We are all afraid that new dangers pose a threat to our hard-won freedoms, so what deserves attention is precisely the notion of freedom.The concept of freedom is deceptively simple. We think we understand it, but the moment we try and define it we encounter contradictions. In this new philosophical exploration, Slavoj Zizek argues that the experience of true, radical freedom is transient and fragile. Countering the idea of libertarian individualism, Zizek draws on philosophers Hegel, Kierkegaard and Heidegger, as well as the work of Kandinsky and Agatha Christie to examine the many facets of freedom and what we can learn from each of them.Today, with the latest advances in digital control, our social activity can be controlled and regulated to such a degree that the liberal notion of a free individual becomes obsolete and even meaningless. How will we be obliged to reinvent (or limit) the contours of our freedom?Tracing its connection to everything from capitalism and war to the state and environmental breakdown, Zizek takes us on an illuminating and entertaining journey that shows how a deeper understanding of freedom can offer hope in dark times.

A totally original and novel perspective on a key question in the history of philosophy that is: what is truly an act of freedom?

PrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroduction: Move your Buridan's Ass!Part I: Freedom As SuchChapter 1: Freedom and its Discontentsi) Freedom versus Libertyii) Regulating Violationsiii) Freedom, Knowledge, Necessityiv) Freedom to say NOChapter 2: Is There Such a Thing as Freedom of the Will?i) Determinism and its Ragariesii) Rewriting the Pastiii) Beyond the Transcendentaliv) Pascalean WagerChapter 3: Indivisible Remainder and the Death of Deathi) The Standpoint of the Absoluteii) The Death of Godiii) Suicide as a Political Activ)The Failed Negation of NegationAppendices I1 Potestas versus Superdeterminism2 Sublation as Dislocation3 Inventing Anna, Inventing Madeleine4 The Political Implications of Non-Representational ArtPart II: Human FreedomChapter 4: Marx Invented not Only Symptom but Also Drivei) Instead of...ii) Progress and Apathyiii) Dialectical Materialismiv) Yes, but...v) How Marx Invented DriveChapter 5: The Path to Anarcho-Feudalismi) The Blue Pill Called Metaverseii) From Cultural Capitalism to Crypto-Currenciesiii) Savage Verticality Versus Uncontrollable HorizontalityChapter 6: The State and Counter-Revolutioni) When the Social Link Disintegratesii) The Limit of the Spontaneous Orderiii) The State is Here to Stayiv) Do not give up on your Communist Desire!Appendices II5 "Generalized Foreclosure"? No, Thanks!6 Shamelessly Ashamed7 A Muddle Instead of a Movie8 How to Love a Homeland in our Global EraFinale: The Four Riders of the Apocalypsei) De-Nazifying. Ukraine, Kosovo, Europeii) The End of Natureiii) DON'T Be True to Yourself!iv) Whose Servant Is a Master?