Peter Kenneth Dews (born 22 April 1952) is a British

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, in the fields of

critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from soci ...

and

continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a term used to describe some philosophers and philosophical traditions that do not fall under the umbrella of analytic philosophy. However, there is no academic consensus on the definition of continental philosophy. Pri ...

. He made his name with the ''Logics of Disintegration'', on the limitations of

post-structuralism Post-structuralism is a term for philosophical and literary forms of theory that both build upon and reject ideas established by structuralism, the intellectual project that preceded it. Though post-structuralists all present different critique ...

. He is Professor of Philosophy at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

. His first degree was in English, at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

. He has a doctorate in philosophy from the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. Dews is known for his work on the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, g ...

, called 'The New Philosophers and the End of Leftism'.

Work

* ''Logics of Disintegration: Post-Structuralist Thought and the Claims of Critical Theory'' (1987) * ''The Limits of Disenchantment: Essays on Contemporary European Philosophy'' (1995) * ''Deconstructive Subjectivities'' (Ed.) (1994) * ''The Idea Of Evil'' (2008)

References

1952 births 20th-century British philosophers 21st-century British philosophers Academics of the University of Essex Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Southampton Living people {{UK-philosopher-stub