HUMANISM AND DEMOCRATIC CRITICISM

New York City, NY: Columbia University Press, 2004. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Columbia University Press, 2004. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 175 pages. Posthumous collection of essays. The last, last book published with Edward Said's preparation and blessing. One of Edward Said's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the Softcover Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only by a University Press. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Edward Said's "Humanism And Democratic Criticism". A gem of a little book: Among other achievements, anticipates, laments, and demolishes the pernicious rise of "woke" ideology in academic studies, which began in earnest as far back as the 1970's. "The notion that cultures can harmoniously and productively co-exist has come to seem like little more than a quaint fiction. In this time of heightened animosity and aggression, have humanistic values and democratic principles become irrelevant? Are they merely utopian fantasies? Or are they now more urgent and necessary than ever before? Ever since the ascendancy of critical theory and multicultural studies in the 1960's and 1970's, traditional humanistic education has been under assault. Often condemned as the intolerant voice of the masculine establishment and regularly associated with Euro-centrism and even imperialism, the once-sacred literary canon is now more likely to be ridiculed than revered. While this seismic shift brought on by advances in technological communication, intellectual specialization, and cultural sensitivity has eroded the former primacy of the humanities, Edward Said argues that a more democratic form of humanism - one that aims to incorporate, emancipate, and enlighten - is still possible. Said believed that self-knowledge is the highest form of human achievement - and the true goal of education. But he also believed that self-knowledge is unattainable without an equal degree of self-criticism - or the awareness that comes from studying and experiencing other peoples, traditions, and ideas" (Publisher's blurb). An absolute "must-have" title for Edward Said collectors. This title is a great collection. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. It is the single most beautiful copy we have ever seen of a book that is typically found in wretched, heavily used condition. Please note: Copies available online have very serious flaws or are in multiple subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. One of the greatest literary and political writer/thinkers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER EDWARD W. SAID TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0231122640.