Tarrying with the Negative

Source

Žižek, S. (1993) Tarrying with the Negative: Kant, Hegel and the Critique of Ideology, Durham: Duke University Press.

Review by Tony Myers

This is probably Žižek's lengthiest consideration of the radical negative gesture which he consistently identifies as the hallmark of 'true' philosophy. Here he sets out the case that Lacan is the third philosopher to accomplish this gesture after Plato and Kant, both of whom also trumped the relativistic attitudes of their day by way of an act of even greater radicalization. While this may be the larger picture of the book, and part of his project as a whole, Žižek also produces his most sustained explanation of Hegel's philosophy here, as well as dissecting the cogito. As this synopsis suggests, Tarrying with the Negative is, at times, a difficult book but one which repays the effort of your labour.