[Jean François Lyotard] The Inhuman: Reflections on Time
Author: Jean François Lyotard
Published by: Stanford University Press, 1991
Translated by: Geoffrey Bennington and Rachel Bowlby
Original Title: L'Inhumain: Causeries sur le temps
First Published: Galillée 1988
In a wide-ranging discussion the author examines the philosophy of Kant, Heidegger, Adorno, and Derrida and looks at the works of modernist and postmodernist artists such as Cézanne, Debussy, and Boulez. Lyotard addresses issues such as time and memory, the sublime and the avant-garde, and the relationship between aesthetics and politics. Throughout his discussion he considers the close but problematic links between modernity, progress, and humanity, and the transition to postmodernity. Lyotard claims that it is the task of literature, philosophy, and the arts, to bear witness to and explain this difficult transition.
