Title
Date of Original Version
1994
Type
Book Chapter
Published In
Dancing on the Volcano: Essays on the Culture of the Weimar Republic, ed Thomas W. Kniesche and Stephen Brockmann (Columbia, SC, Camden House, 1994), pp 165-180
Abstract or Table of Contents
Cynicism, Peter Sloterdijk has suggested, is one of the fundamental categories of modern existence. But what is cynicism? Sloterdijk defines cynicism as "enlightened false consciousness," an intentionally paradoxical term which rel quires explanation. Sloterdijk's definition has two fundamental constituting parts, "enlightenment" and "false consciousness."