Philosophical materialism, in all its variants - from scientific naturalism to the new Deleuzian materialism - has failed to face the main theoretical and political challenges of modernity. This is the thesis that Slavoj Žižek develops in this absolutely innovative and polymorphic essay. Recent history has witnessed how discoveries such as those of quantum physics and Freudian psychoanalysis - let alone the collapse of communism in the twentieth century - have disrupted the way we conceive of existence in a radical way.
At the same time, the dominant tradition in Western philosophy has lost its ties. To put materialism up to date, Žižek - committed himself to materialism and communism - proposes a sharp rethinking of our intellectual heritage. He argues that dialectical materialism is the only genuine heir of what Hegel calls the "speculative" approach to thought.
Absolute counterattack is an amazing reformulation of the foundation and potential that contemporary philosophy treasures. In addition to shedding light on how to overcome the transcendental approach without going back to naive Prekantian realism, Žižek gives us numerous insights into the political, artistic and ideological landscape of our day, from the music of Arnold Schönberg to Ernst Lubitsch's films.