Peter Sloterdijk
Encyclopedia
Peter Sloterdijk (ˈsloːtɐˌdaɪk; born June 26, 1947 in Karlsruhe
) is a German
philosopher, television host, cultural scientist
and essay
ist. He is a professor of philosophy and media theory at the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He currently co-hosts the German show Im Glashaus: Das Philosophische Quartett.
. He studied philosophy
, German studies
and history
at the University of Munich and the University of Hamburg
from 1968 to 1974. In 1975 he received his Ph.D.
from the University of Hamburg
. In the 1980s he worked as a freelance writer, and published his Kritik der zynischen Vernunft
in 1983. He has since published a number of philosophical works acclaimed in Germany. In 2001 he was named chancellor of the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe, part of the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
. In 2002 he began to co-host Im Glashaus: Das Philosophische Quartett ("In the Glass House: The Philosophical Quartet"), a show on the German ZDF
television channel devoted to discussing key contemporary issues in-depth.
Sloterdijk's philosophy strikes a balance between the firm academicism of a scholarly professor and a certain sense of anti-academicism (witness his ongoing interest in the ideas of Osho
, of whom he became a disciple in the late seventies). Notwithstanding the criticism that some of his thoughts have provoked, he refuses to be labeled a "polemic thinker", describing himself instead as "hyperbolic". His ideas reject the existence of dualism
s—body and soul, subject and object, culture and nature, etc.—since their interactions, "spaces of coexistence", and common technological advancement create a hybrid reality. Sloterdijk's ideas are sometimes referred to as posthumanism
, and seek to integrate different components that have been, in his opinion, erroneously considered detached from each other. Consequently, he proposes the creation of an "ontological constitution" that would incorporate all beings—humans, animals, plants, and machines.
, 1988), became the best-selling work on philosophy in the German language
since the Second World War
and launched Sloterdijk's career as an author.
. The first volume was published in 1998, the second in 1999, and the last in 2004.
Spheres is about "spaces of coexistence", spaces commonly overlooked or taken for granted that conceal information crucial to developing an understanding of the human. The exploration of these spheres begins with the basic difference between mammal
s and other animals: the biological and utopia
n comfort of the mother
's womb
, which humans try to recreate through science
, ideology
, and religion
. From these microspheres (ontological
relations such as fetus
-placenta
) to macrospheres (macro-uteri such as nation
s or states
), Sloterdijk analyzes spheres where humans try but fail to dwell and traces a connection between vital crisis (e.g., emptiness and narcissistic detachment) and crises created when a sphere shatters.
Sloterdijk has said that the first paragraphs of Spheres are "the book that Heidegger
should have written", a companion volume to Being and Time
, namely, "Being and Space". He was referring to his initial exploration of the idea of Dasein
, which is then taken further as Sloterdijk distances himself from Heidegger's positions.
lacks historical perspective. In his view it is merely the third wave in a process of overcoming distances (the first wave being the metaphysical globalization of the Greek
cosmology
and the second the nautical globalization of the 15th century). The difference for Sloterdijk is that, while the second wave created cosmopolitanism
, the third is creating a global provincialism
. Sloterdijk's sketch of a philosophical history of globalization can be found in Im Weltinnenraum des Kapitals (2005), subtitled "Die letzte Kugel" ("The final sphere").
's Iliad, "Of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus, sing Goddess...". Sloterdijk acknowledges the contributions of psychoanalysis
for our understanding of strong emotional attitudes: "In conformity with its basic erotodynamic approach, psychoanalysis brought much hatred to light, the other side of life." (Rage and Time, p. 14) Importantly, for Sloterdijk, Judeo-Christian conceptions of God ultimately "piggyback" on the feelings of rage and resentment, creating "metaphysical revenge banks". For Sloterdijk, "God thus becomes the location of a transcendent repository of suspended human rage-savings and frozen plans of revenge."
's zoon politikon.
"The taming of man has failed", Sloterdijk lamented. "Civilisation's potential for barbarism is growing; the everyday bestialisation of man is on the increase."
