Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'

Subject: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 04:39 PM

Articulating "hyperreality" and applying the distinctive name "simulacra" or "simulacrum," Baudrillard was an important voice in Post Modern philosophy.

link

French philosopher Jean Baudrillard dies
The Associated Press
Tuesday, March 6, 2007

PARIS: French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, a social theorist known for his provocative commentaries on consumerism, excess and what he said was the disappearance of reality, died Tuesday, his publishing house said. He was 77.

Baudrillard died at his home in Paris, said Michel Delorme of the Galilee publishing house. He died after a "long illness," Delorme said, a term that in France most often means cancer.

The two men had worked together since the publication in 1977, when "Oublier Foucault" (Forget Foucault) was published, one of some 30 books by Baudrillard, Delorme said by telephone.

Among his last published books was "Cool Memories V," in 2005.

Baudrillard, a sociologist by training, is perhaps best known for his concepts of "hyperreality" and "simulation."

"We lose a great creator," Education Minister Gilles de Robien said. "Jean Baudrillard was one of the great figures of French sociological thought."

Born in June 20, 1979, in Reims, west of Paris, Baudrillard, the son of civil servants, began a long teaching career instructing high school students in German. After receiving a doctorate in sociology, he taught at the University of Paris in Nanterre.

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: Amos
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 10:31 PM

Well, that's another milestone vanishing in the rear-view mirror as we plunge into the post-deconstructionist universe he made possible.

Ciao, professore!


A

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: InOBU
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 11:40 PM

He was the real thing... as opposed to the rest of the modern world.
lor

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 11:58 PM

The birth date seems to be a typo? Doesn't fit with the age stated nor the work length.

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: Alec
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 01:05 AM

You're right Katlaughing,it ought to be 1929.
If Baudrillard was right,his surviving works ought now to attain the status which he labelled "Third Order of Simulacra".
I shall resist the temptation to make any jokes on the lines of "What does Baudrillard's passing signify"
He had some perceptive insights & ,within his field,was impossible to ignore.
Very difficult to like but he was never into popularity contests.

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: redsnapper
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 04:48 AM

Sad news... he was one of my favourite contemporary social theorists and philosophers.

A great thinker... and whatever one thinks of his ideas, the world will be one stimulating brain less rich.

RS

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 07:26 AM

Philosophy majors tend to read the works of a lot of dead guys. When a contemporary dies, it's kinda' weird......philosophically speaking.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 12:58 PM

Look at it this way, Spaw--it's nice to know that some contemporary people can still think philosophically.

Sorry I didn't catch the typo in my cut and paste. The birth year was 1929.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 01:11 PM

I think philosophically. I'm a solipsist.

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 02:33 PM

I'm more of an ellipsist myself....................

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: Fibula Mattock
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 03:06 PM

Holy moly, just spent the day in in-depth discussions about hyperreality... (we don't get out much). Baudrillard rocked.

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: Amos
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 03:07 PM

This means that Spaw believes that "what goes around, comes around", while Rapaire believes he is the only one that comes around here.

A

Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Baudrillard, father of 'simulacra'
From: autolycus
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 05:42 PM

The great thing about stuff like books is that they can continue to stimulate after the authors have passed on.

   "A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit,embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life."

            Johnny Milton.

   "Information can tell us everything. It has all the answers. But they are answers to questions we have not asked,and which doubtless don't even arise."

            Jean Baudrillard,Cool Memories,1987.






       Ivor