Sloterdijk: psychopolitics, from notes from underground to posthistory

Abstract

Drawing on the metaphor of the Crystal Palace, Sloterdijk develops a philosophical-architectural analysis of how liberal capitalism embodies a distinct desire to exclude the outside world —to retreat into an absolute, comfortable, and decorated interior, one vast enough that its own enclosed nature goes unnoticed. The transparency of the Palace creates an illusion among those on the margins that they, too, might partake in its comfort and security. Sloterdijk introduces key concepts —such as boredom, a «greenhouse» existence, and the psychopolitical reconstruction of a segment of humanity defined by its purchasing power— to bridge historical narrative and philosophy. In doing so, he unmasks the boredom of an «existence devoid of challenges», in which mass culture, humanism, and biologism serve as the anchors for a post-historical, primary narcissism.