Slavoj Zizek is a contemporary political philosopher widely recognized for his aphoristic style. Contrary to many forms of more traditional theory, Zizek does not forward his arguments as a series of well-argued, logically flowing propositions, but rather as a cacophony of diagnoses running the gamut of social science and culture studies while nevertheless always slipping from one position to another, occupying at times the position of the orthodox Marxist in the face of post-modernism’s excesses, and at other times doing quite the opposite. This study proposes a reading methodology that takes aphorism and hyperbole as key elements of writing; more specifically, this study understands writing as a political intervention, and reads Zizek’s recent works in this light. Arguing that Zizek occupies a multitude of positions against a multitude of interlocutors on the post-Marxist scene, this thesis claims that it is precisely his ability to navigate between two distinct scenes which constitutes his novelty. Zizek combats conventional forms of leftism in order to open up a space for a new theoretical position, denying the coordinates of both post-Marxism and postmodernism.

Slavoj Zizek is a contemporary political philosopher widely recognized for his aphoristic style. Contrary to many forms of more traditional theory, Zizek does not forward his arguments as a series of well-argued, logically flowing propositions, but rather as a cacophony of diagnoses running the gamut of social science and culture studies while nevertheless always slipping from one position to another, occupying at times the position of the orthodox Marxist in the face of post-modernism’s excesses, and at other times doing quite the opposite. This study proposes a reading methodology that takes aphorism and hyperbole as key elements of writing; more specifically, this study understands writing as a political intervention, and reads Zizek’s recent works in this light. Arguing that Zizek occupies a multitude of positions against a multitude of interlocutors on the post-Marxist scene, this thesis claims that it is precisely his ability to navigate between two distinct scenes which constitutes his novelty. Zizek combats conventional forms of leftism in order to open up a space for a new theoretical position, denying the coordinates of both post-Marxism and postmodernism.

Many critics have conceded that Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian is an ambiguous novel; however, the very same critics have often argued also that the novel’s contradictions are eventually resolved. It will be argued in this essay that the multiplicity of McCarthy’s text primarily regards a problematic of agency—a question as to whether or not humanity is a force to be reckoned with in the world. It will also be argued that this question takes the form of a dialectic that the novel leaves unresolved, and that this, in its turn, is an important feature of the text—a feature originating from contemporary ideology, from late capitalism’s contradictory-ridden relation to the ”Real”. Blood Meridian portrays atrocities resulting from the 19th century Westward expansion of the United States unsparingly; the reader gets to witness a violent subsumption of the indigenous population, and is informed about a nascent extinction of the buffalo. The text also implicitly discusses the difficulties of representing violence and suffering aesthetically; however, Blood Meridian offers no final conclusion regarding whether or not humanity—and especially the Western World—is ultimately to blame for these phenomena. Via an unresolved dialectic of agency, then, McCarthy’s text renders history both alterable and reified, mankind both agent and powerless instrument. The following essay traces this feature to late capitalism’s exhaustion of the Earth’s resources and animal life, its Western-centric subjugation of other cultures, and its tendency to interpellate Western “man” as the centered subject of the Earth, while simultaneously liberating this subject from the responsibilities that come with such a position. It will eventually be proposed here that Blood Meridian’s contradictions is the result of a text that seeks redemption, both by an evasive attempt to write humanity back into harmony with nature, and by expressing a declaration of Western guilt.

Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Devil on the Cross represents both an insightful interpretation and a scathing critique of Kenyan politics and society during the period of neo-colonialism. The present thesis aims to explore, with the help of Marxist ideology and criticism, the relevance of the issues of class struggle, elitism and social collectivism in the novel. At the same time, this study will attempt to define Devil on the Cross as a "national allegory" depicting situations that are common to almost all post-colonial societies, and in particular, how the novel's ideological and political commitment is an important feature as it reflects Ngugi’s effort to draw attention to how Kenya and Africa as a whole suffered from imperialism, neo-colonialism, and a corrupt and greedy capitalist society.

Alasdair MacIntyre is one of the key philosophers in contemporary revival of virtue ethics, and often labeled as a representative of communitarianism in liberal-communitarian debate. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a narrative of the development of MacIntyre's philosophy, from his early Marxist thought to the later virtue ethics, and to examine the continuities and discrepancies between different stages of his philosophy. This thesis argues that the central theme of MacIntyre's philosophy is a diagnosis of the crisis of modernity and the ways through which we can overcome the predicament of alienation. In other words, MacIntyre's critique of capitalism and liberalist individualism shows the sophistication of his political thought and therefore cannot simply be described as "communitarian." To demonstrate MacIntyre's analysis of the crisis of modernity, this thesis focuses on four sets of binary concepts that constitute the foundations of his critiques, that is, "is-ought", "theory-practice", "individualism-holism", and "philosophy-history". The key to his theory of overcoming alienation, in this interpretation, is to understand the dialectic relations within each set of binary concepts respectively. This thesis illustrates how young MacIntyre tried to combine Marxism and Christian theology to answer these problematics, as well as how the later MacIntyre turned to Aristotle and Aquinas for theoretical inspirations. Aside from re-articulating the role of virtues in ethics, other MacIntyre's important theoretical innovations include transcending modern instrumental rationality by elevating the significance of teleological rationality and reconstructing the dynamic relations between rationality and traditions.

