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ART BOOKS FEBRUARY 1ST, 2012

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Bubbles: Spheres, Volume I:Microspherology

byJohn Ganz

Peter Sloterdijk

Bubbles: Spheres, Volume I: Microspherology

(Semiotext(e) / Foreign Agents, 2011)

It could almost be a proverb: The difference between the United States and Europe is

that in Europe a philosopher can have a television show. The German philosopher Peter

Sloterdijk hosts just such a weekl talk show. It!s also sadl hard to ima"ine that in this

countr#despite man virtues over that cultural rival of ours#we could have a real$

heavwei"ht public intellectual$ let alone one whose provocations would lead to a

national debate on the meanin" of the state and democrac. In German and %rance$

Sloterdijk!s &''' lecture ()ules for the *uman +oo,#with its brilliant$ biolo"icall-

tin"ed take on humanism#on the framin" of philosoph and literature since Plato as a

techniue for (tamin" the human beast$, and on the production of pacific citi/ens$

caused a major controvers that was e0tensivel covered in the media. The lecture#

which was also published in the newspaperDie Zeitbrou"ht a cr from the critical

theor establishment that Sloterdijk had betraed his leftist roots and become a radical

neoconservative$ with the inevitable insinuations that his apparent (hatred for

democrac, was reall treadin" on more sinister$ fascist "rounds.

1ut Slotderdijk!s point was that humanit has been (abandoned b the wise$, that toda

there remain no humanists who serve to transmit the civili/in" literatures of the past. It

is a profound point and it should have special resonance in the United States$ where

Sloterdijk!s work has been rele"ated to relative obscurit. 2nl hisCritique of Cynical

Reason$ which dia"noses contemporar culture as bein" sickl obsessed with the notion

of all-pervadin" self-interest$ was somethin" of a &'34s academic cause

clbre stateside. 5ith Semiote0t6e7!s recent translation of the first volume of his

ma"num opusSpherestrilo"$Bubbles: Spheres 6it was first published in German in

&''37$ Sloterdijk!s name in this countr ou"ht to become better known.

Sloterdijk!s concern inSpheres is the same as ever German philosopher since 8ant:

5hat is humanit in the condition of modernit9 That is to sa: 5hat is humanit

without the all-encompassin" presence of reli"ion$ whose persistence in the modern
http://www.brooklynrail.org/contributor/john-ganzhttp://www.brooklynrail.org/contributor/john-ganzhttp://www.brooklynrail.org/contributor/john-ganz


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world is either ineffectuall subcultural or violentl retro"rade$ and$ in an case$ is

clearl incapable of offerin" a satisfin" universal9 5hat is humanit without the

predictable ccles of the uasi-natural$ communal lifeworld$ and without the

unuestioned le"itimac of the social$ spiritual$ and aesthetic hierarchies that once

re"ulated that lifeworld9 nd how should we best offer solace to the lonel$ confused$

and rootless subject that emer"es with the triumph of mass societ$ capitalism$

scientism$ technolo"$ the destruction of traditional life$ and the disenchantment of the

world9 6;ust to make it sunnier$ we can now also add to the list impendin" ecolo"ical

crisis.7 Sloterdijk describes humanit at the end of this process: (


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soul$ and the meanin" of the hol trinit. *annah rendt once wrote somethin" to the

effect of$ (Schopenhauer was a charlatan who wrote like a philosopher$ and >iet/sche

was a philosopher who wrote like a charlatan., The latter description could euall be

applied to Sloterdijk.

2nce the da//lin" effect of Sloterdijk!s erudition wears off and the ar"uments of the

book come into clearer focus$Bubbles!splace in the entire spherolo"ical sstem

emer"es. The first volume spells out the most intimate tpe of sphere#the microsphere

or bubble#the ori"inal form of bein"-in-spheres. s Sloterdijk somewhat opauel puts

it$ bubbles (constitute the intimate forms of the rounded bein"-in form and the basic

molecule of the stron" relationship., Put in terms of what one mi"ht call (ordinar

philosophical vocabular$,Bubbles comprises Sloterdijk!s theor of human subjectivit

and the anthropolo"ical "round that his theoretical edifice will rest upon. In an attempt

to move past the le"ac of *eide""er#perhaps Sloterdijk!s main foil and point of

reference#Sloterdijk thinks that the traditional philosophical account of the subject#

the self-contained$ rational$ alternatel contemplative$ and emotional (I, that can either

observe or decide to act upon an e0terior >ature#is a woefull inadeuate description

of the human condition that reflects the self-ima"e of where humanit has arrived

historicall rather than the eternal essence that it purports itself to be. Sloterdijk

believes that the modern$ e0istentialist heroic mth of the isolated individual$ fi"htin"

for its own place and (suspended in nothin"ness$, obscures more than it reveals about

human e0istence$ and cannot offer a radical interpretation of the meanin" of humanlife.

