Humanist Reason

A History. An Argument. A Plan

Humanist Reason
Eric Hayot
RRP:
NZ$ 47.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 39.59
Paperback
h229 x 152mm - 232pg
16 Feb 2021 US
International import eta 10-30 days
9780231197854
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
Ask just about any humanist, and you will hear that the humanities are in a crisis. Facing utilitarian approaches to education, the corporatization of the university, plummeting enrollments, budget cuts, and political critiques from right, left, and center, humanists find themselves on the defensive. Eric Hayot argues that it is time to make a positive case for what the humanities are and what they can become. Hayot challenges scholars and students in the humanities to rethink and reconsider the work they do. Examining the origins of the humanist ethos in nineteenth-century Germany and tracing its philosophical roots back to Immanuel Kant, Hayot returns to the history of justifications for the humanities in order to build the groundwork for their future development. He develops the concept of ? humanist reason? to understand the nature of humanist intellectual work and lays out a series of principles that undergird this core idea. Together, they constitute a provocative intellectual and practical program for a new way of thinking about the humanities, humanist thought, and their role in the university and beyond. Rather than appealing to familiar ethical or moral rationales for the importance of the humanities, Humanist Reason lays out a new vision that moves beyond traditional disciplines to demonstrate what the humanities can tell us about our world.
Eric Hayot writes so beautifully, and with such breathless command of a central epistemological dilemma, that the book' s excitement reaches well beyond the confines of German philosophy. Witty, thrilling, and even moving in the depth of its commitment, this short book is about nothing less than rethinking the university. -- William Germano, coauthor of Syllabus: The Remarkable, Unremarkable Document That Changes Everything In Humanist Reason, Eric Hayot brings a distinctive mix of chutzpah and erudition to bear on what have seemed to be intractable debates about the role of the humanities in public life, the organization of academic disciplines, and the future of higher education. With clarity of purpose, bravery, and admirable pragmatism, he calls not only for new thinking-but also for new action. -- Rebecca L. Walkowitz, author of Born Translated: The Contemporary Novel in an Age of World Literature The history of the humanities is a catalogue of grand moral claims and ethical exhortations. The humanities shape souls, form democratic citizens, reveal a common humanity. They are said to do whatever they are needed to do for any given group at any given time. With pithy prose, careful argument, and obvious excitement, Hayot casts these mythological accounts aside in order to draw our attention on the practice of humanist reason. By focusing on what humanist scholars do and not what they or their self-appointed spokespeople say they do, he reminds us that whatever consolations and succor the humanities might afford, humanities scholarship is a distinct form of reason that helps us know, understand, and care for this world and the people and objects that constitute it. This book is not another anxious apology or resentful jeremiad about the decline of the humanities. This is a confident and liberating gift that shows us how and why to practice humanist reason now. -- Chad Wellmon, coauthor of Permanent Crisis: The Humanities in a Disenchanted Age Humanist Reason proves that it is possible to launch a full-blown defense of the humanities that is centered not around discrete humanistic results or skills, but around what they contribute to the way in which we view and construct knowledge altogether. * 3 Quarks Daily *
Eric Hayot is distinguished professor of comparative literature and Asian studies at the Pennsylvania State University. His books include The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities (Columbia, 2014) and On Literary Worlds (2012).
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9780231197854
Published: 16 Feb 2021
Published In: United States
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Format: Paperback
Height: 229mm
Width: 152mm
Pages: 232

In stock - for items in stock we aim to dispatch the next business day. For delivery in NZ allow 2-5 business days, with rural taking a wee bit longer.

Locally sourced in NZ - stock comes from a NZ supplier with an approximate delivery of 7-15 business days.

International Imports - stock is imported into NZ, depending on air or sea shipping option from the international supplier stock can take 10-30 working days to arrive into NZ. 

Pre-order Titles - delivery will vary depending on where the title is published, if local stock is available in NZ then 5-7 business days, for international imports it can be 10-30 business days. In all cases we will access the quickest supply option.

Delivery Packaging - we ship all items in cardboard sleeves or by box with either packing paper or corn starch chips. (We avoid using plastics bubble bags)

Tracking - Orders are delivered by track and trace courier and are fully insured, tracking information will be sent by email once dispatched.

View our full Order & Delivery information