The Tyranny of Guilt

An Essay on Western Masochism
Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-691-15430-5
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 264 Seiten, Format (B × H): 141 mm x 224 mm, Gewicht: 302 g

Fascism, communism, genocide, slavery, racism, imperialism--the West has no shortage of reasons for guilt. And, indeed, since the Holocaust and the end of World War II, Europeans in particular have been consumed by remorse. But Pascal Bruckner argues that guilt has now gone too far. It has become a pathology, and even an obstacle to fighting today's atrocities. Bruckner, one of France's leading writers and public intellectuals, argues that obsessive guilt has obscured important realities. The West has no monopoly on evil, and has destroyed monsters as well as created them--leading in the abolition of slavery, renouncing colonialism, building peaceful and prosperous communities, and establishing rules and institutions that are models for the world. The West should be proud--and ready to defend itself and its values. In this, Europeans should learn from Americans, who still have sufficient self-esteem to act decisively in a world of chaos and violence. Lamenting the vice of anti-Americanism that grips so many European intellectuals, Bruckner urges a renewed transatlantic alliance, and advises Americans not to let recent foreign-policy misadventures sap their own confidence. This is a searing, provocative, and psychologically penetrating account of the crude thought and bad politics that arise from excessive bad conscience.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bruckner, Pascal

Weitere Mitwirkende

Rendall, Steven

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Postkoloniale Geschichte, Nationale Befreiung und Unabhängigkeit
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction 1

Chapter One: Guilt Peddlers 5

The Irremediable and Despondency 6

The Ideology That Stammers 9

The Self-Flagellants of the Western World 13

A Thirst for Punishment 22

Chapter Two: The Pathologies of Debt 27

Placing the Enemy in One's Heart 28

The Vanities of Self-Hatred 33

One-Way Repentance 40

The False Quarrel over Islamophobia 47

Chapter Three: Innocence Recovered 57

How Central Is the Near East? 59

"Zionism, the Criminal DNA of Humanity" 62

Unmasking the Usurper 67

A Delicate Arbitrage 74

America Doubly Damned 80

Chapter Four: The Fanaticism of Modesty 87

A Tardy Conversion to Virtue 88

The Empire of Emptiness 90

The Pacification of the Past 93

The Guilty Imagination 96

Recovering Self-Esteem 100

The Twofold Lesson 106

Chapter Five: The Second Golgotha 111

Misinterpretations of Auschwitz 113

Hitlerizing History 117

The Twofold Colonial Nostalgia 127

Chapter Six: Listen to My Suffering 139

On Victimization as a Career 140

Protect Minorities or Emancipate the Individual? 148

What Duty of Memory? 157

Chapter Seven: Depression in Paradise: France, a Symptom and Caricature of Europe 167

A Universal Victim? 168

The Wild Ass's Skin 176

Who Are the Reactionaries? 179

The Triumph of Fear 183

Metamorphosis or Decline? 186

Chapter Eight: Doubt and Faith: The Quarrel between Europe and the United States 193

To Be or to Have 194

The Troublemakers in History 199

The Archaism of the Soldier 203

The Swaggering Colossus 207

Conclusion 215

Postscript to the English Translation 223

Index 229

Über Autor(innen)

Bruckner, Pascal
Pascal Bruckner is the award-winning author of many books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel "Bitter Moon", which was made into a film by Roman Polanski. Bruckner's nonfiction books include "Perpetual Euphoria" and "The Paradox of Love" (both Princeton).

Pascal Bruckner is the award-winning author of many books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel "Bitter Moon", which was made into a film by Roman Polanski. Bruckner's nonfiction books include "Perpetual Euphoria" and "The Paradox of Love" (both Princeton).