%or Sloterdijk$ the human subject is alwas in#at the ver least#a dadic microsphere$

with another bein" that animates it: (2nl the i"eolo!ia perennisspeaks of the

mainstream of individualistic abstraction speaks of the unaccompanied sin"le person?.

@


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Sloterdijk to posit a fundamental state for the formation of the human soul that

predates an kind of conscious self in an animatin" and immuni/in" sphere. To this

end$ Sloterdijk crafts absolutel beautiful passa"es about sound comin" throu"h the

medium of the womb that e0tends to the son"s of the nurser to form an ori"inal

musicalit of the human soul. Sloterdijk presents the womb-state as an ori"inal tpe of

human ecstas that is at the root of subseuent reli"ious$ erotic$ communal$ and

political sphere formations.

The centralit of the womb for Sloterdijk also hints at a "enetic principle of ever-

e0pandin" sphere formation: (ll amniotic sacs$ or"anic models of auto"enuous vessels$

live towards their burstin"A with the turbulent waters of birth$ ever life is washed up on

the coast of harder facts. Those who reach it can use those facts to e0plain what drives

the intimate$ all too intimate bubbles to failure and forces their inhabitant into

transformations., In other words$ bubbles burst$ we are born#biolo"icall and

ontolo"icall#thrown out of our intimate spheres$ and we are ever set about formin"

new ones.

1ut what does the theor of the microsphere provide other than an intellectual hi"h9 It

would be supposin" a bit much that somethin" that is frankl so odd could uickl

enter into mainstream discourse. 1ut I believe Sloterdijk successfull puts to rest the

notion that we are essentiall isolated bein"s in a field of meanin"less objects$ and puts

in its place a wa to conceive of human e0istence as incumbent upon hi"hl convolutedand delicate sstems of au"mentation$ nurturin"$ and "rowth. In the process$ Sloterdijk

is able to find new meanin" in the cast aside achievements of past culture. This is

particularl true in the case of archaic msticism and theolo"$ which Sloterdijk does

not treat as the ideolo"ical relics of backward societies$ but rather as containin" subtle

lessons on the nature of human solidarit and intimac. nd he does this without

callin" for the uncritical readoption of a pre-modern reli"iosit or b succumbin" to

tasteless$ >ew "e pseudo-spiritualit 6some pu//lin" words of admiration for the

deplorable mountebank 2sho in one interview notwithstandin"7$ but b permittin" the

spirit of the past to breathe into and reanimate the present.

The lan"ua"e-"ame of spheres leads to an ecolo"ical understandin" of cultureA a term

whose etmolo" in Batin denotes the care of plants and the tillin" of the earth. In that

li"ht$ those involved in humanistic endeavors should concern themselves with the

preservation and cultivation of the atmospheres that permit human bein"s to flourish.


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It!s eas to see how this could lead uickl into a belief in the necessit of mindless$

cloin" communal life$ or reactionar conservative politics$ its u"l political correlate.

The other risk with all these horticultural metaphors#one of Sloterdijk!s terms is

(anthropo"enic hothouse,#is that the could also lead to a philosophical outlook that

mi"ht tend to replace the inuir into the bein" of the human animal with the bein" of

the human ve"etable. 1ut there are two volumes et to be translated$ so it remains to be

seen for the non-German-speakin" En"lish reader how Sloterdijk deals with these

problems.

2ne mi"ht wonder also if the sphere as a fi"ure of thou"ht is not a little too "ood.

Sloterdijk writes that it!s characteristic of the old philosophical sstems#as the

metaphsical correlates of states and empires#to attempt to pull everthin" into their

purview and (round off, the world. lthou"h he e0presses doubt about the abilit of

philosoph to provide such all-encompassin" universals in the contemporar period$

the relentless certaint with which Sloterdijk deplos his thou"ht mi"ht be accused of

sharin" the same me"alomaniac delusions of "randeur. The sphere starts to become

claustrophobic at times$ and it can become e0haustin" to think alon" with Sloterdijk as

one!s ima"ination turns either into an ever-e0pandin" amoeba ine0orabl suckin"

everthin" inside$ or a foamin" sea of bubbles.

1ut trin" to keep pace with Sloterdijk!s intellectual athleticism is#on the whole#

invi"oratin". This touches on a theme that!s been dealt with in his recent work: the ideaof philosoph as a (spiritual e0ercise$, an idea$ which he has taken up from the %rench

historian of ancient philosoph Pierre *adot. 6*adot was also a major influence on

Cichel %oucault!s late work about the care of the self.7 )ather than takin" philosoph as

a purel theoretical enterprise concerned with developin" a disinterested$ complete

picture of the world$ this conception treats it as a therapeutic method$ a wa in which to

affect chan"e in oneself. s a ver ancient techniue for the support of human life$ it!s

unclear whether philosoph can compete with the rapid proliferation of new

technolo"ies of human au"mentation. If philosoph has a place in this world$ it looks

like this.

CONTRIBUTOR

John Ganz
http://www.brooklynrail.org/contributor/john-ganzhttp://www.brooklynrail.org/contributor/john-ganz

Sloterdijk2

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