The Gift Of European Thought And The Cost Of Living. Vassos Argyrou
by Vassos Argyrou /
2013 / English / PDF
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European thought is often said to be a gift to the rest of the
world, but what if there is no gift as such? What if there is
only an economy where every giving is also a taking, and every
taking is also a giving? This book extends the question of
economies by making a case for an "economy of thought" and a
"political economy." It argues that all thinking and doing
presupposes taking, and therefore giving, as the price to pay for
taking; or that there exists a "cost of living," which renders
the idea of free thinking and living untenable. The argument is
developed against the Enlightenment directive to think for
oneself as the means of becoming autonomous and shows that this
"light," given to the rest of the world as a gift, turns out to
be nothing.
European thought is often said to be a gift to the rest of the
world, but what if there is no gift as such? What if there is
only an economy where every giving is also a taking, and every
taking is also a giving? This book extends the question of
economies by making a case for an "economy of thought" and a
"political economy." It argues that all thinking and doing
presupposes taking, and therefore giving, as the price to pay for
taking; or that there exists a "cost of living," which renders
the idea of free thinking and living untenable. The argument is
developed against the Enlightenment directive to think for
oneself as the means of becoming autonomous and shows that this
"light," given to the rest of the world as a gift, turns out to
be nothing.
Vassos Argyrou is Reader in Social Anthropology in the School of
Social Sciences, University of Hull. His publications include
Vassos Argyrou is Reader in Social Anthropology in the School of
Social Sciences, University of Hull. His publications includeTradition and Modernity in the Mediterranean: The Wedding as
Symbolic Struggle
Tradition and Modernity in the Mediterranean: The Wedding as
Symbolic Struggle (Cambridge University Press, 1996),
(Cambridge University Press, 1996),Anthropology and the Will to Meaning: A Postcolonial
Critique
Anthropology and the Will to Meaning: A Postcolonial
Critique (Pluto Press, 2002), and
(Pluto Press, 2002), andThe Logic of
Environmentalism: Anthropology, Ecology and Postcoloniality
The Logic of
Environmentalism: Anthropology, Ecology and Postcoloniality
(Berghahn Books, 2005).
(Berghahn Books, 2005).
