The True Life

1. The philosopher's role is to corrupt youth by showing them the true life

Ultimately, to corrupt youth means only one thing: to try to ensure that young people don't go down the paths already mapped out, that they are not just condemned to obey social customs, that they can create something new, propose a different direction as regards the true life.

Philosophical corruption. The philosopher's task is not to teach conformity or caution, but to inspire youth to seek a life worth living beyond money, pleasure, and power. This "corruption" involves challenging preconceived ideas, blind obedience, and arbitrary customs. The goal is to show young people that there is always potential for the true life, even if it's not always fully present.

The true life. This concept, inspired by Rimbaud's poetry, represents a meaningful existence that transcends immediate gratification and social expectations. It involves creating new paths, questioning established norms, and striving for a life of purpose and authenticity. The philosopher aims to reveal this possibility to youth, encouraging them to explore beyond the confines of societal conditioning.

2. Youth faces conflicting passions: burning up life vs. building it

Either the passion for burning up your life or the passion for building it. Burning it up means the nihilistic cult of the immediate, which, by the way, may very well be the cult of pure revolt, insurrection, insubordination, rebellion, new, dazzling but short-lived forms of collective life, such as the occupations of public squares for a few weeks.

Conflicting desires. Young people often find themselves torn between two seemingly contradictory impulses:

• Burning up life:
  • Embracing immediate experiences
  • Rebelling against norms
  • Engaging in short-lived, intense collective actions
• Building life:
  • Planning for the future
  • Pursuing success and stability
  • Conforming to societal expectations

Balancing act. The challenge for youth lies in navigating these opposing forces. While the passion for burning up life can lead to meaningful experiences and social change, it may lack lasting impact. Conversely, the drive to build a stable future can result in conformity and loss of idealism. The true life may lie in finding a balance or synthesis between these conflicting passions.

3. Contemporary youth experiences greater freedom but also disorientation

You are living at a time of crisis in societies that is shaking off and destroying the last vestiges of tradition. And we don't really know what the positive side of this destruction or negation is.

Increased freedom. Modern youth enjoy greater freedoms compared to previous generations:

• Less restrictive initiation rites
• Reduced emphasis on old age wisdom
• More educational opportunities

Disorientation and challenges. However, this freedom comes with its own set of problems:

• Lack of clear symbolic boundaries between youth and adulthood
• Fear and mistrust of youth, especially in marginalized communities
• New forms of social division based on origin, identity, and place of residence

Societal crisis. The abandonment of tradition has led to a crisis in symbolic organization. While it has liberated youth from certain constraints, it has also left them without clear guidance or direction. This situation calls for the creation of new forms of symbolization and meaning-making in the modern world.

4. Boys risk eternal adolescence due to lack of initiation rites

What I'm concerned about today is the father as seen by the son. So I can say that, as the father of jouissance and as the father of the Law, he is a problematic figure.

Loss of traditional initiation. The disappearance of clear initiation rites, such as military service, has left boys without symbolic support for becoming adults. This lack of structured transition contributes to a sense of disorientation and prolonged adolescence.

Problematic father figure. The traditional roles of the father as a figure of enjoyment (jouissance) and law have become increasingly ambiguous:

• Fathers often envy their sons' perceived freedom and youth
• The symbolic authority of fathers has been undermined by external laws and market forces

Consequences:

• Risk of eternal adolescence for boys
• Difficulty in establishing stable identities
• Tendency towards childish consumerism and obedience to market forces
• Potential for disruptive or antisocial behavior in the absence of clear societal roles

5. Girls prematurely become women, losing the poetic figure of girlhood

Look at most girls in modern society. They are no different from women; they are very young women, that's all. They dress and are made up like women, they speak like women, they know about everything.

Premature adulthood. In contemporary society, girls often skip the traditional phase of girlhood and prematurely adopt adult female roles and behaviors. This phenomenon is characterized by:

• Early adoption of adult fashion and makeup
• Sophisticated knowledge and speech patterns
• Engagement with adult topics and concerns

Loss of symbolic virginity. The concept of virginity, once a crucial symbol in traditional societies, has lost its significance. This change reflects the broader shift in how female identity is constructed and perceived in modern culture.

Consequences:

• Disappearance of the poetic figure of the girl in literature and culture
• Pressure on young females to embody adult femininity from an early age
• Potential loss of a unique developmental stage and its associated experiences

6. The fate of boys: perverted, sacrificed, or deserving bodies

I think – this is a hypothesis – that this initiation without initiation offers boys three alternatives. I'll call them: the perverted body, the sacrificed body, and the deserving body.

