Experiments Against Reality: The Fate of Culture in the Postmodern Age

by Roger Kimball

Confronting the dilemmas of modernist and postmodernist thought, Roger Kimball in this new collection of his work explores the literary and philosophical underpinnings of modernity as well as the state of our culture today. Experiments Against Reality displays the sophistication, breadth of knowledge, and clarity of argument that have made Mr. Kimball one of the most trenchant critics of our contemporary culture. He begins by considering the influential poet and theorist T. E. Hulme, and shows how the work of Eliot, Auden, Wallace Stevens, Robert Musil, Elias Canetti, and others can be seen as efforts to articulate a convincing alternative to the intellectual and spiritual desolations of the age. Turning to the philosophical tradition, Mr. Kimball suggests how figures from Mill and Nietzsche to Bertrand Russell, Wittgenstein, Sartre, Heidegger, Foucault, and Roger Scruton have addressed ― or in many cases evaded ― the defining moral imperatives of modernity. Finally he steps back to consider more generally the career of contemporary culture ― the trivializing nature of the contemporary art world; the academic attack on historical truth and scientific rationality; the fate of the "two cultures" controversy. "Enlightenment," Mr. Kimball writes, "sought to emancipate man by liberating reason and battling against superstition. But reason liberated entirely from tradition has turned out to be rancorous and hubristic ― in short, something irrational." Experiments Against Reality offers continuing evidence of Mr. Kimball's stature as one of our most important cultural critics.

Genres: Philosophy, Cultural

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

American art critic and social commentator. He was educated at Cheverus High School, a Jesuit institution in South Portland, Maine, and then at Bennington College, where he received his BA in philosophy and classical Greek, and at Yale University. He first gained prominence in the early 1990s with the publication of his book, Tenured Radicals: How Politics Has Corrupted Higher Education.

Additionally, he is editor and publisher of The New Criterion magazine and the publisher of Encounter Books. He currently serves on the board of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, the board of Transaction Publishers and as a Visitor of Ralston College, a start-up liberal arts college based in Savannah, Georgia. He also served on the Board of Visitors of St. John's College (Annapolis and Santa Fe). His latest book, The Fortunes of Permanence: Culture and Anarchy in an Age of Amnesia, was published by St. Augustine's Press in June of 2012.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utterly poor criticism. The author hardly levels an argument against postmodernism and deconstruction, but rather considers both so patently absurd (and in conflict with his obvious ideological biases) as to merit only snide condescension. This, coupled with some frankly disgusting personal opinions (calling Foucault a "fruity" pervert who deserved to get AIDS), leaves little more than reactionary conservative (in the cultural sense) rhetoric. Much better books exist on the topics Kimball discusses, both pro and con, though sadly not in my county's public library system.

[Dave Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roger Kimball was educated at Bennington College, where he received a B.A. in philosophy and classical Greek. After graduating, Kimball attended Yale University, where he earned an M.A. in 1978 and an M.Phil. in 1982 in philosophy. His “Experiments Against Reality” is a scurrilous attack on Postmodernism.

The self-contradictory nature of such intellectual rubbish is palpable. Postmodernism is a ridiculous set of pablum and Bullshit. That said, no postmodernist would seek medical assistance from someone who shares their epistemology, nor would they use a bridge built by their brethren.

And that is why postmodernists love it: they hate Western civilization. Fuck capitalism, fuck the police, embrace decline. Nihilism is their point of view; this is their Sinn des Lebens.

If truth is meaningless, Michael Foucalt was correct in his belief that ``truth is always and everywhere a function of power,'' nothing but guns matter.

Postmodernism provides the philosophical underpinnings for antinomianism and relativism: the view of Communism and Nazism. It is a world where victory is detestable, trade is exploitation, and growth is not desirable; a Nietzschean universe of the Uber mensch.

Kimball carries the reader into an appreciation of the literary merits of several essayists. Sixteen essays focus on different literary figures: T.S. Eliot, Auden, Wallace Stevens, Nietzsche, Foucault, and Francis Fukuyama. Kimball works to demonstrate the efficacy of literary criticism.

His essay on John Stuart Mill, the apostle of radical liberalism, and the criticism of Mill's philosophy by James Fitzjames Stephen in his work “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” is nuanced. Kimball has strong opinions and interesting ideas about postmodernism and about the subjects discussed in this book. He is also capable of writing great prose.

This is a collection worth reading.

[Bakunin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roger Kimball is one of few critics who can combine a fine taste with a sceptics view of current trends in literature. Kimballs essays deal mostly with a current trend in the humanities: the disbelief in reality. His essay on TS Eliot is especially illuminating in this regard and certainly wets ones appetite for old possums poetry.

At times I wish that Kimball would try to elucidate and develop his own aesthethic and moral theory of the world instead of hiding behind his scintillating critique of modern artists.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of Kimball's books are well worth reading as he is one of our finest living essayists, and an astute commentator on the times. This volume contains essays on WH Auden, Wallace Stevens, TS Eliot, and baddies such as, Nietzsche Sartre and Foucault.

The essay, "The Trivialisation of Outrage" tells you everything you need to know about what's wrong with modern art.