The Philosophy of Improvisation »

Gary Peters is chair of critical and cultural theory at York St. John University and the author of Irony and Singularity: Aesthetic Education from Kant to Levinas.

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.

Choice

"This aptly titled work considers not the how-to of improvisation but rather the motivations and meaning behind spontaneous creation. . . . A work for anyone who teaches or wishes to reflect on the creative process."

Introduction The Sense of a Beginning 1

1 Scrap Yard Challenge - Junkyard Wars 9

2 Freedom, Origination, and Irony 21

3 Mimesis and Cruelty 75

4 Improvisation, Origination, and Re-novation 117

Conclusion: Improvising, Thinking, Writing 145

Notes 171

Bibliography 181

Index 187