The Philosophy of Improvisation

Improvisation is usually either lionized as an ecstatic experience of being in the moment or disparaged as the thoughtless recycling of clichés. Eschewing both of these orthodoxies, The Philosophy of Improvisation ranges across the arts-from music to theater, dance to comedy-and considers the improvised dimension of philosophy itself in order to elaborate an innovative concept of improvisation.

Gary Peters turns to many of the major thinkers within continental philosophy-including Heidegger, Nietzsche, Adorno, Kant, Benjamin, and Deleuze-offering readings of their reflections on improvisation and exploring improvisational elements within their thinking. Peters's wry, humorous style offers an antidote to the frequently overheated celebration of freedom and community that characterizes most writing on the subject. Expanding the field of what counts as improvisation, The Philosophy of Improvisation will be welcomed by anyone striving to comprehend the creative process.

Author: Gary Peters
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 12/15/2011
Pages: 200
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780226662794

About the Author

Gary Peters is chair of critical and cultural theory at York St. John University and the author of Irony and Singularity: Aesthetic Education from Kant to Levinas.