[lit-ideas] Re: The torture graph
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2006 22:49:35 -0700
Andeas,
You asked that question before, but I was in a count down for surgery at the
time and couldn't get to it. Fukuyama seems to have been thoroughly
convinced by the Hegelian Alexandre Kojeve that the end of history was
Liberal Democracy, but would this end stay the end forever? Fukuyama thinks
the most obvious threat to this end is associated with Nietzsche's "the last
man." Nietzsche as you know thought the best hope for the future was the
Ubermensch, the superman, the great man. He was in agreement with Thomas
Carlyle about this.
If the End of History is not a glorious better and better Liberal Democracy
but a sinking into a solid state of sameness - Nietzsche's fear about the
destiny of Capitalism: Sinclair Lewis's Main Street, a world of Babbitts,
then what we need, Nietzsche and Carlyle would say is the great man to take
humanity forward. We need him to lead us from greatness to greatness.
Now Fukuyama never thought that. He didn't agree with Nietzsche or Carlyle,
but he thought it entirely possible that some such individual with enormous
power and self-confidence would convince a nation seeking such a man to
following him into a reawakening of history, new wars of conquests -
whatever. If Liberal Democracy becomes at some future time too boring, one
or more Great Men might start history up again. Fukuyama hopes that
wouldn't be the case, but he considers it a possibility.
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Andreas Ramos
Sent: Friday, April 07, 2006 10:19 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The torture graph
> Well, we are at war and I'm impatient with hearing the same anti-American
> plaint.
Lawrence, let's discuss Fukuyama. He says the same thing about
anti-americans.
Here's my question: What does Fukuyama mean by "the last man"?
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
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