Books by Adam Kotsko

Adam Kotsko makes the case for the continued relevance of Christian theology for contemporary intellectual life, demonstrating its vibrancy as a creative and constructive pursuit outside the church, rethinking its often rivalrous relationship with philosophy, and tracing the theological roots of modern models of governance and racial oppression.

The book shows how Agamben's political concerns emerged and evolved as Agamben responded to contemporary events and new intellectual influences while striving to remain true to his deepest intuitions. Kotsko reveals the trajectory of Agambena (TM)s work and shows us what it means to practice philosophy as a living, responsive discipline.

This book argues that neoliberalism must be understood as a system of political theology that claims to be founded on individual freedom but demonizes anyone who falls short of its impossible standards.

Looking at figures including Michel Foucault, St Paul, Nietzsche, the Marquis de Sade, Simone Weil and Hannah Arendt, this one-stop reference to Agamben s influences covers 30 thinkers: his primary interlocutors, his secondary references, and the figures who lurk in the background of his arguments without being directly mentioned.

Calling upon us to rethink some of our most treasured contemporary values, this book shows where the Christian idea of the devil came from-and how it eventually took over Christian theology, turning God himself into the devil.

A specter is haunting contemporary televisionthe specter of creepiness. In our everyday lives, we try to avoid creepiness at every cost, shunning creepy people and recoiling in horror at the idea that we ourselves might be creeps. And yet when we sit down to watch TV, we are increasingly entranced by creepy characters. In this follow-up to Awkwardness and Why We Love Sociopaths, Adam Kotsko tries to account for the strange fascination of creepiness. In addition to surveying a wide range of contemporary examplesfrom Peep Show to Girls, from Orange is the New Black to Breaking BadKotsko mines the television of his 90s childhood, marveling at the creepiness that seemed to be hiding in plain sight in shows like Full House and Family Matters. Using Freud as his guide through the treacherous territory of creepiness, Kotsko argues that we are fascinated by the creepy because in our own ways, we are all creeps.

Argues that the awkwardness of our age is a key to understanding human experience.

Presents a theory of the atonement, showing that the Christian account of salvation can only fully make sense if approached from a social-political angle. This title analyses some of the most important and original contributors to the tradition of atonement theory (Irenaeus, Gregory of Nyssa, Anselm, and Abelard).

Slavoj Zizek has been called an "academic rock star." Zizek's work includes extended treatments of key Christian thinkers from Paul and Pascal to Kierkegaard. This book helps students in understanding Zizek's works with an eye toward what brings him to an explicit engagement with Christianity.