The Seduction of Unreason: The Intellectual Romance with Fascism from Nietzsche to Postmodernism, Second EditionEver since the shocking revelations of the fascist ties of Martin Heidegger and Paul de Man, postmodernism has been haunted by the specter of a compromised past. In this intellectual genealogy of the postmodern spirit, Richard Wolin shows that postmodernism’s infatuation with fascism has been extensive and widespread. He questions postmodernism’s claim to have inherited the mantle of the Left, suggesting instead that it has long been enamored with the opposite end of the political spectrum. Wolin reveals how, during in the 1930s, C. G. Jung, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Georges Bataille, and Maurice Blanchot were seduced by fascism's promise of political regeneration and how this misapprehension affected the intellectual core of their work. The result is a compelling and unsettling reinterpretation of the history of modern thought. In a new preface, Wolin revisits this illiberal intellectual lineage in light of the contemporary resurgence of political authoritarianism. |
Contents
Answer to the Question What | 1 |
THE GERMAN IDEOLOGY REVISITED | 15 |
Site of Catastrophe The Image of America | 22 |
On the Postmodern | 27 |
C G Jung and the Temptations | 63 |
Gadamer and the Ambiguities | 89 |
Reflections | 129 |
FRENCH LESSONS | 153 |
Other editions - View all
The Seduction of Unreason: The Intellectual Romance with Fascism from ... Richard Wolin Limited preview - 2019 |
The Seduction of Unreason: The Intellectual Romance with Fascism : from ... Richard Wolin No preview available - 2004 |
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According Action Française aesthetic America anti-Semitism authoritarian Bataille Bataille’s Baudrillard become Blanchot bourgeois Carl Schmitt claims College of Sociology conservative contemporary Counter-Enlightenment critic critique cultural deconstruction deconstruction’s democracy democratic Derrida discourse doctrine Enlightenment Ernst Ernst Jünger essay ethical ethos Europe European fascism Foucault France France’s French intellectuals Freud Gadamer Gadamer’s Georges Bataille German Germany’s Hans-Georg Gadamer Heidegger Heidegger’s Herder hermeneutics historical Hitler human Ibid idea ideal ideological individual insofar Jacques Derrida Jews Jung Jung’s justice Klossowski liberal literary literature Martin Heidegger Marx Maurice Blanchot ment metaphysics modern moral Mussolini myth Nazi Nietz Nietzsche Nietzsche’s norms Nouvelle Droite observes philosophical Plato political postmodern postmodernist poststructuralism postwar questions radical reason regime remained remarks Republic revolution revolutionary Sartre’s Schmitt seems social Socialist society Specters Spengler spirit theory thinker Third Reich thought tion traditional trans truth University Press values Vichy violence Volk worldview York