{"product_id":"spinoza-the-epicurean-authority-and-utility-in-materialism-9781474476058","title":"Spinoza, the Epicurean: Authority and Utility in Materialism","description":"Through a radical new reading of the 'Theological Political Treatise', Dimitris Vardoulakis argues that the major source of Spinoza's materialism is the Epicurean tradition that re-emerges in modernity when manuscripts by Epicurus and Lucretius are rediscovered. This reconsideration of Spinoza's political project, set within a historical context, lays the ground for an alternative genealogy of materialism. Central to this new reading of Spinoza are the theory of practical judgment (understood as the calculation of utility) and its implications for a theory of democracy that is resolutely positioned against authority.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eDimitris Vardoulakis is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Doppelg?nger: Literature's Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e (Fordham University Press, 2010), \u003ci\u003eSovereignty and its Other: Toward the Dejustification of Violence\u003c\/i\u003e (Fordham UP, 2013), \u003ci\u003eFreedom from the Free Will: On Kafka's Laughter\u003c\/i\u003e (SUNY, 2016) and \u003ci\u003eStasis Before the State: Nine Theses on Agonistic Democracy\u003c\/i\u003e (Fordham University Press, 2018). He has also edited or co-edited numerous books, including \u003ci\u003eSpinoza Now\u003c\/i\u003e(University of Minnesota Press, 2011) and \u003ci\u003eSpinoza's Authority\u003c\/i\u003e (2 volumes, Bloomsbury, 2018). He is the director of \"Thinking Out Loud: The Sydney Lectures in Philosophy and Society\" and is co-series editor of \u003ci\u003eIncitements\u003c\/i\u003e at Edinburgh University Press.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Edinburgh University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50863829582098,"sku":"9781474476058","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f0ce782b-68ec-459c-a451-d0f571a77612.jpg?v=1737646655","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/spinoza-the-epicurean-authority-and-utility-in-materialism-9781474476058","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}