Many researchers in the social science, includes the political science, insist that the main stream of theory of social science depends on structural foundation. But we tried to provided new approach for social science through Elster¡¦s view, on the hand, we clarified what reductionism is, on the other hand, we believed the social science can connect with the natural science by the reductive approach. In order to prove that the natural science¡¦s foundation is the reductive mechanism, we researched the philosophy of natural science and stressed the importance of the ontology and the epistemology. We confirmed the foundation of natural science is micro-mechanism. Elster re-interpret Rational Choice and Marxism through cognition psychology and game theory. We can increase the research range of human behaviors, moral and culture through the intensive explanation.

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In the late 20th century the Soviet Union collapsed and the eastern European countries were freed from the communist Russian oppression. However, during the Soviet period Marxism was a recurring life stance in the Swedish textbooks for religious education in the gymnasieskola. Today the Soviet Union has collapsed, but the Marxist philosophy has had a huge effect on both single individuals and the modern society as a whole. Nonetheless, the Marxist life stance is nowadays often being replaced by other non- religious life stances in the textbooks of religious education. Therefore, this analysis is a hermeneutic study of the presentation of the Marxist life stance in textbooks for Swedish religious education. The purpose of the paper is to investigate how these textbooks portray the Marxist life stance, and to prove that the societal context and the individual author have an immense effect in the portrayal of both religions and life stances in religious education. The material used in the study spans between the Swedish curriculum Lgy 70, which extends between the years 1970-1994. The results of the study show, as predicted, that the societal context and the individual authors has had an immense effect on the portrayal of the Marxist idea of thought. This is revealed because the portrayal of the Marxist life stance differs a great deal throughout the span of Lgy 70. The large difference in theses presentations displays that the curriculum has some effect in some of the Marxist concepts, but it does not effect the overall presentation of the Marxist life stance.

The overall aim of this thesis is to critically assess the concept of the person in Macmurray's philosophy. This exploration requires a general examination of Macmurray's published and unpublished writings owing to the lack of any full length study of his ideas. In particular, this thesis is broadly sympathetic to Macmurray's thought and seeks to reveal the relevance of its for today. Whilst certain details of his theory are contentious and inadequate, they are not beyond redemption. Religion is important for Macmurray, but he is primarily a philosopher, and the content of this thesis reflects this. In the first chapter, Macmurray's antagonism towards traditional mind-body dualism is discussed in connection with his definition of the Self as an embodied agent. It is in this sense that his concept of the person represents an holistic account of the individual. Whilst speculation surrounds Macmurray's influences, some comparisons are drawn and the ensuing criticisms are examined. As a direct result of the postulation of the Self as agent, the existence of the Other is both confirmed and deemed necessary. Chapter two explores the interaction between the Self and the Other from the perspective of the human infant. It asserts the importance of relationships for the growth of the individual. Then, with reference to the ethical implications of the related agent, chapter three examine the composition of societies, paying particular attention to Marxist analysis, and seeking to extricate Macmurray's transferable ideas from those conditioned by his era. Finally, chapter four claims that communities are necessary for the full expression of the person, whilst criticising Macmurray's dubious employment of religious terminology in this respect. In essence, this thesis argues that the insights of Macmurray's theory have been needlessly neglected, and that the person must be understood from the perspective of agency and relationships.

Denna uppsats innehåller en kvalitativ analys av ett antal läroboksskildringar av den marxistiska idétraditionen i svenska gymnasieläroböcker i historia, samhällskunskap och religion. Undersökningen analyserar hinder för elevens förståelse av den marxistiska idétraditionen utifrån frågeställningarna om i vilken grad texterna på ett upplysande och rättvisande sätt skildrar den idétraditionen förstådd utifrån marxisters självbild. Denna självbild representeras av ett antal utvalda marxistiska auktoriteter. Slutsatser som kan dras utifrån analysen är att påtagliga brister finns i de flesta av de undersökta texterna både i avseende på hur upplysande och rättvisande deras beskrivningar är. Många missvisande framställningar av idéer samt felaktiga förklaringar och brukanden av olika begrepp gör att många texter på flera punkter inte kan sägas ge en rättvisande skildring. När det gäller huruvida skildringarna är upplysande är detta ett större problem än det förra då många författare slarvar med förklaringar av begrepp samt klargöranden av vilka de refererar till när de beskriver olika idéer. Denna brist i att göra skildringarna upplysande är den allvarligaste bristen i de undersökta läroböckerna, en brist som på ett mycket påtagligt sätt riskerar att hindra och missleda elevens förståelse.