Impossible Exchange by Jean Baudrillard

Impossible Exchange by Jean Baudrillard

Working his way through the various spheres and systems of everyday life-the political, the juridical, the economical, the aesthetic, the biological, among others-he finds that they are all characterized by the same non-equivalence, and hence the same eccentricity. Literally, they have no meaning outside themselves and cannot be exchanged for anything. Politics is laden with signs and meanings, but seen from the outside it has no meaning. Schemes for genetic experimentation and investigation are becoming infinitely ramified, and the more ramified they become the more the crucial question is left unanswered: who rules over life? Who rules over death? Baudrillard's conclusion is that the true formula of contemporary nihilism lies here: the nihilism of value itself. This is our fate, and from this stem both the happiest and the most baleful consequences. This book might be said to be the exploration, first, of the 'fateful' consequences, and subsequently-by a poetic transference of situation-of the fortunate, happy consequences of impossible exchange.

First prize for cerebral cold-bloodedness goes to French philosopher Jean Baudrillard* The New York Times *
The most notorious intellectual celebrity to emerge from Paris since Roland Barthes and the most influential prophet of the media since Marshall McLuhan. * i-D magazine *

Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007) began teaching sociology at the Université de Paris-X in 1966. He retired from academia in 1987 to write books and travel until his death in 2007.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781844677917
ISBN 10	1844677915
Title	Impossible Exchange
Author	Jean Baudrillard
Series	Radical Thinkers Set 06
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Verso Books
Year published	2012-01-16
Number of pages	208
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.