CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY

NEW

The Power of Art MARKUS GABRIEL University of Bonn ‘Few living philosophers can match Markus Gabriel in breadth of interest and competence. Here he defends the radical autonomy of art.’ Graham Harman, author of Art and Objects We live in an era of aesthetics. Art has become both pervasive and powerful – it is displayed not only in museums and galleries but also on the walls of corporations and it is increasingly fused with design. But what makes art so powerful, and of what does its power consist? According to a widespread view, the power of art – its beauty – lies in the eye of the beholder. What counts as art appears to be a function of individual acts of evaluation supported by powerful institutions. On this account, the power of art stems from a force that is not itself aesthetic, such as the art market and the financial power of speculators. Art expresses, in a disguised form, the power of something else – like money – that lies behind it. In one word, art has lost its autonomy. In this short book, Markus Gabriel rejects this view. He argues that art is essentially uncontrollable. It is in the nature of the work of art to be autonomous to such a degree that the art world will never manage to overpower it. Ever since the cave paintings of Lascaux, art has taken hold of the human mind and implemented itself in our very being. Thanks to the emergence of art we became human beings, that is, beings who lead their lives in light of an image of the human being and its position in the world and in relation to other species. Due to its structural, ontological power, art itself is and remains radically autonomous. Yet, this power is highly ambiguous, as we cannot control its unfolding. In this book, a leading proponent of new realism applies this philosophical perspective to art to create a new aesthetic realism. 190 x 124mm • 102 pages • UK June 2020, US September 2020 HB • 978-1-5095-4096-9 • £35.00 / $45.00 / €42.90 PB • 978-1-5095-4097-6 • £9.99 / $12.95 / €12.90 ebook available

Neo-Existentialism MARKUS GABRIEL ‘Markus Gabriel has a radical and deeply interesting conception of what philosophical picture we should form of our situation, a conception which has roots in classical German philosophy and retrieves a powerful but neglected portion of the existentialist legacy. This book weighs the familiar claims of naturalism and anti-naturalism in new terms and puts forward an original proposal for exiting from the deadlock to which they all too often lead.’ Sebastian Gardner, University College London In this highly original book, Markus Gabriel presents ‘Neo-Existentialism’, an anti-naturalist view that holds that human mindedness consists in an open-ended proliferation of mentalistic vocabularies. Challenged by Charles Taylor, Andrea Kern and Jocelyn Benoist, Gabriel deftly refutes naturalism’s metaphysical claim to epistemic exclusiveness. 216 x 138mm • 144 pages • 2018 HB • 978-1-5095-3247-6 • £45.00 / $59.95 / €55.90 PB • 978-1-5095-3248-3 • £12.99 / $16.95 / €15.90 ebook available

NEW

The Limits of Epistemology MARKUS GABRIEL Translated by Alex Englander ‘Markus Gabriel builds bridges between the philosophical traditions. His new way of philosophizing combines a hermeneutic perspective with precise analytical reasoning and method. This book points in the direction of future philosophical theory-building in epistemology and ontology.’ Anton Friedrich Koch, University of Heidelberg At the centre of modern epistemology lurks the problem of scepticism: how can we know that the forms of our cognition are compatible with the world? In this book, by distinguishing different forms of scepticism, Markus Gabriel shows how we can begin to grasp the limits of the modern project of epistemology. 229 x 152mm • 384 pages • UK November 2019, US January 2020 HB • 978-1-5095-2566-9 • £60.00 / $79.95 / €73.90 PB • 978-1-5095-2567-6 • £19.99 / $28.95 / €24.90 ebook available

I AM NOT A BRAIN

I am Not a Brain Philosophy of Mind for the 21st Century MARKUS GABRIEL Translated by Christopher Turner ‘Gabriel’s engaging, accessible and incisive introduction to the philosophy of mind tackles the deep problems raised by both classical thinkers and modern neuroscience. Bringing the zombies and homunculi of the philosophical debates together with the Daleks and Fargo, it is as illuminating as it is enjoyable.’ Sacha Golob, King’s College London In this book, philosopher Markus Gabriel challenges an increasing trend in science towards neurocentrism, the assumption that the self is identical to the brain. In a sharp critique, he presents a new defense of the free will and provides a timely introduction to philosophical thought about the self – with verve, humour and surprising insights. 229 x 152mm • 256 pages • 2017 HB • 978-1-5095-1475-5 • £55.00 / $69.95 / €67.90 PB • 978-1-5095-3872-0 • £12.99 / $16.95 / €15.90 ebook available

MARKUS GABRIEL

Why the World Does Not Exist MARKUS GABRIEL Translated by Gregory Moss ‘Gabriel has written a gripping thriller, which is of course what all good philosophy should be.’ Die Literarische Welt Where do we come from? Are we merely a cluster of elementary particles in a gigantic world receptacle? And what does it all mean? In this highly original new book, philosopher Markus Gabriel challenges our notion of what exists and what it means to exist. 216 x 138mm • 256 pages • 2015 HB • 978-0-7456-8756-8 • £55.00 / $69.95 / €67.90 PB • 978-0-7456-8757-5 • £12.99 / $16.95 / €15.90 ebook available

WWW.POLITYBOOKS.COM 22