Jean Baudrillard, requiescat in pace ...

[Dave Monroe]

French philosopher Jean Baudrillard dies 
The Associated Press 
Tuesday, March 6, 2007


PARIS: Jean Baudrillard, a French philosopher and
social theorist known for his provocative commentaries
on consumerism, excess and what he said was the
disappearance of reality, died Tuesday, his publishing
house said. He was 77.

Baudrillard died at his home in Paris after a long
illness, said Michel Delorme, of the Galilee
publishing house.

The two men had worked together since 1977, when
"Oublier Foucault" (Forget Foucault) was published,
one of about 30 books by Baudrillard, Delorme said by
telephone.

Among his last published books was "Cool Memories V,"
in 2005.

Baudrillard, a sociologist by training, is perhaps
best known for his concepts of "hyperreality" and
"simulation."

Baudrillard advocated the idea that spectacle is
crucial in creating our view of events — what he
termed "hyperreality." Things do not happen if they
are not seen to happen.

He gained fame, and notoriety, in the English-speaking
world for his 1991 book "The Gulf War Did Not Take
Place." In the first Gulf War, he claimed, nothing was
as it appeared.

The public's — and even the military's — view of the
conflict came largely through television images;
Saddam Hussein was not defeated; the U.S.-led
coalition scarcely battled the Iraqi military and did
not really win, since little was changed politically
in Iraq after all the carnage. All the sound and fury
signified little, he argued.

The Sept. 11 attacks, in contrast, were the hyper-real
event par excellence — a fusion of history, symbolism
and dark fantasy, "the mother of all events."

His views on the attacks sparked controversy. While
terrorists had committed the atrocity, he wrote, "It
is we who have wanted it. . . . Terrorism is immoral,
and it responds to a globalization that is itself
immoral."

Although many Americans were puzzled by his views,
Baudrillard was a tireless enthusiast for the United
States — though he once called it "the only remaining
primitive society."

"Santa Barbara is a paradise; Disneyland is a
paradise; the U.S. is a paradise," he wrote. "Paradise
is just paradise. Mournful, monotonous, and
superficial though it may be, it is paradise. There is
no other."

French Education Minister Gilles de Robien said "We
lose a great creator."

"Jean Baudrillard was one of the great figures of
French sociological thought."

Born west of Paris in Reims on June 20, 1929,
Baudrillard, the son of civil servants, began a long
teaching career instructing high school students in
German. After receiving a doctorate in sociology, he
taught at the University of Paris in Nanterre.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/06/europe/EU-GEN-France-Obit-Baudrillard.php


 
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