RIP Janet Malcolm, Philosophers on the very mundane, and a little advertising
This past week, Janet Malcolm died. “Everyone has their favorite Janet Malcolm.” writes Corey Robin (here). Mine is Forty-one False Starts, a book of essays about artists and art. It takes its name from an essay that was published in 1994 in New Yorker magazine, a portrait of sorts of painter David Salle, probably the most brilliant piece of writing about art I’ve ever read. In it, Malcolm tries to comprehend Salle and is art, and that entails trying to understand art itself but also the context it is embedded in (here: the gigantic money machine fueled by plutocrats, oligarchs, and other shady characters that tries so hard to pretend it’s all for the greater good). As you might imagine – especially if you’ve been exposed to it, there is plenty of bullshit to deal with. Because let’s face it, bullshit is never that far away if you’re dealing with art. Try writing about art (or some artist who might take himself much too seriously), and it becomes really hard not to produce, well, bullshit. In more ways than one (in forty-one – haha, but too easy), that problem sits at the core of Malcolm’s article.
If writing about art is difficult, it’s even harder to write about bullshit: what exactly is bullshit? How can you define it? Philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt wrote a book about it, which I bought years ago, in part because I got a thrill out of an actual philosopher writing about something so mundane. It’s an easy read, and it’s also quite entertaining. But somehow, it feels incomplete. Frankfurt’s book had a number of other philosophers dive into the topic. G. A. Cohen produced an article entitled Deeper Into Bullshit, which you want to read (the link leads to a pdf). As it turns out, there are different types of bullshit. It’s very important to know which type of bullshit you’re actually dealing with. These pieces were produced before the eruption of fake news and far-right parties. In light of this development, if – like me – you’re very worried about the state of our democracies, you really want to dive into Prof. Cohen’s article.
Speaking of far-right parties and philosophy professors dealing with seemingly immature subjects, I read Aaron James’ Assholes when it came out. The book’s idea is very similar to what triggered Frankfurt to write about bullshit: we all know what an asshole is. Well, do we really? What is it that makes someone an asshole? What does that mean? If you don’t want to read a book, you can also watch the documentary film that was released in 2019 (I just watched it). It’s hugely enjoyable and deeply insightful. To begin with, Donald Trump only appears very briefly – in the form of some Trump building. Obviously, he’s covered. But it’s done in a very smart way: by looking into a number of distinct areas where assholes either are a huge problem or where they run the show. There’s a section on Silvio Berlusconi, there’s a section on Silicon Valley, there’s something about the financial-services industry, there’s a part about internet trolls… Very much worth your time: it’s funny while dealing with some very serious topics.
Lastly, and completely unrelated to the above: Over the course of the past two and a half months, I’ve been working on a series of articles and videos related to photobooks that are accessible on Patreon. I had been toying with the idea for years, and I finally decided to get started. Currently, every week there are one new article and one new video. If you’re a patron, you’ll conveniently receive an email, so you’ll never miss anything. The moment you sign up, you’ll have access to the whole archive. If you like what I’m doing, and if you want to read and see more of it, here’s your chance.
As always thank you for reading!
– Jörg