"In this book, noted international scholars explore the limits and definitions of thought and meaning as we move into the twenty-first century. Coming from fields as diverse as anthropology, philosophy, literature, aesthetics and art practice, together they break down the boundaries between entrenched domains of knowledge and show how thinking - that seemingly most solitary of activities - functions in a dynamic relationship with constantly shifting cultural systems." "Contributors address such issues as: what it means to be a 'philosopher': how art and literature can inhabit the spaces between text and image and how contemporary women artists are attempting to breach the traditional body-mind split in their work. Others show how close studies of objects which confound traditional definitions - including a mechanical cow invented by an Irish farmer and the curious case of a mechanical monk - can, paradoxically, open up dynamic new 'reconceptions' of traditional systems of knowledge. With the social uses of knowledge and the increasing commodification of the education system currently matters of public debate, this is a timely and original book."--Jacket.