Ideology

New Critical Idiom

by David Hawkes

Any literary student who is new to the terminology and uses of critical terms will welcome David Hawkes' Ideology , a comprehensive and concise overview. In refreshingly clear and jargon-free prose,
* Considers the myriad definitions and meanings of ideology
* Traces the history of the term and the debates which surround it, from Martin Luther and Machiavelli to present-day debates in feminism and psychoanalysis
* Provides literary examples and illustrations to illuminate and clarify his argument
* Asks whether, in the face of post-war capitalism and postmodernism, the ideology debate is obsolete, or is still very much relevant in contemporary debates

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Reference

222 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

David Hawkes is a Professor of English Literature at Arizona State University and a distinguished scholar in literary criticism, economic thought, and early modern literature. He is the author of several influential books and has edited critical editions of classic literary works.
Hawkes studied at Oxford University, earning a B.A. in 1986, before continuing his postgraduate education at Columbia University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1992. At Oxford, he was a student of the literary critic Terry Eagleton and engaged in socialist-feminist scholarship with Oxford English Limited. At Columbia, he worked under Edward Said and contributed to alternative and underground journals in New York’s Lower East Side.
His academic career began at Lehigh University, where he taught from 1991 to 2007 before joining Arizona State University as a full professor. He has also held visiting positions at institutions in India, Turkey, and China. Hawkes has received prestigious fellowships, including a year-long National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship at the Folger Shakespeare Library and the William Ringler Fellowship at the Huntington Library.
A prolific writer, Hawkes' works explore themes of economic criticism, ideology, and the intersections of literature, magic, and finance in early modern thought. His books include Idols of the Marketplace (2001), The Culture of Usury in Renaissance England (2010), and Shakespeare and Economic Criticism (2015). He has also edited editions of Paradise Lost and The Pilgrim’s Progress. His recent works, The Reign of Anti-logos (2020) and Money and Magic in Early Modern Drama (2022), continue his exploration of the relationship between literature, philosophy, and economics.
Hawkes' scholarship is widely recognized for its critical engagement with ideology and material culture, offering fresh perspectives on the intersections of literature, politics, and economic systems.

Reviews

[aljouharah · Rating 4 out of 5]

البداية كانت بسؤال بريء: ماهي الإيديولوجية بالضبط؟
فغرقت بتفاصيل تسأل مايجب أن نعرفه ونحدده ونتفق عليه قبل أن نجاوب على هذا السؤال الشائك. أولاً من أين نستقي معلوماتنا وكيف “بالضبط”؟ ماهو المكان الذي يحللها وماهي أدواته؟ هل هو مادي موضوعي أم فيزقي أم خليط بينهما؟ ماهي المدارس والنظريات التي تصاعت عند هذه النقطه وبدأت بالتفرع لتشرح كل منها الذات والفكر والتحليل والعقل ومنها تصل إلى نتيجتها الخاصه لماهية “الإيديلوجيه”.
كتاب صغير، لكن متعب جداً بالقراءه. وممتع أيضاً

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a short but thorough introduction to the various ways that philosophers have understood the concept of 'ideology' throughout history. This book gives a good overview of the beliefs and theories of several important philosophers, and the first few chapters of the book are very helpful for anyone who wants to know about some of the major debates in philosophy. However, the last few chapters get progressively angrier and dogmatic in tone; the author makes no attempt to keep his personal opinions out of the discussion and the book, ironically enough, ends up being very ideological in outlook. Hawkes seems like a smart and well-informed writer, but his level of bias in a book intended for those unfamiliar with the field was unacceptable.

My other quibble with this book is that Hawkes was obsessed with economics/capitalism/money. I realize that those issues bear heavily on philosophical thought and the study of ideology, but focusing purely on economics felt very narrow to me. There are other ways that ideology manifests itself -- through the media, our language use, etc. -- but he didn't touch on these aspects at all. Therefore, I would only recommend this book to someone who's very interested in the theory of capitalism or someone who wants an introduction to the worldviews of various philosophers, filtered through the bias of David Hawkes.