Because of the eugenic
policies of the Nazis
in Germany 's recent history, such discussions carry a sinister load. Breaking a German taboo on the discussion of genetic manipulation, Sloterdijk suggested that the advent of new genetic technologies required more forthright discussion and regulation of "bio-cultural" reproduction. In the eyes of Habermas
, this made Sloterdijk a "fascist". Sloterdijk thought this was a resorting to "fascist" tactics to discredit him.
The core of the controversy was not only Sloterdijk's ideas but also his use of the German words Züchtung ("breeding", "cultivation") and Selektion ("selection"). Sloterdijk rejected the accusation of Nazism, which he considered alien to his historical context. Still, the paper started a controversy in which Sloterdijk was strongly criticized, both for his apparent usage of a fascist rhetoric to promote Plato
's vision of a government with absolute control over the population, and for committing a non-normative, simplistic reduction of the bioethical issue itself. This second criticism was based on the vagueness of Sloterdijk's position on how exactly society would be affected by this genetic development. After the controversy multiplied positions both for and against him, Die Zeit
published an open letter from Sloterdijk to Habermas in which he vehemently accused Habermas of "criticizing behind his back" and espousing a view of humanism that Sloterdijk had declared dead.
is a "fiscal kleptocracy" that had transformed the country into a "swamp of resentment" and degraded its citizens into "mystified subjects of tax law".
Sloterdijk opened this text with the famous quote of leftist capitalism critics (made famous in the 19th century by Proudhon
in his "What Is Property?
") "Property is theft
", stating, however, that it is nowadays the modern state
that is the biggest taker. "We are living in a fiscal grabbing semi-socialism- and nobody calls for a fiscal civil war."
He repeated his statements and stirred up the debate in his articles titled Kleptokratie des Staates (transl. "Kleptocracy
of the state") and Aufbruch der Leistungsträger (transl. "Breakdown of the performers") in the German monthly Cicero - Magazin für politische Kultur.
According to Sloterdijk, the institutions of the welfare state lend themselves to a system that privileges the marginalized, but relies, unsustainably, on the class of citizens who are materially successful. Sloterdijk's provocative recommendation was that income taxes should be abolished, in favor of a system in which the fiscal needs of the state are met by voluntary contributions from the rich. Achievers would be praised for their generosity, rather than being made to feel guilty for their success, or resentful of society's dependence on them.
In January 2010, an English translation was published, titled A Grasping Hand - The modern democratic state pillages its productive citizens, in Forbes
and in the Winter 2010 issue of City Journal.
In January 2011 Sloterdijk's next book titled "Die nehmende Hand und die gebende Hand" (German: The taking hand and the giving hand) will be published in Germany, containing his texts that triggered the 2009-2010 welfare state dispute.
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
) is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
philosopher, television host, cultural scientist
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
and essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
ist. He is a professor of philosophy and media theory at the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He currently co-hosts the German show Im Glashaus: Das Philosophische Quartett.
Biography
Sloterdijk's father is DutchNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. He studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, German studies
German studies
German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the...
and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
at the University of Munich and the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
from 1968 to 1974. In 1975 he received his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
. In the 1980s he worked as a freelance writer, and published his Kritik der zynischen Vernunft
Critique of Cynical Reason
Critique of Cynical Reason is a book by the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk, published in 1983 in two volumes under the German title Kritik der zynischen Vernunft. It discusses philosophical Cynicism and popular cynicism as a societal phenomenon in European history.In the first volume of...
in 1983. He has since published a number of philosophical works acclaimed in Germany. In 2001 he was named chancellor of the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe, part of the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
The Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe in Karlsruhe, Germany is an interdisciplinary art museum and research institution focusing on new media....
. In 2002 he began to co-host Im Glashaus: Das Philosophische Quartett ("In the Glass House: The Philosophical Quartet"), a show on the German ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
television channel devoted to discussing key contemporary issues in-depth.
Philosophy
Iconoclastic and provocative, alternatively sparkling and bombastic, a child of '68 and a libertarian; like Nietzsche, Sloterdijk remains convinced that contemporary philosophers have to think dangerously and let themselves be 'kidnapped' by contemporary 'hyper-complexities': they must forsake our present humanist and nationalist world for a wider horizon at once ecological and global.Sloterdijk's philosophy strikes a balance between the firm academicism of a scholarly professor and a certain sense of anti-academicism (witness his ongoing interest in the ideas of Osho
Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
Osho , born Chandra Mohan Jain , and also known as Acharya Rajneesh from the 1960s onwards, as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and 1980s and as Osho from 1989, was an Indian mystic, guru, and spiritual teacher who garnered an international following.A professor of philosophy, he travelled...
