{"product_id":"9780472023196","title":"An Utterly Dark Spot: Gaze and Body in Early Modern Philosophy","description":"Slovenian philosopher Miran Bozovic's \u003ci\u003eAn Utterly Dark Spot\u003c\/i\u003e examines the elusive status of the body in early modern European philosophy by examining its various encounters with the gaze. Its range is impressive, moving from the Greek philosophers and theorists of the body (Aristotle, Plato, Hippocratic medical writers) to early modern thinkers (Spinoza, Leibniz, Malebranche, Descartes, Bentham) to modern figures including Jon Elster, Lacan, Althusser, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen J. Gould, and others. Bozovic provides startling glimpses into various foreign mentalities haunted by problems of divinity, immortality, creation, nature, and desire, provoking insights that invert familiar assumptions about the relationship between mind and body.\u003cbr\u003e The perspective is Lacanian, but Bozovic explores the idiosyncrasies of his material (e.g., the bodies of the Scythians, the transvestites transformed and disguised for the gaze of God; or Adam's body, which remained unseen as long as it was the only one in existence) with an attention to detail that is exceptional among Lacanian theorists. The approach makes for engaging reading, as Bozovic stages imagined encounters between leading thinkers, allowing them to converse about subjects that each explored, but in a different time and place. While its focus is on a particular problem in the history of philosophy, \u003ci\u003eAn Utterly Dark Spot\u003c\/i\u003e will appeal to those interested in cultural studies, semiotics, theology, the history of religion, and political philosophy as well.\u003cbr\u003e Miran Bozovic is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eDer grosse Andere: Gotteskonzepte in der Philosophie der Neuzeit\u003c\/i\u003e (Vienna: Verlag Turia \u0026amp; Kant, 1993) and editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Panopticon Writings\u003c\/i\u003e by Jeremy Bentham (London: Verso, 1995).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Michigan Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47103860834544,"sku":"9780472023196","price":54.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780472023196_p0.jpg?v=1763707936","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780472023196","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}