General Information

Author/Creator

Lévy, Bernard-Henri, 1948- author

Language

English.

Published

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, 2020.

Physical Description

106 p. ; 20 cm.

Contributors

Contributor

Kennedy, Stephen B., (translator.)

Contents/Summary

Summary

"With medical developments, rising death tolls, and conspiracy theories beamed minute by minute through the vast web universe to billions, the dissemination of information during the coronavirus pandemic has radically altered social and political landscapes around the world. In this clear-eyed essay, renowned French public intellectual Bernard Henri-Lévy examines the various meanings we have assigned to the coronavirus pandemic, interrogating what these "messages" tell us about ourselves. Drawing on the philosophical tradition from Plato and Aristotle to Lacan and Foucault, Lévy asks uncomfortable questions about the realities and mythologies that have emerged during the pandemic. He rejects liberal ideas that the virus is a warning from nature, the inevitable result of global capitalism; he troubles the heroic status of physicians and researchers, asking us to think critically about the loci of authority and power; he questions the panicked polarization that dominates online discourse. With signature incisive analysis, Lévy takes a bird's-eye view of the most consequential historical event of our time, proposing a way to defend human society from contemporary threats to our social and economic future"--

Subjects

Subject

Philosophy, French > 21st century.

Epidemics.

Mass media > Social aspects.

Bibliographic Information

Responsibility

Bernard-Henri Lévy. [English translation by Stephen B. Kennedy].

Note

Originally published in French as "Ce virus qui rend fou", Paris, 2020.

ISBN

9780300257373

Holdings

Item Type	Current Location	Collection	Call Number	Volume Info	Shelving Location	Public Note
Book	OSA Archivum Library	Reference collection	194 LEV		Reference	-

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