Philosophy was born out of discussion, out of the rivalry between world views. From the philosophical ferment of the Enlightenment arose the idea of emancipation, a conflictual perspective which Marina Garcés would have us rethink. New Radical Enlightenment lays out the need for critical dissent as a new beginning for the humanities in apocalyptic times. The productive dissent she envisions is established on the inclusion of multiple perspectives attending to common problems.

Our societies are faced with the urgency of combating dogmatism in all its forms. Fundamentalism, authoritarianism, and the struggle of the rich against the poor are returning. We also see dogmatic ways of dealing with science, data, and technology emerging. In the face of this, unfinished philosophy is a bid to make thought exciting once again. It is not a question of nurturing sterile theories. Today's young people need powerful tools for a critical imagination. Leaping out of historicism, the new radical enlightenment arrives to address anew the central problems of contemporary philosophy and place them in a planetary, postcolonial, and feminist framework: a philosophy for a common world.