The Madness of Knowledge

Name: The Madness of Knowledge
Brand: Reaktion Books
Price: 56.95 AUD

On Wisdom, Ignorance and Fantasies of Knowing

By: Steven Connor

Write A Review

Hardcover | 15 May 2019

At a Glance

Hardcover
384 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.4 x 15.6 x 3.81

Hardcover

RRP $64.99

$56.95

12%OFF

or 4 interest-free payments of $14.24 with

or

Aims to ship in 10 to 15 business days

Many human beings have considered the powers and the limits of human knowledge, but few have wondered about the power that the idea of knowledge has over us. Steven Connor's The Madness of Knowledge is the first book to investigate this emotional inner life of knowledge — the lusts, fantasies, dreams, and fears that the idea of knowing provokes. There are in-depth discussions of the imperious will to know, of Freud's epistemophilia (or love of knowledge), and the curiously insistent links between madness, magical thinking, and the desire for knowledge.

Connor also probes secrets and revelations, quarreling and the history of quizzes and "general knowledge," charlatanry and pretension, both the violent disdain and the sanctification of the stupid, as well as the emotional investment in the spaces and places of knowledge, from the study to the library. In an age of artificial intelligence, alternative facts, and mistrust of truth, The Madness of Knowledge offers an opulent, enlarging, and sometimes unnerving psychopathology of intellectual life.

About the Author

Steven Connor is the Grace 2 Professor of English and director of the Centre for Research in Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of many books, including The Book of Skin, Fly, The Matter of Air: Science and the Art of the Ethereal, A Philosophy of Sport, and Beyond Words: Sobs, Hums, Stutters and Other Vocalizations, all also published by Reaktion Books.

Industry Reviews

"The Madness of Knowledge challenges the casual belief that there is a thing 'out there, ' solid and observable, which we more or less manage to cram into our brains. . . . Connor's argument--regardless of their truth, our beliefs about knowledge operate in a world of fantasy--is in itself both clear and convincing."-- "Times Literary Supplement"

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.