Philosophy of Decline. Here They Will Teach You the Most Foolish Things

Philosophers do not always teach good things. There have been many philosophers who spoke of passionate pleasure and deep despair. They did not systematize moral lessons; on the contrary, they constantly provoked readers, knocking them off balance. They did not strive for the purity of the philosophical genre; rather, they let in any ghosts, fears, and nightmares into philosophy. Horror and despair, uncontrollable desire and calculated selfishness, pretense and sensuality, betrayals and the exciting underside of our lives—this is the content of these philosophical works. These philosophers boldly show us the ideas and intentions we are ashamed of and try to hide. We are before them as if on the palm of a hand, and they are our most malevolent teachers!