, of whom he became a disciple in the late seventies). Notwithstanding the criticism that some of his thoughts have provoked, he refuses to be labeled a "polemic thinker", describing himself instead as "hyperbolic". His ideas reject the existence of dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
s—body and soul, subject and object, culture and nature, etc.—since their interactions, "spaces of coexistence", and common technological advancement create a hybrid reality. Sloterdijk's ideas are sometimes referred to as posthumanism
Posthumanism
Posthumanism or post-humanism is a term with five definitions:#Antihumanism: a term applied to a number of thinkers opposed to the project of philosophical anthropology....
, and seek to integrate different components that have been, in his opinion, erroneously considered detached from each other. Consequently, he proposes the creation of an "ontological constitution" that would incorporate all beings—humans, animals, plants, and machines.
Critique of Cynical Reason
The Kritik der zynischen Vernunft, published by Suhrkamp in 1983 (and in English as Critique of Cynical ReasonCritique of Cynical Reason
Critique of Cynical Reason is a book by the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk, published in 1983 in two volumes under the German title Kritik der zynischen Vernunft. It discusses philosophical Cynicism and popular cynicism as a societal phenomenon in European history.In the first volume of...
, 1988), became the best-selling work on philosophy in the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
since the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and launched Sloterdijk's career as an author.
Spheres
The trilogy Spheres is the philosopher's magnum opusMasterpiece
Masterpiece in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship....
. The first volume was published in 1998, the second in 1999, and the last in 2004.
Spheres is about "spaces of coexistence", spaces commonly overlooked or taken for granted that conceal information crucial to developing an understanding of the human. The exploration of these spheres begins with the basic difference between mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s and other animals: the biological and utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
n comfort of the mother
Mother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
's womb
Uterus
The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
, which humans try to recreate through science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
, and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. From these microspheres (ontological
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
relations such as fetus
Fetus
A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
-placenta
Placenta
The placenta is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall to allow nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply. "True" placentas are a defining characteristic of eutherian or "placental" mammals, but are also found in some snakes and...
) to macrospheres (macro-uteri such as nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
s or states
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
), Sloterdijk analyzes spheres where humans try but fail to dwell and traces a connection between vital crisis (e.g., emptiness and narcissistic detachment) and crises created when a sphere shatters.
Sloterdijk has said that the first paragraphs of Spheres are "the book that Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
should have written", a companion volume to Being and Time
Being and Time
Being and Time is a book by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Although written quickly, and despite the fact that Heidegger never completed the project outlined in the introduction, it remains his most important work and has profoundly influenced 20th-century philosophy, particularly...
, namely, "Being and Space". He was referring to his initial exploration of the idea of Dasein
Dasein
Dasein is a German word famously used by Martin Heidegger in his magnum opus Being and Time, which generally translates to being in its ontological and philosophical sense Dasein is a German word famously used by Martin Heidegger in his magnum opus Being and Time, which generally translates to...
, which is then taken further as Sloterdijk distances himself from Heidegger's positions.
Globalization
Sloterdijk also argues that the current concept of globalizationGlobalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
lacks historical perspective. In his view it is merely the third wave in a process of overcoming distances (the first wave being the metaphysical globalization of the Greek
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
cosmology
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
and the second the nautical globalization of the 15th century). The difference for Sloterdijk is that, while the second wave created cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. This is contrasted with communitarian and particularistic theories, especially the ideas of patriotism and nationalism...
, the third is creating a global provincialism
Parochialism
Parochialism means being provincial, being narrow in scope, or considering only small sections of an issue. It may, particularly when used pejoratively, be contrasted to universalism....
. Sloterdijk's sketch of a philosophical history of globalization can be found in Im Weltinnenraum des Kapitals (2005), subtitled "Die letzte Kugel" ("The final sphere").
