Singin' in the shade

an introduction to post-post-war thought

pp. 27-41

in: Matthew Sharpe, Rory Jeffs, Jack Reynolds (eds), 100 years of European philosophy since the Great War, Berlin, Springer, 2017

Abstract

In order to move past the kind of thinking the author calls "post-War," it is necessary to reassess the causes of the FirstWorld War. This chapter argues that German post-war cultural pessimism can only be understood adequately if we understand the justified anger and scorn for liberalism and modernity Germans felt at being assigned exclusive guilt for the Great War. He argues that this cultural pessimism can only be overcome if, on the basis of this understanding, we reassess the Western cultural legacy, holding it divided, not broken or wholly irredeemable, and containing within it resources capable of reorienting the struggles of today against the politics of despair or rage.