[Wasp26 · Rating 5 out of 5]

أول مرة شفت فيها الكتاب دا من 12 سنة فى مكتبة المدرسة الحقيرة -المكتبة و المدرسة - ومعنديش ادنى فكرة كان بيعمل ايه هناك .حاولت القراءة ,فشلت فشلا ذريعا .المحاولة التانية فى 2015 حاولت اقرأه و من فرط الحماسة و السعادة بالافكار اللى فيه و كثرة الاحالات لكتب و الافكار اللى بتودينى لكتب تانية انتهت بى عند صفحة 51 و مجموعة من 22 كتاب مفتوحة فى نفس الوقت .ظل فى بالى لحد الايام دى .و نجحت اخيرا فى انهاءه .هو مش صعب بس عايز تكون فاهم هو بيتكلم عن ايه .او مين المفكرين اللى بيتشهد بيهم .

[J N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ideology [Ý hệ] (n) a set of beliefs or principles, especially one on which a political system, party, or organization is based
Trước nhất, tôi có hai ý tưởng khi lựa chọn cuốn này:
Một là, tôi dịch Ideology là Ý thức hệ và hai là, với cách hiểu này, tôi kỳ vọng sẽ được đọc về các định nghĩa liên quan đến ý niệm trong triết học, theo trình tự thời gian. Tuy nhiên, cuốn sách này không phải thuần túy là đi giải thích các ý niệm triết học mà lựa chọn phân tích ideology trong triết học được hiểu như thế nào cùng với đó là sự chuyển dịch từ ý nghĩ sang vật chất của từ này.
Như đã từng đề cập trong một bài đăng vào đêm muộn trước đây, tôi cho rằng cuốn sách của David Hawkes thiên về triết học phê phán, khi chỉ ra hàng loạt hình thái của Ý hệ trong các quan điểm của các tiền bối là Plato, Aristotle , Hobbes, Adam Smith với lần lượt các quan điểm về duy tâm, duy vật, duy lý, kinh nghiệm… Nhiều người tôi không biết và cũng chưa đọc qua. Thay vào đó, tôi chú ý đến cách mà tác giả luận bàn và phản bác ý niệm về Ý hệ của Kant và Foucault. Một điều khác mà tôi rút ra sau khi hoàn tất cuốn này, ấy chính là việc tác giả (có vẻ) không thích chủ nghĩa hậu hiện đại, khi mà con người sùng bái ngẫu tượng, các ý niệm về Ý hệ trở nên phai mờ cũng như loại bỏ tư duy nhị phân, điều mà tác giả liên tục khẳng định, qua các dẫn chứng, là tạo nên tiến trình phát triển của tư duy. Chính vì vậy mà chương về chủ nghĩa hậu hiện đại, ông bác phản pháo và phê bình Nietzsche, cùng với đó là ý niệm về ‘đồng tiền’, ‘vật chất’ hơi bị mạnh mẽ (tôi cũng không biết là dùng từ nào để diễn tả để phù hợp hơn).
Nhìn chung thì nên đọc 5 chương đầu để vui và suy ngẫm, hai chương cuối thì hên xui. Rất nhiều kiến thức về triết học và các triết gia nổi trội được đưa ra. Tôi vẫn rơi vào tất định luận ngôn ngữ!
3,5 hoặc 4/5 đều hợp lý!

[Diana180]

Clear in some places and very hard to follow in others. I was unable to figure out from his writing what Hegel said or what Lukacs said, among others, though other authors have made them relatively clear. Sometimes it's fine when you're reading along, but look up and look down again and you have to start all over. No index. On p. 139 he finally says, "Perhaps some examples may be useful here" and I shouted "Yes!" although they were not that useful for what he needed to explain. On p. 182 it is suggested life should not go on, and, beaten down by the book, I shouted "Yes!"

[Ted Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deceptively straight-forward presentation of a highly controversial thesis. This amounts to a re-thinking of the entire Western tradition. The argument cuts across academic disciplines, and readers with any field of interest can apply it to their lives.

[Melusine Parry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely excellent book which goes through the history of ideology and its multiple definitions very thoroughly.

[Brian Trinh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb history of ideology as the idolatrous illusion which obscures the contradiction between capital and labour.