Guido Giacomo Preparata — Against Postmodernism
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 3:11 am
I haven't read this writer, but I recently found out about him and I'm very intrigued by his work and interested in reading it. He has written two books thus far (that I can see). His first one being called Conjuring Hitler, which it seems he is taking cue from Anthony Sutton to compose a book about western powers funding and aiding the rise of Hitler as a geopolitical strategy to counter the growth of the Soviet Union. As I said I haven't read it so I can't give a detailed description of what the book actually goes into... I am a little familiar with that "story", because I have read Anthony Sutton.
I am even more intrigued by his other book The Ideology of Tryranny, where it seems he is taking on the trends in postmodern and neoconservative philosophy. It seems as though he traces those trends back to gnosticism and the French thinker Georges Bataille, and sees them spread into mainstream culture through the philosophy of Heidegger and Foucault. I think his thesis revolves around the idea that the new postmodern trends seek to decentralize the idea of power (ie, avoid looking at the elite), which ultimately centers the arena of political debate among divisive 'tribalistic' groups, which hinders the formation of a wider platform of dissent.
I can't be sure (not having read the book) how valid his argument is, but still I am intrigued by the concept. I was vaguely familiar with Bataille before because of an interest in surrealism. I looked it up and it does seem to be the case that he was an influence on Foucault and others from the Frankfurt School of criticism. In the book (The Ideology of Tyranny), the author seems to advocate the philosophy of Thorstein Veblen (who I am also not very familiar with), and he characterizes Veblen as an "Appolonian" balance to the "Dyonesianism" of the Bataille/postmodern trend of thought...
Anyone familiar with the author/book, or even the work of Veblen, Foucault, Heidegger, Kojeve, Leo Strauss, or the Frankfurt School care to give any thoughts?
I am even more intrigued by his other book The Ideology of Tryranny, where it seems he is taking on the trends in postmodern and neoconservative philosophy. It seems as though he traces those trends back to gnosticism and the French thinker Georges Bataille, and sees them spread into mainstream culture through the philosophy of Heidegger and Foucault. I think his thesis revolves around the idea that the new postmodern trends seek to decentralize the idea of power (ie, avoid looking at the elite), which ultimately centers the arena of political debate among divisive 'tribalistic' groups, which hinders the formation of a wider platform of dissent.
I can't be sure (not having read the book) how valid his argument is, but still I am intrigued by the concept. I was vaguely familiar with Bataille before because of an interest in surrealism. I looked it up and it does seem to be the case that he was an influence on Foucault and others from the Frankfurt School of criticism. In the book (The Ideology of Tyranny), the author seems to advocate the philosophy of Thorstein Veblen (who I am also not very familiar with), and he characterizes Veblen as an "Appolonian" balance to the "Dyonesianism" of the Bataille/postmodern trend of thought...
Anyone familiar with the author/book, or even the work of Veblen, Foucault, Heidegger, Kojeve, Leo Strauss, or the Frankfurt School care to give any thoughts?