Infinite Mobilization. Peter Sloterdijk

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Dedication

      In memory of Jacob Taubes

      1923–1987

Infinite Mobilization

      Towards a Critique of Political Kinetics

      Peter Sloterdijk

      Translated by Sandra Berjan

      polity

Copyright page

      First published in German as Eurotaoismus: Zur Kritik der politischen Kinetik

      © Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 1989

      This English edition © Polity Press, 2020

      Polity Press

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      All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1847-0

      ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1848-7 (paperback)

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Sloterdijk, Peter, 1947- author. | Berjan, Sandra, translator.

      Title: Infinite mobilization / Peter Sloterdijk ; translated by Sandra Berjan.

      Other titles: Eurotaoismus. English

      Description: English edition. | Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity, 2020. | “First published in German as Eurotaoismus: Zur Kritik der politischen Kinetik, Suhrkamp Verlag Frankfurt am Main, 1989.” | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “One of the world’s leading philosophers shows how our preoccupation with motion and change is a defining feature of our modern, Western way of thinking”-- Provided by publisher.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2019045590 (print) | LCCN 2019045591 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509518470 | ISBN 9781509518487 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509518517 (epub)

      Subjects: LCSH: Political psychology--History--20th century. | Political sociology. | Europe--Politics and government--20th century. | Europe--Civilization--History.

      Classification: LCC JA74.5 .S5813 2020 (print) | LCC JA74.5 (ebook) | DDC 320.01--dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019045590

      LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019

      Typeset in 10.5 on 12pt Times

      by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk, NR21 8NL

      Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Limited

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Premises

      The original German title of this book used the cumbersome and speculative word “Eurotaoism.”¹ Why was this necessary?

      There are three possible answers to this question. First, this could be an instance of those involuntary and nonsensical turns of phrase that I have been shown to let slip rather frequently; if this is true, we might as well assume that the book has already died of its own title as though from an overdose of profundity. Second, what we could have here is an example of combinatorial wit in the style of Friedrich Schlegel’s shotgun weddings of two vastly differing terms; but should such wit truly be in play, we had better leave it unexplained – wit that supplies its own discussion is no longer witty. However, since combinatorics is a tried and true early romanticist method for the discovery of structural analogues, a request for patience may be permitted in order to await the result. Third, “Eurotaoism” could be the heading above a missed opportunity. Such a title lends itself so easily to saying something groundbreaking about the play of polarities, the reunification of spirit and nature, and the opening of the heart chakra. All these things are of concern to us. I admit that it