The transparency of evil. Essays on extreme phenomena

Postmodern sociologist-prophet Jean Baudrillard examines the legacy of the 1960s, the “orgy” that, he argues, gave birth to our age of dizzying simulation, reproduction, eclecticism, and prosthesis. Explaining how sexual liberation confused the categories of man and woman, artistic innovation conjured a “transaesthetic realm of indifference,” and political revolution perpetuated a diorama world of political forms, Baudrillard uncovers a culture of empty rights that forces us to come to terms with a dramatic new perspective on Evil and conduct a fundamental reassessment of otherness. Working through these contemporary riddles, The Transparency of Evil transforms the way we understand the jumble of our daily lives — from the gyrations of the stock market to those of Michael Jackson.