SUNY Press Catalog - Spring 2009 - (Page 30) philosophy Cannavo #3 11/05/08 PMS 2747C / PMS 207C QUANTUM THEOrY ErOS AND ETHICS m a rc de k e se l | translated by sig i jöttka n dt Quantum Theory a philosopher’s overview a Philosopher’s Overview Salvator Cannavo Explores what can be known within quantum theory, with special emphasis on the difference between prediction and explanation. Eros and Ethics r e a d i n g j a c q u e s l a c a n’s s e m i n a r v i i Reading Jacques lacan’s Seminar Vii Marc De Kesel Translated by Sigi Jöttkandt A comprehensive examination of Lacan’s seminar on ethics. de kesel Eros and Ethics In straightforward and nontechnical language, a philosopher of science goes to the very heart of what is still the central subject in modern physics, namely, quantum theory, with its astonishing ability to predict—yet not explain. There, he encounters and unravels the maze of bewildering puzzles that, for nearly a century, have locked our most eminent theoreticians in a whirlpool of ongoing controversy. Salvator Cannavo breaks radically with this tradition of searching for a generally acceptable interpretation of quantum theory by urging a complete withdrawal from the fray. In doing so, he first highlights the now established adjunctive role of quantum theory in the elaboration of string theory and other developing branches of explanatory physical theory, and then recommends a new focus for the channeling of creative effort in contemporary theoretical physics. salvator cannavo In Eros and Ethics, Marc De Kesel patiently exposes the lines of thought underlying Jacques Lacan’s often complex and cryptic reasoning regarding ethics and morality in his seventh seminar, The Ethics of Psychoanalysis (1959–1960). In this seminar, Lacan arrives at a rather perplexing conclusion: that which, over the ages, has been supposed to be “the supreme good” is in fact nothing but “radical evil”; therefore, the ultimate goal of human desire is not happiness and self-realization, but destruction and death. And yet, Lacan hastens to add, the morality based on this conclusion is far from being melancholic or tragic. Rather, it results in an encouraging ethics that for the first time in history gives full moral weight to the erotic. De Kesel’s close reading uncovers the real scope of Lacan’s criticism regarding the moralizing ethics of our time, and is one of the rare books that gives the reader full access to the letter of the Lacanian text. Marc De Kesel is Senior Researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Sigi Jöttkandt is coeditor of S: Journal of the Jan van Eyck Circle for Lacanian Ideology Critique and researcher in the Theory Department at Jan van Eyck Academie, the Netherlands. A volume in the SUNY series, Insinuations: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Literature Charles Shepherdson, editor MAY • 352 pp $75.00 jacketed hc 978-1-4384-2609-9 www.sunypress.edu Salvator Cannavo is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. He is the author of Think to Win: The Power of Logic in Everyday Life and Nomic Inference: An Introduction to the Logic of Scientific Inquiry. MArCH • 176 pp $60.00 jacketed hc 978-0-7914-9347-2 directtext dt e directtext dt 30 e P “This concise, accurate, and compelling account of quantum theory development over the past one hundred years issues a challenge to reformulate quantum theory. It’s a daunting move and will have its detractors for sure, but those who are intimately involved in the field knew this was coming. Cannavo’s book will force the issue, and hopefully result in wide-ranging discourse about how to proceed. We may even be lucky enough to be part of it!” — Hank Keeton, coeditor of Physics and Whitehead: Quantum, Process, and Experience P http://www.sunypress.edu http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61817 http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61753
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