Event

One of the most famous living philosophers provides a philosophical analysis of the meaning of events in this “deeply interesting and provocative” book (The Guardian)

An event can be an occurrence that shatters ordinary life, a radical political rupture, a transformation of reality, a religious belief, the rise of a new art form, or an intense experience such as falling in love.

Taking us on a trip that stops at different definitions of event, Žižek addresses fundamental questions such as: are all things connected? How much are we agents of our own fates? Which conditions must be met for us to perceive something as really existing? In a world that’s constantly changing, is anything new really happening? Drawing on references from Plato to arthouse cinema, the Big Bang to Buddhism, Event is a journey into philosophy at its most exciting and elementary.

Timetable

All Aboard: Event In Transit

Stop 1: Framing, Reframing, Enframing

Stop 2: Felix Culpa

Stop 3: Buddhism Naturalized

Stop 4: The Three Events Of Philosophy

Connection 4.1: Truth Hurts

Connection 4.2: The Evental Self

Connection 4.3: La vérité surgit de la méprise

Stop 5: The Three Events Of Psychoanalysis

Connection 5.1: The Real: Confronting The Thing

Connection 5.2: The Symbolic: The New Harmony

Connection 5.3: The Imaginary: The Three Splashes

Stop 6: The Undoing Of An Event

Final Destination: ‘Nota Bene!’

"'The biggest event of the year!' 'Don’t miss this event!' There is a part of all of us that perks up at the mention of an 'event.' I am very curious about the philosophical analysis of events (what is an event, really?) and their role in our modern lives, and I can’t wait to dive into this quick read."
—Barnes & Noble Book Blog

“The giant of Ljubljana provides the best intellectual high since Anti-Oedipus.”
—The Village Voice

“The most formidably brilliant exponent of psychoanalysis, indeed of cultural theory in general, to have emerged in many decades.”
—Terry Eagleton

“Unafraid of confrontation and with a near limitless grasp of pop symbolism.”
—The Times

“Žižek is a thinker who regards nothing as outside his field: the result is deeply interesting and provocative.”
—Guardian

“Žižek leaves no social or cultural phenomenon untheorized, and is master of the counterintuitive observation.”
—The New YorkerSLAVOJ ŽIŽEK is a Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic. He is a professor at the European Graduate School, International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, Birkbeck College, University of London, and a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. His books include Living in the End Times; First as Tragedy, Then as Farce; In Defense of Lost Causes; and many more.