Deferring the Self

The book is a collection of essays, weaving together psychoanalysis, political theory and art. Ranging from the discussion of Freud, Foucault, Žižek and Agamben, through revealing analyses of politics and memory in contemporary Poland, to a discussion of Foks, Koz?owski, and Opa?ka, the author attempts to develop a new style of humanistic thinking.

Szymon Wróbel is Professor of Philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences and at the Faculty of «Artes Liberales» of the University of Warsaw. He is a psychologist and philosopher interested in contemporary social and political theory and philosophy of language. He has published seven books in Polish and numerous articles in academic journals.

«Szymon Wróbel as a philosopher in turbulent times confronts the reader with the questions that haunt our contempoary, global world: crisis of politics, limits of identity, art of living in a disenchanted world, otherness. In his book he invents the language and instruments, which have been not yet applied to explain, to understand the Polish reality, but he also argues with the most representative thinkers of European and American humanities. I strongly recommend Szymon Wróbel’s book, which is an important intellectual achievement. The originality of his essays, which combine reflection on the most important questions of our contemporary reality with philosophy, social sciences, literature and art, is one of the major advantages of this book. The vast erudition, suggestive language, dialogic way of approaching the problems give to the reader an outstanding opportunity to explore and understand the new articulation of politics, psychoanalysis and art.» (Professor Miros?aw Loba, Institute of Romance Philology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznán). «Szymon Wróbel offers us a smart, erudite, and original collection of essays, weaving together psychoanalysis, political theory, and art. Ranging from the discussion of Freud, Foucault, Žižek or Agamben, through revealing analyses of politics and memory in contemporary Poland, to fascinating discussion of Foks, Libera, Koz?owski or Opa?ka, Szymon Wróbel takes a stab at developing a new style for humanistic thinking. Arguing against the reductive presentation of humanities by cognitive science today, Szymon Wróbel proposes a transdisciplinary model of thinking, where the emphasis falls on the invention of new concepts and ideas deliberately transgressing disciplinary boundaries or idioms. Bright and eloquent, the book invites us to engage in developing further what, in Foucault’s approach, we might call the practice or art of existence.» (Professor Krzysztof Ziarek, Department of Comparative Literature, University at Buffalo).

Contents: The Politics of Reading – Psychoanalysis – Politics – Art – Death Drive – Deconstruction – Repression of Eros – The Concept of the Political – Populism after Trauma – Mourning – Narcissism – Identification with the Leader – Monsters – Fragmentation of Identities – Good Dependence – The Satyr on the Scaffolding – Political Theater – The Border – Words and Images – Zoo as an Asylum – Pleasure – Concepts as Monsters – The Spectacle of Torture – Absolute Authority.