*Take $10 off when you spend $50+! Use code NEWYEAR10. Ends Mon 5 Jan. T&Cs apply.
Track My Order
Help Centre
Likes
My Wish ListsLogin / Join
Booktopia
Australia's local bookstore
Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Sustaining Affirmation : The Strengths of Weak Ontology in Political Theory - Stephen K. White

Sustaining Affirmation

The Strengths of Weak Ontology in Political Theory

By: Stephen K. White

Paperback | 4 December 2000

At a Glance

Paperback

RRP $72.99

$60.99

16%OFF

or 4 interest-free payments of $15.25 with

 or 

Ships in 3 to 5 business days

In light of many recent critiques of Western modernity and its conceptual foundations, the problem of adequately justifying our most basic moral and political values looms large. Without recourse to traditional ontological or metaphysical foundations, how can one affirm--or sustain--a commitment to fundamentals? The answer, according to Stephen White, lies in a turn to "weak" ontology, an approach that allows for ultimate commitments but at the same time acknowledges their historical, contestable character. This turn, White suggests, is already underway. His book traces its emergence in a variety of quarters in political thought today and offers a clear and compelling account of what this might mean for our late modern self-understanding.

As he elaborates the idea of weak ontology and the broad criteria behind it, White shows how these are already at work in the thought of contemporary writers of seemingly very different perspectives: George Kateb, Judith Butler, Charles Taylor, and William Connolly. Among these thinkers, often thought to be at odds, he exposes the commonalities that emerge around the idea of weak ontology. In its identification of a critical turn in political theory, and its nuanced explanation of that turn, his book both demonstrates and underscores the strengths of weak ontology.

Industry Reviews
"This is an excellent and refreshing book whose brevity and modest tone belie its substantial achievement."--Patchen Markell, Ethics "A timely contribution to the contemporary debates regarding democracy, pluralism, and the limits of political liberalism."--Brett T. Wilmot, The Journal of Religion "Sustaining Affirmation is a highly original project that is brilliantly executed and leaves recent political thought looking different than in any other of our current attempts to understand it."--Morton Schoolman, American Political Science Review "This thoughtful and timely work consists of close engagements with four influential contemporary political thinkers. The book will be valuable for students of these thinkers, to the thinkers themselves, and to anyone interested in the question of how to think about morals and politics in these late modern times."--Richard E. Flathman, Journal of Politics "A powerful vision of the world and a sustaining vision of what human beings can get from that world. It has been a long time since a book made me think and rethink so much. One could not ask for more."--Simone Chambers, Constellations

You Can Find This Book In

Non-FictionPhilosophySocial & Political PhilosophyPolitics & GovernmentPolitical Science & TheoryMetaphysics & Ontology

More in Social & Political Philosophy

Liberalism as a Way of Life - Alexandre Lefebvre

Liberalism as a Way of Life

Paperback

$32.75

Against the Machine : On the Unmaking of Humanity - Paul Kingsnorth

Against the Machine

On the Unmaking of Humanity

Hardcover

RRP $55.00

$42.75

22%
OFF
Quantum History : A New Materialist Philosophy - Slavoj Zizek

Quantum History

A New Materialist Philosophy

Hardcover

RRP $40.00

$38.75

The War on the West : How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason - Douglas Murray

The War on the West

How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason

Paperback

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
The Republic : Penguin Classics - Plato

The Republic

Penguin Classics

Paperback

RRP $17.99

$16.75

The Prince : Penguin Pocket Hardbacks - Niccolo Machiavelli

The Prince

Penguin Pocket Hardbacks

Paperback

RRP $14.99

$12.75

15%
OFF
Discipline and Punish : The Birth of the Prison - Michel Foucault

Discipline and Punish

The Birth of the Prison

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$20.75

23%
OFF
Who's Afraid of Gender? - Judith Butler

Who's Afraid of Gender?

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF

This product is categorised by