{"product_id":"forms-of-life-andreas-gailus-9781501749803","title":"Forms of Life: Aesthetics and Biopolitics in German Culture","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eForms of Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, Andreas Gailus argues that the neglect of aesthetics in most contemporary theories of biopolitics has resulted in an overly restricted conception of life. \u003c\/b\u003eHe insists we need a more flexible notion of life: one attuned to the interplay and conflict between its many dimensions and forms. \u003ci\u003eForms of Life\u003c\/i\u003e develops such a notion through the meticulous study of works by Kant, Goethe, Kleist, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Benn, Musil, and others. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGailus shows that the modern conception of \"life\" as a generative, organizing force internal to living beings emerged in the last decades of the eighteenth century in biological thought. At the core of this vitalist strand of thought, Gailus maintains, lies a persistent emphasis on the dynamics of formation and deformation, and thus on an intrinsically aesthetic dimension of life. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eForms of Life\u003c\/i\u003e brings this older discourse into critical conversation with contemporary discussions of biopolitics and vitalism, while also developing a rich conception of life that highlights, rather than suppresses, its protean character. Gailus demonstrates that life unfolds in the open-ended interweaving of the myriad forms and modalities of biological, ethical, political, psychical, aesthetic, and biographical systems.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Andreas Gailus\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1501749803\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781501749803\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Cornell University Press and Cornell Universi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/15\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 408\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.69lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.06d","brand":"Andreas Gailus","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48088465309951,"sku":"9781501749803","price":145.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_f0a686fa-f4f9-41d0-8471-aabff81615f0.jpg?v=1769104947","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/forms-of-life-andreas-gailus-9781501749803","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}