Mapping the Present: Heidegger, Foucault and the Project of a Spatial History

by Stuart Elden

Overview

In a late interview, Foucault, suggested that Heidegger was for him the "essential philosopher." Taking this claim seriously, Mapping the Present assesses the relationship between these two thinkers, particularly on the issue of space and history. It suggests that space and history need to be rethought, and combined as a spatial history, rather than as a history of space. In other words, space should become not merely an object of analysis, but a tool of analysis.The first half of the book concentrates on Heidegger: from the early occlusion of space, through the politically charged readings of Nietzsche and Holderlin, to the later work on art, technology and the polis which accord equal status to issues of spatiality. Foucault's work is then rethought in the light of the analysis of Heidegger, and the project of a spatial history established through re-readings of his works on madness and discipline..

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441136558
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	01/01/2002
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	232
File size:	18 MB
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About the Author

Stuart Elden is a Professor of Political Geography at Durham University.

Editorial Reviews

" excellent study It is a rich and complex book, which is at once an interpretation of Heidegger and Foucault, an argument for the importance of Heidegger for understanding Foucault and a forceful case for the claim that Foucault's Nietzsche is a Nietzsche mediated by Heidegger it is an amazing book in the sense that it can handle such a variety of topics, and thinkers and issues and so many layers of argument in a concise, readable and yet immaculate manner. Stuart Elden is a master of brevity. The main body of the book is supplemented by nearly fifty pages of notes and an excellent bibliography that will be of great help to those who want to pursue the issues of their interest further, leaving the book accessible to the 'general' reader." The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 2005--Sanford Lakoff

"A marvellous book critical and generous, clear and sophisticated, wise and witty. For those interested in the project of a spatial history, Elden has opened up wholly new ways of thinking about (and working with) Heidegger and Foucault that are alert to the philosophical and theoretical complexities of their writings and to the political and ethical responsibilities of a history of the present." Derek Gregory

"Offers a powerful reinterpretation of Foucault and reveals the frequently neglected significance of the work of Heidegger to Foucault's intellectual project. Mapping the Present provides analytically rigorous yet accessible reinterpretations of relevant works of both Foucault and Heidegger and demonstrates the crucial importance of spatial relations in the exercise of modern forms of power." Barry Smart

"A marvellous book--critical and generous, clear and sophisticated, wise and witty. For those interested in the project of a spatial history, Elden has opened up wholly new ways of thinking about (and working with) Heidegger and Foucault that are alert to the philosophical and theoretical complexities of their writings and to the political and ethical responsibilities of a history of the present."--Derek Gregory

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