Description

Critical philosophy has always questioned the division between theory and practice. At its best, it aims to turn contemplation into emancipation, seeking to transform society in pursuit of the flourishing of humanity. Yet today’s critical theorists often seem to engage only in critique. These times of crises demand more. No philosophical school is better equipped to deal with the challenges of the present. But how can we rethink critique in order to redirect it outward toward changing the world?

In Critique and Praxis, Bernard E. Harcourt challenges us to move beyond the complacency of decades of philosophical detours and to harness critical thought to the need for action. In a time of increasing awareness of economic and social inequality, of the privileges of some and the deprivations of the many, Harcourt calls on us to make society more equal and just. Only critical theory can guide us toward a more concerted and self-reflexive pursuit of justice. Charting a vision for political action and social transformation, Harcourt argues that instead of answering the question, “What is to be done?” we must now turn it back onto ourselves and ask, “What more am I to do?”

Critique and Praxis advocates for a new path forward that constantly challenges each and every one of us to ask what more we can do to realize a society based on equality and justice. Joining his decades of activism, social-justice litigation, and political engagement with his career of critical theory and philosophical work, Harcourt has written a magnum opus.

Bernard E. Harcourt is the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law and professor of political science at Columbia University and a chaired professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. An editor of Michel Foucault’s work in French and English, Harcourt is the author of several books, including The Counterrevolution: How Our Government Went to War Against Its Own Citizens (2018) and The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order (2011). He is a social-justice litigator and the recipient of the 2019 Norman Redlich Capital Defense Distinguished Service Award from the New York City Bar Association for his longtime advocacy on behalf of death row prisoners.

Critical philosophy has always questioned the division between theory and practice. At its best, it aims to turn contemplation into emancipation, seeking to transform society in pursuit of the...


Advance Praise

"With his typical combination of erudition, eloquent argument, and theoretical clarity, Bernard Harcourt now gives us a complete account of his reading of contemporary critical philosophy, articulating it with immediate issues in the field of human rights and democratic politics. A tour de force which will give readers much to learn and much to think. I will have it permanently on my desk, or not far."

-Étienne Balibar, author of Secularism and Cosmopolitanism: Critical Hypotheses on Religion and Politics

"With his typical combination of erudition, eloquent argument, and theoretical clarity, Bernard Harcourt now gives us a complete account of his reading of contemporary critical philosophy...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9780231195720
PRICE $40.00 (USD)

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Featured Reviews

Critique and Praxis is a serious book. It's hefty, and it's weighty. Critique and Praxis relied too much on its reader being up to date on current Critical Theory debate. I haven't been a part of that conversation so much of the book was over my head. In addition, the author spent a lot of time reassuring the reader that he wasn't trying to tell anyone what to do only what he felt he needed to do. This dragged on too much for me.

The author has expertise in this area, and the subject is a good one. How do we turn our critiques into practical purposes. However, it failed to drag me in. The introduction was still going strong at about 50 pages, and my patience had worn thin. I'm sure if I had been better read on the current state of Critical Theory, my opinion would be different. I didn't finish the book.

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