The Seduction of Unreason

The Intellectual Romance with Fascism from Nietzsche to Postmodernism, Second Edition

Richard Wolin

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780691192352
• eBook ISBN: 9780691192109
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Politica e relazioni internazionali
• Subtopic: Critica filosofica

Ever 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.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• A Note on Giorgio de Chirico’s “Song of Love”
• Introduction: Answer to the Question: What Is Counter-Enlightenment?
• PART I. The German Ideology Revisited
• 1. Zarathustra Goes to Hollywood: On the Postmodern Reception of Nietzsche
• 2. Prometheus Unhinged: C. G. Jung and the Temptations of Aryan Religion
• 3. Fascism and Hermeneutics: Gadamer and the Ambiguities of “Inner Emigration”
• Political Excursus I. Incertitudes Allemandes: Reflections on the German New Right
• PART II. French Lessons
• 4. Left Fascism: Georges Bataille and the German Ideology
• 5. Maurice Blanchot: The Use and Abuse of Silence
• 6. Down by Law: Deconstruction and the Problem of Justice
• Political Excursus II. Designer Fascism: On the Ideology of the French New Right
• Conclusion: “Site of Catastrophe”: The Image of America in Modern Thought
• Notes
• Index