American and European Leftist Academia through the Prism of Paul Berman’s <i>A Tale of Two Utopias: The Political Journey of the Generation of 1968</i>
Abstract
In his book, Paul Berman outlines a productive framework for a further interpretation of ideas of the leftist thinkers in North America and Europe. This article tries to follow Berman’s approach and to provide a critical stance towards the views of a number of Western social and political philosophers who write after 1968 and even after 1989. My findings confirm Berman’s light irony to this trend of thought but emphasize that some of the works discussed seem to be realistic in avoiding unjustified optimism concerning the leftist position.
Keywords
leftist thought; social and political philosophy; political left; global predicament; subject fetishism; commodification of subjects; simulacrum; global surplus recycling mechanism; sin of the Left
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Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” Bulgaria
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9078-1573
Alexander L. Gungov is Professor of Philosophy at University of Sofia. He has published on philosophy of Giambattista Vico, philosophical critique of manipulation in the public discourse, and logic in medicine. He is the Editor of Sofia Philosophical Review and Director of the Graduate Studies in Philosophy. Taught in English at the University of Sofia.
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