Bloomsbury Handbook to Slavoj Zizek

Judgements about the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj ?i?ek have been, like ?i?ek himself, extreme. Critics have accused him of charlatanism on the one hand, while others have lauded his genius on the other. But behind the extremes of veneration and disdain, there is a third ?i?ek. A more interesting and nuanced ?i?ek and one who, like no other of his generation, has stimulated philosophical debates that radiate far beyond philosophy's borders into all disciplines of the humanities. He has done so both through his radical materialist reinterpretation of concepts of German idealism, especially Hegel's legacy, and through his combination of Marxist ideology critique with the philosophy of psychoanalysis as developed by Freud and Lacan. With this theoretical background, he has produced more than 50 books focused on classical questions of ontology, epistemology, the philosophy of subjectivity and cultural theory. The Bloomsbury Handbook to Slavoj ?i?ek brings together internationally renowned philosophers who have repeatedly engaged with ?i?ek's philosophy over the past three decades. The chapters of the handbook introduce readers his life, his books, his concepts and present up-to-date research articles on central motives and topics of his philosophy. They thus present not only ways in which his philosophy has affected contemporary theory, but develop also friendly-critically reflections on controversies that ?i?ek's publications and positions have triggered.