The Polemics of Ressentiment Variations on Nietzsche - Paperback

by Sjoerd Van Tuinen (Editor)

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.

Author Biography

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