Lyotard

Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998), heir to the legacy of Merleau-Ponty's concept of phenomenology, is - along with Foucault, Derrida, and Deleuze - one of the leading representatives of the last half-century of French thought. His first work, La Phénoménologie, was published in 1954. Having entered politics when he joined the " Socialisme ou barbarie " [" Socialism or Barbarity "] group (founded by Lefort and Castoriadis), he later abandoned Marxism to pursue his interest in Freud and Lévinas. He gained notoriety in the early 1980's, after publication of his book, Condition postmoderne (1979), which established a new way of evaluating culture. Postmoderne is defined in this work in opposition to the myth of modernity (faith in reason and technology, or progress), which he considered less unifying and less universal but more tolerant, freer, and plural. This concept, which was be phenomenally successful, was then elaborated upon in his principal work. Le différend (1983). His other works include : Discours figure, Dérive à partir de Marx et Freud, L'Economie libidinale and - just before his death - Signé Malraux, a book that attracted considerable attention.Alberto Gualandi is a teacher, and resides in Freiberg. In 1998, he also published Deleuze, in this collection.