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Asking "What Next?" A New Book on Postmodernist Thought by Tom de Zengotita
Congratulations to longtime Big Dalton interdisciplinary teacher Tom de Zengotita on the recent publication of his new book, Postmodern Theory and Progressive Politics: Toward a New Humanism (PTaPP). As anyone who has studied under him can attest, Dr. de Zengotita has a way of making accessible some of the most notoriously difficult texts in intellectual history—bringing them to life and bringing them to bear on life. The same could be said for this monumental new text.
Equal parts history, theory, and “anecdotal biography”, PTaPP works as a primer on modern and postmodern philosophy while keeping a steady eye toward their public purpose and without getting too lost in the weeds. At its heart, de Zengotita aims to equip the coming generation of serious students in the humanities with a robust sense of how we got to where we are as academics in those disciplines. Accordingly, if we’re to create a truly inclusive universal humanism, de Zengotita asserts, what we most need is
And it does supply. If, in an effort to make sense of the craziness that currently typifies American politics and life, you find yourself looking for a way to step back and ask big questions like the ones above—questions that place our tiny moment in its proper historical and anthropological context—look no further. It’s an extraordinary book by an extraordinary teacher. Postmodern Theory and Progressive Politics is currently available in the Dalton library. Congratulations, professor!
PS: Here’s a link to the book’s website: https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319906881
PPS: The price for the hardcover is an obvious budget-buster but a paperback will appear eventually. Sections of the book can be downloaded as well.
Story provided by Zachary Terrell
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a way to assess [our] inheritance as a whole and for [our]selves. Without that basic historical orientation, students at the university level tend to drift—borne along by currents flowing from accidental encounters with particular teachers and topics that happened to catch their interest until professional requirements oblige them to specialize. That leaves the humanities as a whole unable to contend with a question only the humanities can ask seriously: what next? What next for the meaning of being human in a world growing more incomprehensible and vulnerable every day? There presently exists no account of our recent intellectual history designed to provide that orientation. This book is intended to supply that lack. (de Zengotita, 3)
And it does supply. If, in an effort to make sense of the craziness that currently typifies American politics and life, you find yourself looking for a way to step back and ask big questions like the ones above—questions that place our tiny moment in its proper historical and anthropological context—look no further. It’s an extraordinary book by an extraordinary teacher. Postmodern Theory and Progressive Politics is currently available in the Dalton library. Congratulations, professor!
PS: Here’s a link to the book’s website: https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319906881
PPS: The price for the hardcover is an obvious budget-buster but a paperback will appear eventually. Sections of the book can be downloaded as well.
Story provided by Zachary Terrell
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