Perverted body. This represents a rejection of traditional symbolization through:

• Body modifications (piercings, tattoos)
• Drug use and excessive consumption
• Engagement in "pornographic" or a-subjective sexuality

Sacrificed body. A desperate attempt to revive tradition through:

• Extreme puritanism and self-denial
• Submission to absolute, often religious, laws
• Potential for martyrdom or terrorism

Deserving body. Acceptance of market-driven conditioning:

• Pursuit of career success and social status
• Conformity to economic and social norms
• Protection by societal institutions and police

These alternatives reflect different responses to the lack of clear initiation rites and symbolic structures in modern society, each with its own set of risks and consequences for male identity formation.

7. The fate of girls: premature womanhood and cynical social becoming

With boys, the end of traditional initiation leads to a childlike stasis, which can be called a life without Ideas. With girls, the lack of external separation (men and marriage) between girl and woman, between young-woman and woman-mother, leads to the immanent construction of a womanhood that could be called premature.

Contrasting fates. While boys often struggle with prolonged immaturity, girls face the opposite problem:

• Rapid transition to adult female roles
• Loss of distinct girlhood phase
• Early adoption of cynical, career-oriented mindset

Consequences:

• Academic and professional success for many girls
• Potential loss of idealism and creativity
• Risk of living "without Ideas" due to premature pragmatism

Societal implications. This dynamic could lead to a world where:

• Intelligent, career-driven women lead
• Immature, idea-less men follow
• Both genders ultimately serve the interests of capitalist society without challenging its fundamental structures

8. Traditional femininity: a square of servant, seductress, lover, and saint

The circle of the figures of femininity, as constructed for thousands of years by male-dominated society, has four poles.

The four traditional female archetypes:

1. Servant: Productive and reproductive domestic role
2. Seductress: Dangerous, sexual woman
3. Lover: Symbol of passionate love and self-sacrifice
4. Saint: Holy virgin, intercessor, and spiritual figure

Dynamic interplay. These figures are not isolated but exist in dynamic relationships:

• Each figure is defined in relation to others
• Women are often portrayed as moving between these roles
• Literature and culture frequently depict women as split between two figures

Limitations and critique. While this model has shaped perceptions of femininity for millennia, it is important to recognize:

• Its origins in male-dominated societies
• The potential for stereotyping and limiting women's roles
• The need for more nuanced and diverse representations of femininity in the modern world

9. Woman as the Two that subverts the male One

A woman is that which subverts the One, that which is not a place but an act. I will argue here – and this is a little different from what Lacan says – that it's not the negative relation to the All, the not-All, that governs the formula of sexuation, but rather the relation to the One, precisely insofar as the One is not.

Subversion of unity. In contrast to the traditional male position of singularity (represented by the One), femininity is characterized by:

• Duality and multiplicity
• Process and movement rather than fixed position
• The capacity to pass between different states or roles

Philosophical implications:

• Challenges the notion of a unified, stable identity
• Suggests that femininity inherently questions absolute truths or fixed categories
• Proposes that women embody the very process of becoming and change

Cultural impact. This concept of woman as Two has influenced:

• Literary and artistic representations of women
• Philosophical discussions of gender and identity
• Feminist theories challenging essentialist notions of womanhood

10. The need for a new egalitarian symbolization in the modern world

We must work to create an egalitarian symbolization that will guide, code, and form the peaceful subjective basis for the collectivization of resources, the effective elimination of inequalities, the recognition of differences, with equal subjective rights, and, ultimately, the withering away of separate, state-type entities.

Challenges of modernity. The abandonment of traditional hierarchies and symbols has created a void in social organization, leading to:

• Disorientation among youth
• Increased social inequalities
• Loss of shared meaning and purpose

Proposal for new symbolization:

• Egalitarian rather than hierarchical
• Recognizing differences while promoting equality
• Fostering collective resource management
• Aiming for the eventual dissolution of separate state entities

Path forward. To achieve this new symbolization, society must:

• Engage youth in creating new forms of meaning
• Challenge the dominance of market-driven values
• Develop new ways of thinking about identity, community, and social organization
• Embrace the creative potential of love, politics, science, and art in forging new social bonds and structures

Last updated: November 18, 2024