Jean Baudrillard

[Karl Marx's Camel]

A little under a year ago, I discovered Jean Baudrillard. I started reading bits about him, and found his views interesting.

I do find some of his views a little "far-fetched", but I think he makes some good points.

Has anyone read anything of him?

If you have, has his writings changed your view of things?

[bcbm]

I was pretty big into Baudrillard for awhile. He extends much of the Situationists' analysis of the spectacle, but (as he himself freely admits) he is not so much a philosopher any more as a science fiction writer. His purpose is to "out-Baudrillard" himself, in line with his ideas of the hyperreal. So, I'd say stick to his earlier stuff like Simulacra and Simulation, but have a wary eye.

[rioters bloc]

ooooh its been ages since i've read any baudrillard... ever since i gave my copies of simulacra and simulation, the mirror of production, and the spirit of terrorism to a boyfriend to read and then we broke up.

but he's probably what first got me looking into the situs

[RevolverNo9]

He extends much of the Situationists' analysis of the spectacle

Not strictly true - there are great parralells in Baudrillard's hyper-reality and Debord's spectacular society... but they are fundamentally different.

As an early postmodernist, Baudrillard would say that the praxis of the Situationists (or anyone) was already circumscribed by the totalising and alienating forces of hyper-reality. One must 'make the most' of this situation. While Debord would say that postmodernist theory is infact evidence of speactacular ideology, a mega-structure that precludes revolutionary action and reabsorbs subversion.

Baudrillard is interesting and valuable as a social-critic (albeit he is a bit 'wild') but not so as a guide to revolutionary action. His observations should be absorbed therefore as part of a wider analysis of commodity-producing society.

[YKTMX]

Interesting fluff.

His writing is enjoyable, but I'd suggest it's more comical than series philosophy - for instance, the stuff about the difference between Disneyland and Los Angeles is quite entertaining.

As he admits, the political implications of his writings are quite debilitating.