Thinkers like Foucault and Derrida and Baudrillard and others are maybe like "theoretical artists".
French culture is more literary; and creative; and poetic; and theoretical.
Their ideas are more theoretical and less based on reality.
Foucault's theories in particular are particularly hare-brained in some ways, and bear little correspondece with reality. They are more like poetry.
What I am perhaps trying to say is that some French philosophers are more like artists than scientists.
In the cases of Foucault and Baudrillard, there are the invention of concepts and constructs that don't necessarily have a correspondence with reality. This is very similar to Freud.
I do personally make a distinction here.
I think that Foucault was principally and fundamentally hare-brained and mistaken.
But I think that Baudrillard is a bit more interesting, and a little more worthy of consideration.
Some of what he said seems to be nonsense, especially if taken literally.
But this is related to the point that he was a "theoretical artist". He was following his ideas.
For example, Baudrillard's contention along the lines of the following makes a kind of sense.
The Gulf "War" of 1991 was not a war.
A war is the "continuation of politics by other means." (Clauswitz)
Baudrillard said that the Gulf "War" was: "the continuation of the absence of politics by other means".
This is in some sense a meaningful point in my view.
Baudrillard also believed that the consumer and television society spelt the end of society i.e. "The Death of the Social."
I feel this to be happening more and more or maybe I'm just getting middle aged.
French culture is more literary; and creative; and poetic; and theoretical.
Their ideas are more theoretical and less based on reality.
Foucault's theories in particular are particularly hare-brained in some ways, and bear little correspondece with reality. They are more like poetry.
What I am perhaps trying to say is that some French philosophers are more like artists than scientists.
In the cases of Foucault and Baudrillard, there are the invention of concepts and constructs that don't necessarily have a correspondence with reality. This is very similar to Freud.
I do personally make a distinction here.
I think that Foucault was principally and fundamentally hare-brained and mistaken.
But I think that Baudrillard is a bit more interesting, and a little more worthy of consideration.
Some of what he said seems to be nonsense, especially if taken literally.
But this is related to the point that he was a "theoretical artist". He was following his ideas.
For example, Baudrillard's contention along the lines of the following makes a kind of sense.
The Gulf "War" of 1991 was not a war.
A war is the "continuation of politics by other means." (Clauswitz)
Baudrillard said that the Gulf "War" was: "the continuation of the absence of politics by other means".
This is in some sense a meaningful point in my view.
Baudrillard also believed that the consumer and television society spelt the end of society i.e. "The Death of the Social."
I feel this to be happening more and more or maybe I'm just getting middle aged.