Rage and Time
In his Zorn und Zeit (translated as Rage and Time), Sloterdijk characterizes the emotion of rage as a psychopolitical force throughout human history. The political aspects are especially pronounced in the Western tradition, beginning with the opening words of HomerHomer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Iliad, "Of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus, sing Goddess...". Sloterdijk acknowledges the contributions of psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
for our understanding of strong emotional attitudes: "In conformity with its basic erotodynamic approach, psychoanalysis brought much hatred to light, the other side of life." (Rage and Time, p. 14) Importantly, for Sloterdijk, Judeo-Christian conceptions of God ultimately "piggyback" on the feelings of rage and resentment, creating "metaphysical revenge banks". For Sloterdijk, "God thus becomes the location of a transcendent repository of suspended human rage-savings and frozen plans of revenge."
Genetics dispute
Shortly after Sloterdijk conducted a symposium on philosophy and Heidegger, he stirred up controversy with his essay Regeln für den Menschenpark (Rules for the Human Park). In this text, Sloterdijk regards cultures and civilizations as "anthropogenic hothouses," installations for the cultivation of human beings; just as we have established wildlife preserves to protect certain animal species, so too ought we to adopt more deliberate policies to ensure the survival of AristotleAristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
's zoon politikon.
"The taming of man has failed", Sloterdijk lamented. "Civilisation's potential for barbarism is growing; the everyday bestialisation of man is on the increase."
Because of the eugenic
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
policies of the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
in Germany 's recent history, such discussions carry a sinister load. Breaking a German taboo on the discussion of genetic manipulation, Sloterdijk suggested that the advent of new genetic technologies required more forthright discussion and regulation of "bio-cultural" reproduction. In the eyes of Habermas
Jürgen Habermas
Jürgen Habermas is a German sociologist and philosopher in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. He is perhaps best known for his theory on the concepts of 'communicative rationality' and the 'public sphere'...
, this made Sloterdijk a "fascist". Sloterdijk thought this was a resorting to "fascist" tactics to discredit him.
The core of the controversy was not only Sloterdijk's ideas but also his use of the German words Züchtung ("breeding", "cultivation") and Selektion ("selection"). Sloterdijk rejected the accusation of Nazism, which he considered alien to his historical context. Still, the paper started a controversy in which Sloterdijk was strongly criticized, both for his apparent usage of a fascist rhetoric to promote Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
's vision of a government with absolute control over the population, and for committing a non-normative, simplistic reduction of the bioethical issue itself. This second criticism was based on the vagueness of Sloterdijk's position on how exactly society would be affected by this genetic development. After the controversy multiplied positions both for and against him, Die Zeit
Die Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
published an open letter from Sloterdijk to Habermas in which he vehemently accused Habermas of "criticizing behind his back" and espousing a view of humanism that Sloterdijk had declared dead.
Welfare state dispute
Another dispute emerged after Sloterdijk published on June 13, 2009, in his article titled Die Revolution der gebenden Hand (transl. "The revolution of the giving hand") in the Frankfurter Allgemeine, one of Germany’s most widely read newspapers, his statement that the national welfare stateWelfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
is a "fiscal kleptocracy" that had transformed the country into a "swamp of resentment" and degraded its citizens into "mystified subjects of tax law".
Sloterdijk opened this text with the famous quote of leftist capitalism critics (made famous in the 19th century by Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a French politician, mutualist philosopher and socialist. He was a member of the French Parliament, and he was the first person to call himself an "anarchist". He is considered among the most influential theorists and organisers of anarchism...
in his "What Is Property?
What Is Property?
What Is Property?: or, An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government is an influential work of nonfiction on the concept of property and its relation to anarchist philosophy by the French anarchist and mutualist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, first published in 1840.In the book, Proudhon most...
") "Property is theft
Property is theft!
Property is theft! is a slogan coined by French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his 1840 book What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government....
", stating, however, that it is nowadays the modern state
State (polity)
A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
that is the biggest taker. "We are living in a fiscal grabbing semi-socialism- and nobody calls for a fiscal civil war."
He repeated his statements and stirred up the debate in his articles titled Kleptokratie des Staates (transl. "Kleptocracy
Kleptocracy
Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, is a form of political and government corruption where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population, often without pretense of honest...
of the state") and Aufbruch der Leistungsträger (transl. "Breakdown of the performers") in the German monthly Cicero - Magazin für politische Kultur.
