We like our continental philosophy dense. And in poetic prose. And full of allusions we can’t quite get.
We like our European philosophy impossible for us to follow. Written in the high style. And literary – thoroughly literary. Having emerged from a genuinely literary culture. Unlike us, who come from a post-literary culture. Who have never really read anything. But who like the idea of Literature, capital L.
We like our continental philosophy full of religious pathos. Positively messianic. Forbidden stuff, for those of us brought up as new atheists. Thrilling stuff, for those from tediously secular societies. We want it to be religious for us, who have no idea how to be religious, but who are full of vast, vague and undefined religious feeling.
We like our European philosophy to have emerged from periods of absolute crisis. Of civilizational shifts. To have been written in the midst of wars … invasions … massacres. By beleaguered types. In obscure corners. By those just about surviving. Burning whole manuscripts to keep warm. Who are just more authentic than we are! Who are just more real! Who are so much more entitled to their doomy pronouncements than we’ll ever be. Who’ve actually Suffered, capital S. Who really do have legitimate reasons for contemplating suicide.
We like our European philosophy to be too much for our Anglophone heads.
Work in Progress 