The Sublime Object of Ideology (The Essential Zizek) Paperback – January 5, 2009

Difficult to understand for those not immersed and educated in philosophy.

Excellent. One of the best books I've read so far. I do not know how this book did not fall before in my hands. Reading the book has motivated me to analyze everything that has to do with our reality and virtual reality. I recommend this book for the students of literature, or theory and criticism. It should be part of a personal library or academic library.

A brave exploration of all absolute justifications, a tribute to Lacanian psychoanalysis, a must read for anyone who desires an exit ramp from the transcendental maze. Zizek offers his powerful insight. A book of great value.

Slavoj Zizec may have attained a following outside academia because of his references to pop culture but like David Foster Wallace, some of whose themes he references, he is so much more than a pop culture enthusiast.For those who haven’t heard of him, he’s one of the leading philosophers in the Marxist/Critical tradition. His books tend to range over a variety of topics but in the Sublime Object of Ideology he focuses on the question of subject agency through the lens of Lacanian psychology, the philosophy of Hegel, Western and Eastern religious traditions and the thought of Marx, himself.I can’t do it justice but here goes an attempt at a summary: challenging the structuralists and the post-structuralists he sees words as attaining meaning only through a personal “quilting” process in which each term is defined through its mutual relations with the semantic structure each person builds. But behind each word is not a descriptivist essence or an origin narrative; instead it is ultimately an emptiness. The mistake of essentializing nature stems from looking at ourselves as subjects and projecting that onto objects.The subject, or the I, then creates a world of appearances beyond which there is no underlying reality. On the one hand, the subject is a king in that all these appearances depend on the personal perspective of the subject; on the other hand this agency is nothing but that of a king who gives his nod to every piece of legislation proposed by his counselors.Ultimately, the human subject is freed by this recognition of the meaninglessness of the real and acceptance of the fact that all is appearance.The book, before reaching this conclusion, provides a panoply of commentary on its key intellectual predecessors; Hegel and Lacan in particular. As the first of Zizek’s major works it’s a good choice for those interested in learning about what’s going on in the critical school. Personally, I remain deeply skeptical of of its claims, but almost in awe of the dexterity with which he wields the Hegelian/Marxist tradition in service of his account. Difficult reading but worth it. If my effort at a summary makes it sound at all potentially interesting I strongly recommend considering and struggling through this text.

Zizek is the philosopher and political thinker of our age. He is well known in Europe for his opposition to austerity. Zizek realizes that current capitalism is on the ropes, and ripe to be replaced by a new economic system. He has the answers for what can evolve. Its a great book, but the readers needs a ready knowledge of historical political and philosophical thought.

Im really happy with this book!You have a lot of pages to read interesting things about something.The paper is very absorbent so be careful with fluids.So, great book! Now i can live my life from another point of view but more important: live it my way loving all humans and life because we all are connected.

I love reading and rereading this book. the copy is a fresh press from the essential zizek collection. perfect for collectors and hobbyists.

Difficult read, but I am enjoying this book.