Improvisation is usually either lionized as an ecstatic experience of being in the moment or disparaged as the thoughtless recycling of clichés. Eschewing both of these orthodoxies, The Philosophy of Improvisation ranges across the arts—from music to theater, dance to comedy—and considers the improvised dimension of philosophy itself in order to elaborate an innovative concept of improvisation.

            Gary Peters turns to many of the major thinkers within continental philosophy—including Heidegger, Nietzsche, Adorno, Kant, Benjamin, and Deleuze—offering readings of their reflections on improvisation and exploring improvisational elements within their thinking. Peters’s wry, humorous style offers an antidote to the frequently overheated celebration of freedom and community that characterizes most writing on the subject. Expanding the field of what counts as improvisation, The Philosophy of Improvisation will be welcomed by anyone striving to comprehend the creative process.

CONTENTS:

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One: Scrap Yard Challenge--Junkyard Wars

Chapter Two: Freedom, Origination, and Irony

Chapter Three: Mimesis and Cruelty

Chapter Four: Improvisation, Origination, Re-novation

Conclusion: Improvisation, Thinking, Writing

Bibliography

Index

AUTHOR:

Gary Peters is chair of philosophy and performance and head of research at York St. John University. He is the author of Irony and Singularity: Aesthetic Education from Kant to Levinas and The Philosophy of Improvisation.