Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 18:55:45 +0100
Subject: Baudrillard and Lecourt


All
Earlier someone asked why the Baudrillard list only ever came into life 
when an 'emergency' happened. Lecourt's book the Mediocracy explains it 
as follows. Let me clarify, it begins with Sartre, when french 
intellectual s learnt to write the emergency, write the crisis. But 
unlike some of the current French philosophers/cultural theorists Sartre 
actually had a body of important supportive work. Post Sartre and 
others, a generation of lessor intellectuals, Levy, Glucksmann, Ferry 
etc learnt  how to 'write the emergency', aiming to intervene from their 
reactionary towers. In truth they have nothing to say except for the 
usual 'anti-leftist drivel' , occasionally reaching the most 
extraordinary heights of absurdity. For example they accused live-aid of 
murdering children when it gave aid to third world regimes who had 
supposedly marxist regimes... Pure stupidity.

Baudrillard sits uneasily in this group, but he is a nostalgic thinker 
at times and on occasion writes simply to annoy.  But he does write the 
emergency, without a body of supporting theoretical work to justify his 
intellectual positions along  with Glucksmann, Levy and Ferry...

Does the Baudrillard list reflect this reactionary tendency?

regards

sdv