The Continent Without Qualities

Bookmarks in the Book of Europe

Peter Sloterdijk

• Publisher: Polity
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781509570164
  9781509570157
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781509570171
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European History
• Index: History

Europe has often been the target of criticism: Europe has lost touch with its core values, its leaders are indecisive and its citizens are confused, unsure whether they should be proud of their past or embarrassed by it – the litany of accusations is long, and the writers of obituaries have never been at a loss for words to describe the death of the Old Continent.

Many of these criticisms are exaggerated and misguided but, nevertheless, the time has come to rethink post-imperial Europe, assigning proper place to the burdens of its mixed history, including its colonial past, but also recalling its civilization-defining advances such as its singular culture of learning and inventiveness, its permanent revolution of the critical spirit, its management of pluralism, its ever-evolving organization of general welfare, its dissolution of hierarchies of social origin, and its promotion of dignified living conditions for all.

In this extraordinarily wide-ranging and erudite work, Sloterdijk opens up a few bookmarks in the Book of Europe. If Europe too often is a book rarely read by those whom it concerns, Sloterdijk's bookmarks help orient readers – teaching Europeans from the script that they themselves have written about where they stand with themselves and about their role within the whole. In Sloterdijk's view, the true Europe can be found wherever creative passions have overtaken those of resentment, and it will survive as long as creativity keeps resentment in check.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Epigraph
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• First inaugural address Excuses, obituaries, aprèsludes
• Second inaugural address Latin Europe: The continent, the imperium, and its transfers
• Lesson one The grande école of the world: Europe as a learning context: From the book of enhancements
• Lesson two Out of Revolution: How a German historian writes Europeans’ autobiography
• Lesson three History a priori: The book of endgames – Spengler’s prophecy and how it came to be fulfilled
• Lesson four Dire vrai sur soi-même – Speaking the truth about oneself The European book of confessions
• Lesson five Go, and set the world aflame! From the book of expansions
• Lesson six Loose-fish Of ships, globes, and surplus sons
• Lesson seven Get a-way, you old peoples! From the book of dissenting voices: Europe in the accusative  Acknowledgments
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