The Polemics of Ressentiment: Variations on Nietzsche

Description

The rise of populism, cynicism, fanaticism and fundamentalism challenges us to reconsider the problem of ressentiment. Characterized by Nietzsche as the self-poisoning of the will through internalising trauma in the form of a postponed and imaginary revenge, the concept of ressentiment is making a comeback in political discourse. Unlike resentment, the feeling of injustice, ressentiment is an intrinsically polemical notion. It implies a political drama in which there is no inherent good sense in its application and no universal criterion. Drawing on psychoanalysis, political theory, media theory and philosophy, this book examines a wide variety of ideological contexts, offering an examination of the divergent senses in which the concept of ressentiment is used today.

Sjoerd van Tuinen is Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Co-Founder of the Erasmus Institute for Public Knowledge, at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

A remarkably timely volume, exploring ressentiment as a problem of voluntary servitude and clearly articulating its critical and polemical value, in a good mix of contributions from prominent thinkers and early-career researchers. One of the richest and most coherently framed discussions of ressentiment in Continental philosophy in recent decades. -- Oliver Davis, Co-Director, Centre for Research in Philosophy, Literature and the Arts, Warwick University, UK