Paul Rabinow Bücher

Was heißt Anthropologie heute? Wie könnte sich eine Anthropologie gestalten, die sich darum bemüht, der Offenheit des Jetzt gerecht zu werden und die Spielarten des Menschseins in der Gegenwart zu analysieren? Ist die »Lehre vom Menschen« überhaupt noch als eine universale, auf den Menschen ausgerichtete Wissenschaft denkbar? Ausgehend von Max Webers Sorge um die Menschheit in der Moderne, entfaltet Paul Rabinow eine Anthropologie, die ihren Ausgang zum einen bei der Frage nimmt, ob sich von »Menschheit« heutzutage überhaupt noch sinnvoll sprechen läßt, zum anderen aber auch von der ethnographisch fundierten Analyse, was man unter Menschheit heute versteht. Ziel ist die Rehabilitierung der Anthropologie als Gegenstand der Theorie vor dem Hintergrund empirischer Forschung.

Was heißt Aufklärung heute, was Vernunft? Wie begründet sich das Verhältnis zwischen Vernunft und Lebensführung gegenwärtig? Diesen Fragen geht Paul Rabinow in den hier gesammelten Essays ethnographisch nach. Ethnographisch heißt: die Vernunft selbst als ein menschliches, dem Anthropologen zugängliches und also studierbares Feld sozialer Handlung zu begreifen. In konkreten, der Biotechnologie entnommenen Fallstudien fragt Rabinow nach der Vernunft, die in Laborexperimenten oder in Ethikdebatten am Werk ist. Indem er diese jeweilige Vernunft und deren implizite Menschenbilder auf die Lebensführung der Wissenschaftler hin anwendet und befragt, entstehen subtile anthropologische Studien einer biopolitischen Gegenwart.

Drawing on the works of influential thinkers, this book provides conceptual tools for analyzing contemporary practices in life sciences, security, and art. It explores themes such as bioethics, competition in molecular biology, and the evolving nature of ethnographic observation. By connecting philosophical issues to practical explorations, the author demonstrates anthropology's relevance in modern discussions. This work is a significant contribution to the ongoing evolution of anthropology and the human sciences, offering fresh insights into emergent phenomena.

Deals with the challenge of how to design and put into practice strategies for inquiring into the intersections of philosophy and anthropology. The authors explore the contemporary from past works: how to conceptualize, test, and give form to breakdowns of truth and conduct, and how to open up possibilities for the remediation of such breakdowns.

Focusing on the interplay between the concepts of "anthropos" and "logos," this work explores the foundational claims of anthropology. It highlights the discipline's dynamic nature, marked by turbulence and innovation, while addressing the overlooked connections between human existence and knowledge. By examining recent developments in the field, the book aims to deepen understanding of the politics and poetics inherent in anthropological practice, offering a fresh perspective on how these elements can be intertwined.

Exploring Paul Rabinow's innovative approach to anthropology, this collection of essays encourages readers to reconsider the Western understanding of reality. It highlights how commonly accepted truths are tied to specific social practices, revealing their role as social forces. The work delves into Western rationality, particularly through the lens of molecular biology, and poses critical questions about the interplay between scientific practices, ethics, and power dynamics. This fresh perspective aims to deepen the discourse on the implications of scientific inquiry in our understanding of human nature.

Michel Foucault was one of the most influential thinkers in the contemporary world, someone whose work has affected the teaching of half a dozen disciplines ranging from literary criticism to the history of criminology. But of his many books, not one offers a satisfactory introduction to the entire complex body of his work. The Foucault Reader was commissioned precisely to serve that purpose. The Reader contains selections from each area of Foucault's work as well as a wealth of previously unpublished writings, including important material written especially for this volume, the preface to the long-awaited second volume of The History of Sexuality , and interviews with Foucault himself, in the course of which he discussed his philosophy at first hand and with unprecedented candor. This philosophy comprises an astonishing intellectual enterprise: a minute and ongoing investigation of the nature of power in society. Foucault's analyses of this power as it manifests itself in society, schools, hospitals, factories, homes, families, and other forms of organized society are brought together in The Foucault Reader to create an overview of this theme and of the broad social and political vision that underlies it.

Features a series of conversations about the past, present, and future of anthropological knowledge and practice. This book focuses on how anthropology understands its subject and how ethnographic research projects are designed and carried out.