According to Sloterdijk, the institutions of the welfare state lend themselves to a system that privileges the marginalized, but relies, unsustainably, on the class of citizens who are materially successful. Sloterdijk's provocative recommendation was that income taxes should be abolished, in favor of a system in which the fiscal needs of the state are met by voluntary contributions from the rich. Achievers would be praised for their generosity, rather than being made to feel guilty for their success, or resentful of society's dependence on them.
In January 2010, an English translation was published, titled A Grasping Hand - The modern democratic state pillages its productive citizens, in Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
and in the Winter 2010 issue of City Journal.
In January 2011 Sloterdijk's next book titled "Die nehmende Hand und die gebende Hand" (German: The taking hand and the giving hand) will be published in Germany, containing his texts that triggered the 2009-2010 welfare state dispute.
Works in English translation
- Critique of Cynical Reason, translation by Michael Eldred ; foreword by Andreas Huyssen, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota PressUniversity of Minnesota PressThe University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota.Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its books in social and cultural thought, critical theory, race and ethnic studies, urbanism, feminist criticism, and media...
, 1988. ISBN 0-8166-1586-1 - Thinker on Stage: Nietzsche's Materialism, translation by Jamie Owen Daniel; foreword by Jochen Schulte-Sasse, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1989. ISBN 0-8166-1765-1
- Theory of the Post-War Periods: Observations on Franco-German relations since 1945, translation by Robert Payne; foreword by Klaus-Dieter Müller, Springer, 2008. ISBN 3-211-79913-3
- Terror from the Air, translation by Amy Patton, Los Angeles, Semiotext(e)Semiotext(e)Semiotext is an American independent publisher. It is widely credited for having introduced so-called "French Theory" to North America through its magazine issues and Foreign Agents series. In 2000, the MIT Press began distributing Semiotext, taking it over from the anarchist publishing collective...
, 2009. ISBN 1-58435-072-5 - God's Zeal: The Battle of the Three Monotheisms, Polity Pr., 2009. ISBN 978-0-745-64507-0
- Derrida, an Egyptian, Polity Pr., 2009. ISBN 0-7456-4639-5
- Rage and Time, translation by Mario Wenning, New York, Columbia University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-231-14522-0
- Neither Sun nor Death, translation by Steven Corcoran, Semiotext(e), 2011. ISBN 978-1-584-35091-0 – Sloterdijk answers questions posed by German writer Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs, commenting on such issues as technological mutation, development media, communication technologies, and his own intellectual itinerary.
- Bubbles: Spheres Volume I: Microspherology, translation by Wieland Hoban, Cambridge, MIT Press, 2011. ISBN 1-58435-104-7
Original German titles
- Kritik der zynischen Vernunft, 1983.
- Der Zauberbaum. Die Entstehung der Psychoanalyse im Jahr 1785, 1985.
- Der Denker auf der Bühne. Nietzsches Materialismus, 1986. (Thinker on Stage: Nietzsche's Materialism)
- Kopernikanische Mobilmachung und ptolmäische Abrüstung, 1986.
- Zur Welt kommen – Zur Sprache kommen. Frankfurter Vorlesungen, 1988.
- Eurotaoismus. Zur Kritik der politischen Kinetik, 1989.
- Versprechen auf Deutsch. Rede über das eigene Land, 1990.
- Weltfremdheit, 1993.
- Falls Europa erwacht. Gedanken zum Programm einer Weltmacht am Ende des Zeitalters seiner politischen Absence, 1994.
- Scheintod im Denken - Von Philosophie und Wissenschaft als Übung, Frankfurt am Main (Suhrkamp), 1995.
- Im selben Boot - Versuch über die Hyperpolitik, Frankfurt am Main (Suhrkamp), 1995.
- Selbstversuch, Ein Gespräch mit Carlos Oliveira, 1996.
- Der starke Grund zusammen zu sein. Erinnerungen an die Erfindung des Volkes, 1998.
- Sphären I – Blasen, Mikrosphärologie, 1998. (Spheres I)
- Sphären II – Globen, Makrosphärologie, 1999. (Spheres II)
- Regeln für den Menschenpark. Ein Antwortschreiben zu Heideggers Brief über den Humanismus, 1999.
