Aesthetic Materialism

  Once again, as happens every few years, "continental" philosophy is under attack.  I would say that this is another round in the war between "analytic" philosophers and "continental" philosophers, but I think that would give the attackers too much credit.  I've written about "analytic" and "continental" philosophy before, for instance here and here , and in those brief articles I hope I actually had something interesting to say.  Instead, in the present essay, I'll simply rehearse what everyone with half a brain should already know. The charge against "continental" philosophy is that it is hard to understand.  In order to make this charge, someone who calls himself " Bentham's Bulldog " takes quotes from Judith Butler out of context and challenges anyone to defend her writing style.  I'm not going to defend Judith Butler here.  I'm just going to say: Yes, if you don't bother to read somethi...

  Postmodernism means at least 5 different things, though they are not unrelated: Step 1. A vague term for anything that comes after modernism - for instance architecture that no longer fits into what might be called "modern architecture"; Step 2. As Lyotard would have it, a condition characterized by incredulity towards metanarratives; Step 3. As Jameson emphasizes, an aesthetics and a "cultural logic" of pastiche - which can be understood either as a multiplicity of partial and incompatible narratives, or as an ironic repetition, or both; Step 4. An end to belief in nature; Step 5. An end to belief in truth. 

After reading a syllable of Wittgenstein I know what kind of personality he has and immediately understand that if a problem is solved for him, it isn't solved for me.

Sartre's work could be described as an untethered Hegelianism. In other words, Sartre takes Hegel's writing style and surgically detaches it from Hegel's overall philosophical project. The literary motive force that takes Hegel from point A to point B is still in operation, but there is no plan and no destination.  The engine is running, but no one is at the steering wheel, and so the vehicle wanders randomly around the map.