Critical practice : philosophy and creativity Introduction: Practice is not what you think Part I. 1. Theory and Practice: from Kant to Plato 2. The last chapter of the history of the world 3. Blindness and Touching 4. Prometheus and Pygmalion 5. Creation and Innovation Part 2. 6. 1975 to 1871 7. Derrida queries de Man. What is the relationship between theory and practice in the creative arts today In this book Martin McQuillan offers a critical interrogation of the idea of practice led research. He goes beyond the recent vocabulary of research management to consider the more interesting question of the emergence of a cultural space in which philosophy theory history and practice are becoming indistinguishable. McQuillan considers the work of a number of writers and thinkers who cross the divide between theoretical and creative practice including Alain Badiou and Terry Eagleton and the longer tradition of theory writing that runs through the work of Hélène Cixous Roland Barthes and Louis Althusser. His aim is to elucidate the contemporary ramifications of a relationship that has been contested throughout the long history of philosophy from Platos dialogues to Derridas Envois