The concept of disparity has long been a topic of obsession and argument for philosophers but Slavoj ®i¾ek would argue that what disparity and negativity could mean, might mean and should mean for us and our lives has never been more hotly debated.

Disparities explores contemporary `negative` philosophies from Catherine Malabou`s plasticity, Julia Kristeva`s abjection and Robert Pippin`s self-consciousness to the God of negative theology, new realisms and post-humanism and draws a radical line under them. Instead of establishing a dialogue with these other ideas of disparity, Slavoj ®i¾ek wants to establish a definite departure, a totally different idea of disparity based on an imaginative dialectical materialism. This notion of rupturing what has gone before is based on a provocative reading of how philosophers can, if they`re honest, engage with each other. Slavoj ®i¾ek borrows Alain Badiou`s notion that a true idea is the one that divides. Radically departing from previous formulations of negativity and disparity, ®i¾ek employs a new kind of negativity: namely positing that when a philosopher deals with another philosopher, his or her stance is never one of dialogue, but one of division, of drawing a line that separates truth from falsity.