Overview

Theory Does Not Exist: Comparative Ancient and Modern Explorations in Psychoanalysis, Deconstruction, and Rhetoric is a collection of essays that makes a strong case for a comparative approach to what we term 'theory' today. It argues that our disciplinary boundaries create artificial divisions between philosophy, rhetoric, and literature, which historically would not have been recognised and which have come to function as conceptual straitjackets. These essays contend that a concerted engagement with the crucial texts in these debates over the last 2500 years not only offers a better understanding of the issues involved but also provides the necessary political, ethical, and existential tools for fashioning a better and more inclusive life. Theory Does Not Exist offers a full-throated defence of the humanities and crucial counterarguments against the reduction of education to the vocational and the operational.

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9781839990854

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Reviews

‘A rich and distinctive collection of related essays by an erudite comparatist who moves with ease between classics and contemporaries. Miller is in a far better position than most to elucidate and critique modern theoretical, critical, and philological engagements of (mainly) the powerful French theorists from the 1960s to today with the likes of Plato and Cicero. With acuity, verve, and wit, Miller explores the precarious boundaries of philosophy, literature, and rhetoric in and through what got to be called theory. The performance of Miller’s text is a compelling, embodied argument of and for the impertinence of such boundaries.’ —Ian G. Balfour, Professor Emeritus of English and Social & Political Thought, York University, Canada. ‘Paul Allen Miller has changed the humanities by unconventionally bringing together antiquity and modernity, by illustrating not only the deep engagement of postmodern thinkers with the classical past but also how ancient philosophy and poetry preview and enact before our eyes the concerns and ideas of postmodernism. What he has accomplished in his career is prodigious. In the essays gathered here, both rigorous and magnificently adventurous, he integrates the philosophical and the literary in surprising ways, brilliantly demonstrating the political power of critical theoretical thinking in our times.’ —Mario Telò, Department of Comparative Literature, University of California, USA. ‘In twelve essays of dazzling erudition, intellectual sophistication, and argumentative panache, Paul Allen Miller makes a timely defense of the humanities as fields of study that investigate the possibility of meaning and the meaning of truth. Theory does not exist as a bounded space of reflection, but as open-ended dialogues between historically and culturally nuanced discourses that shape both our self-awareness and a truly democratic ethos.’ —Zina Giannopoulou, Associate Professor, Classics | European Languages and Studies | Religious Studies, University of California, Irvine, USA.

‘A rich and distinctive collection of related essays by an erudite comparatist who moves with ease between classics and contemporaries. Miller is in a far better position than most to elucidate and critique modern theoretical, critical, and philological engagements of (mainly) the powerful French theorists from the 1960s to today with the likes of Plato and Cicero. With acuity, verve, and wit, Miller explores the precarious boundaries of philosophy, literature, and rhetoric in and through what got to be called theory. The performance of Miller’s text is a compelling, embodied argument of and for the impertinence of such boundaries.’ —Ian Balfour, Professor Emeritus of English and Social & Political Thought, York University, Canada. ‘Paul Allen Miller has changed the humanities by unconventionally bringing together antiquity and modernity, by illustrating not only the deep engagement of postmodern thinkers with the classical past but also how ancient philosophy and poetry preview and enact before our eyes the concerns and ideas of postmodernism. What he has accomplished in his career is prodigious. In the essays gathered here, both rigorous and magnificently adventurous, he integrates the philosophical and the literary in surprising ways, brilliantly demonstrating the political power of critical theoretical thinking in our times.’ —Mario Telò, Department of Comparative Literature, University of California, USA. ‘In twelve essays of dazzling erudition, intellectual sophistication, and argumentative panache, Paul Allen Miller makes a timely defense of the humanities as fields of study that investigate the possibility of meaning and the meaning of truth. Theory does not exist as a bounded space of reflection, but as open-ended dialogues between historically and culturally nuanced discourses that shape both our self-awareness and a truly democratic ethos.’ —Zina Giannopoulou, Associate Professor, Classics | European Languages and Studies | Religious Studies, University of California, Irvine, USA.

Author Information

Paul Allen Miller is Carolina Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina and Distinguished Guest Professor at Ewha Womans University. He has authored 10 books and numerous articles.

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