The Birth of Theory

Moderntheoryneedsahistorylesson.NeitherMarxnorNietzschefirstgaveustheory--Hegeldid.Tosupportthiscontention,AndrewCole'sTheBirthofTheorypresentsarefreshinglyclearandlivelyaccountoftheoriginsandlegacyofHegel'sdialecticastheory.ColeexplainshowHegelboldlybrokefrommodernphilosophywhenheadoptedmedievaldialecticalhabitsofthoughttofashionhisowndialectic.Whilehiscontemporariesrejectedpremoderndialecticasoutdateddogma,Hegelembracedbothitsemphasisonlanguageasthoughtanditsfascinationwiththecategoriesofidentityanddifference,creatingwhatwenowrecognizeastheory,disctinctfromsystematicphilosophy.Notcontentmerelytochangephilosophy,Hegelalsousedthisdialectictoexposethepersistentarchaismofmodernlifeitself,Coleshows,establishingamethodofsocialanalysisthathasinfluencedeveryonefromMarxandthenineteenth-centuryHegelians,toNietzscheandBakhtin,allthewaytoDeleuzeandJameson.Byuncoveringthesetheoreticalfiliationsacrosstime,TheBirthofTheorywillnotonlychangethewaywereadHegel,butalsothewaywethinkaboutthehistoriesoftheory.Withchaptersthatpowerfullyreanimatetheoverlyfamiliartopicsofideology,comodityfetishism,andpoliticaleconomy,alongwithagroundbreakingreinterpretationofHegel'sfamousmaster/slavedialectic,TheBirthofTheoryplacesthedisciplinesofphilosophy,literature,andhistoryinconversationwithoneanotherinanunprecedentedway.DaringtoreconciletheswornenemiesofHegelianismandDeleuzianism,thistimelybookwillrevitalizedialiecticsforthetwenty-firstcentury.