From Nietzsche to Baudrillard: Semiological Absorption and Seductive Attunement

Abstract

<p>In contrast to the plethora of sociological interpretations that read Baudrillard's corpus of works through the themes that he analyzed in the late '60s and '70s, this work attempts to re-read Baudrillard through his recent publications. Sociological approaches center on a Marxist critique of capitalism and on the themes of simulation and simulacra. They therefore tend to see Baudrillard's recent work as "unreadable," for the latter does not offer an alternative social position. A philosophical reading of Baudrillard through his latest work does not presuppose that Baudrillard is to offer an alternative social position, hence this reading is capable of questioning the basis of sociological approaches to Baudrillard.</p> <p>This reading attempts to disclose the themes of simulation and seduction as a critique of perspectivism that brings forth semiological and seductive forms of postperspectivism. The uncovering of the grounds of perspectivism goes hand-in-hand with interpreting semiological and fatal strategies not as historical but as genealogical undertakings. This approach presupposes a re-placement ofBaudrillard's body of works from a Marxist to a Nietzschean context. Within this context fatal strategy is no longer seen as a reversal of the semiological strategy or a form of ressentiment directed at "subjective" strategies, but rather as a further genealogical "archaeology" of simulacra. When Baudrillard's recent works are seen as "raw phenomenology," they are capable of offering new conceptions of subjectivity, reduction, reference, and meaning. However, a phenomenological reading of fatal strategy calls for the abandonment of the Baudrillardian "wager" that only opposes the appearance of an event to its meaning. Instead of a mere opposition, fatal strategy is to uncover non-meaning as the fundamenlal presupposition of meaning. If this step is taken, fatal strategy is no longer an alternative social position or a reversal of "metaphysics of presence," but rather a form of thinking that comes to terms with the infinity and anonymity of language.</p>