Bodies of Thought by Ian Burkitt
In this incisive and truly impressive book, Ian Burkitt critically addresses the dualism between mind and body, thought and emotion, rationality and irrationality, and the mental and the material, which haunt the post-Cartesian world. Drawing on the work of contemporary social theorists and feminist writers, he argues that thought and the sense of being a person is inseparable from bodily practices within social relations, even though such active experience may be abstracted and expanded upon through the use of symbols. Overcoming classic dualisms in social thought, Burkitt argues that bodies are not purely the constructs of discourses of power: they are also productive, communicative, and invested with powerful capacities for changing the social and natural worlds. He goes on to consider how such powers can be developed in more ethical forms of relations and activities.
`The work develops and articulates a brilliant and original central thesis; namely that modern individuals are best understood as complex bodies of thought, as embodied symbolic and material beingsFuture work on mind, self, body, society and culture will have to begin with Burkitt′s text′ - Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois
`After his excellent Social Selves, Ian Burkitt has produced a new theory of embodiment which will become required reading for those working in the areas of social theory, sociology, cultural studies and social psychology. Steering between constructionist and realist theories of the social actor, Bodies of Thought provides an innovative assessment of Foucaultian, Eliasian, and feminist approaches to the body and a sustained critique of Cartesian notions of the subject′ - Chris Shilling, University of Portsmouth
Ian Burkitt is in the Department of Social and Economic Studies, University of Bradford
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780803988491 |
| ISBN 10 | 0803988494 |
| Title | Bodies of Thought |
| Author | Ian Burkitt |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Sage Publications Ltd |
| Year published | 1999-07-26 |
| Number of pages | 176 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |