About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherFordham University Press

ISBN-100823224759

ISBN-139780823224753

eBay Product ID (ePID)44186708

Product Key Features

Number of Pages164 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameTargets of Opportunity : on the Militarization of Thinking

Publication Year2005

SubjectMovements / Deconstruction, Media Studies, General

TypeTextbook

AuthorSamuel Weber

Subject AreaLiterary Criticism, Philosophy, Social Science

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.6 in

Item Weight23.5 Oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Edition Number4

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN2005-000953

ReviewsAn extraordinary book by one of our most distinguished literary and cultural theorists. Weber's main theme is that 'targeting' is an effort to overcome finitude-our human condition of being consigned to death, limited to singular times and places, and vulnerable to the workings of chance. By targeting another (at the limit, by killing another) we seek to evade the truth of our own condition. -----Marc Redfield, Claremont Graduate University, These essays bristle with provocative and illuminating insights into the works of Plato, Carl Schmitt, and Walter Benjamin., Sam Weber has, over the years, established himself as one of the major criticalthinkers of our time, a true philosopher of the event and of the medial condition.Weber extends our understanding of cognition and information networksas they have been mobilized in the wake of Sept. 11 and the 'war on terror.'. . . In addition to offering a way around the intellectual impasse of 'terror'as a political construct, the book provides an education in how to thinkphilosophically about life and politics., "Sam Weber has, over the years, established himself as one of the major critical thinkers of our time, a true philosopher of the event and of the medial condition. Weber extends our understanding of cognition and information networks as they have been mobilized in the wake of Sept. 11 and the 'war on terror.' . . . In addition to offering a way around the intellectual impasse of 'terror' as a political construct, the book provides an education in how to think philosophically about life and politics." -----Emily Apter, New York University, "Sam Weber has, over the years, established himself as one of the major critical thinkers of our time, a true philosopher of the event and of the medial condition.Weber extends our understanding of cognition and information networks as they have been mobilized in the wake of Sept. 11 and the 'war on terror.'. . . In addition to offering a way around the intellectual impasse of 'terror'as a political construct, the book provides an education in how to think philosophically about life and politics." --Emily Apter, New York University, Samuel Weber has been one of the most important critical voices within the fields of literary theory, psychoanalysis, philosophy, and media theory for more than thirty years now. He is a luminous, intricate, and preeminently ethical critic whose work has helped define the stakes and tasks of research and scholarship in the humanities during this era of great transformation. . . . What is perhaps most persuasive about this book is its capacity not only to enhance our understanding of the several authors and texts with which it is concerned but also to address and explore some of the most pressing and urgent ethical and historico-political issues of our time, including war, violence, technology, media, nationalism, and sovereignty. That Weber is able to address these contemporary issues through the lens of our literary, philosophical, and psychoanalytic inheritance is perhaps the best testament to his conviction that we can only address the present and facilitate a future by learning to read historically. A richly demanding work, it reaffirms his stature as one of the finest critics inside and outside the academy., Samuel Weber has been one of the most important critical voices within the fields of literary theory, psychoanalysis, philosophy, and media theory for more than thirty years now. He is a luminous, intricate, and preeminently ethical critic whose work has helped define the stakes and tasks of research and scholarship in the humanities during this era of great transformation. . . . What is perhaps most persuasive about this book is its capacity not only to enhance our understanding of the several authors and texts with which it is concerned but also to address and explore some of the most pressing and urgent ethical and historico-political issues of our time, including war, violence, technology, media, nationalism, and sovereignty. That Weber is able to address these contemporary issues through the lens of our literary, philosophical, and psychoanalytic inheritance is perhaps the best testament to his conviction that we can only address the present and facilitate a future by learning to read historically. A richly demanding work, it reaffirms his stature as one of the finest critics inside and outside the academy. -----Eduardo L Cadava,, Princeton University

Dewey Edition22

Dewey Decimal303.6/6

SynopsisThe title of this book echoes a phrase used by the Washington Post to describe the American attempt to kill Saddam Hussein at the start of the war against Iraq. Its theme is the notion of targeting (skopos) as the name of an intentional structure in which the subject tries to confirm its invulnerability by aiming to destroy a target. At the center of the first chapter is Odysseus's killing of the suitors; the second concerns Carl Schmitt's Roman Catholicism and Political Form; the third and fourth treat Freud's "Thoughts for the Times on War and Death" and "The Man Moses and Monotheistic Religion." Weber then traces the emergence of an alternative to targeting, first within military and strategic thinking itself ("Network Centered Warfare"), and then in Walter Benjamin's readings of "Capitalism as Religion" and "Two Poems of Friedrich Hölderlin.", The title of this book echoes a phrase used by the Washington Post to describe the American attempt to kill Saddam Hussein at the start of the war against Iraq. Its theme is the notion of targeting (skopos) as the name of an intentional structure in which the subject tries to confirm its invulnerability by aiming to destroy a target. At the center of the first chapter is Odysseus's killing of the suitors; the second concerns Carl Schmitt's Roman Catholicism and Political Form; the third and fourth treat Freud's Thoughts for the Times on War and Death and The Man Moses and Monotheistic Religion. Weber then traces the emergence of an alternative to targeting, first within military and strategic thinking itself (Network Centered Warfare), and then in Walter Benjamin's readings of Capitalism as Religion and Two Poems of Friedrich Hlderlin., The title of this book echoes a phrase used by the Washington Post to describe the American attempt to kill Saddam Hussein at the start of the war against Iraq. Its theme is the notion of targeting (skopos) as the name of an intentional structure in which the subject tries to confirm its invulnerability by aiming to destroy a target. At the center of the first chapter is Odysseus's killing of the suitors; the second concerns Carl Schmitt's Roman Catholicism and Political Form; the third and fourth treat Freud's "Thoughts for the Times on War and Death" and "The Man Moses and Monotheistic Religion." Weber then traces the emergence of an alternative to targeting, first within military and strategic thinking itself ("Network Centered Warfare"), and then in Walter Benjamin's readings of "Capitalism as Religion" and "Two Poems of Friedrich H lderlin.", The title of this book echoes a phrase used by the Washington Post to describethe American attempt to kill Saddam Hussein at the start of the war againstIraq. Its theme is the notion of targeting (skopos) as the name of an intentionalstructure in which the subject tries to confirm its invulnerability by aiming todestroy a target.

LC Classification NumberB105.W3W43 2005