- Die Verachtung der Massen. Versuch über Kulturkämpfe in der modernen Gesellschaft, 2000.
- Über die Verbesserung der guten Nachricht. Nietzsches fünftes Evangelium. Rede zum 100. Todestag von Friedrich Nietzsche, 2000.
- Nicht gerettet. Versuche nach Heidegger, 2001.
- Die Sonne und der Tod, Dialogische Untersuchungen mit Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs, 2001.
- Tau von den Bermudas. Über einige Regime der Phantasie, 2001.
- Luftbeben. An den Wurzeln des Terrors, 2002.
- Sphären III – Schäume, Plurale Sphärologie, 2004. (Spheres III)
- Im Weltinnenraum des Kapitals, 2005.
- Was zählt, kehrt wieder. Philosophische Dialogue, with Alain FinkielkrautAlain FinkielkrautAlain Finkielkraut is a French essayist, and son of a Jewish-Polish manufacturer of fine leather goods who had been deported to Auschwitz and survived. He currently teaches at the École polytechnique as professor of the "history of ideas and modernity" in the department of humanities and social...
(from French), 2005. - Zorn und Zeit. Politisch-psychologischer Versuch, 2006. ISBN 3-518-41840-8
- Der ästhetische Imperativ, 2007.
- Derrida Ein Ägypter, 2007.
- Gottes Eifer. Vom Kampf der drei Monotheismen, Frankfurt am Main (Insel), 2007.
- Du mußt dein Leben ändern, Frankfurt am Main (Suhrkamp), 2009.
- Philosophische Temperamente Von Platon bis Foucault, München (Diederichs) 2009. ISBN 978-3-424-35016-6
General
- Peter Sloterdijk website
- Peter Sloterdijk's page on Facebook
- Page on Peter Sloterdijk on Facebook
- The Grasping Hand, by Peter Sloterdijk, City Journal, Winter 2010
- See Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, "In Search of Lost Cheekiness, An Introduction to Peter Sloterdijk's Critique of Cynical Reason", in: Tabula Rasa, 20 (2003)
- The Operable Man, a Sloterdijk essay on the Ethical State of Gene Technology
- Compilation of links about the genetics polemic (in French)
- Peter Sloterdijk Compilation Articles
- Peter Sloterdijk Sphären Articles (In Spanish) (PDF)
- Peter Sloterdijk; spheres and interface space (in Spanish) (PDF)
- Introduction to Sphären Book Peter Sloterdijk (in Spanish)
- Sloterdijk and Heidegger | Article UC3M (in Spanish)(PDF)
- Peter Sloterdijk; Air Conditioning "Im Weltinnenraum des Kapitals" | Article EIKASIA 25 (in Spanish) (PDF)
- Sloterdijk, Anthropology, communications, Concerto to transfer and history of the fascination of proximity | Article BUAP Vol.8 (in Spanish)(PDF)
- Peter Sloterdijk; Esferas, helada cósmica y políticas de climatización IAM Books PDF
- Peter Sloterdijk Regeln für den Menschenpark | Article UC3M (in Spanish)(PDF)
- Sloterdijk y el imaginario de la Globalización. Mundo sincrónico y conciertos de transferencia | (in Spanish UCM ) (PDF)
- Peter Sloterdijk Actio in Distans | Article Nomadas No.28 (in Spanish) (PDF)
- Sloterdijk: Secretos bizarros de Freud, discretas obsesiones telecomunicativas y primeras formaciones de psicología profunda europeas. (Esferas) UCM
- Peter Sloterdijk; el hombre como experimento sonoro y metafísico animal de la ausencia. PUCV
- Libro: Peter Sloterdijk; Esferas, helada cósmica y políticas de climatización. (IAM), Valencia- IAM
Interviews
- Topics: Spheres (in English, Feb/Mar 2005)
- Conference given at Sciences Po on May 2008 (in French)
- Topics: Humanism, terrorism, ethics (in Spanish)
- Topics: Utopia (in Spanish)
- Topics: Spheres, Postmodernism, Enlightenment (in Italian)
- Topics: Selbstversuch, Lacan, Osho (in German)
- Peter Sloterdijk; Spheres, Sonorous experiments and ontogenesis of the human spaces (in Spanish)