Simulacra and Simulation

Rating:
Summary: Revolutionary philosophy. But what's the point?
Review: Everything you have heard about this book is true. It is dense, complicated, annoyingly analytical, and fairly pointless. Yet it's also genius. To preface...Continental philosophy, in the past hundred years or so, has not been known for it's practical applications. Existentialism and Postmodernism are mental games for the Ivory Tower intellectual, sure. But that doesn't mean that they do not provide a model for looking at and thinking about the world that the average intellect can relate to and use. And this book is no exception to that. It IS dificult to understand, yes, but no where near as bad as most people in these reviews seem to think. Anyone with a basic understanding of Objectivism v. Subjectism, Platonism, and the empirical philosphers can get plenty out of it. The vocabulary is no worse then most other philosophy, and a lot less complicated then some (this isn't Kant). Baisically, Baudrillard shows us that reality no longer exists, and has been replaced by simulacra via the process of simulation, creatin what he calls the "hyperreal". It is a very enlightening read, and will make you really rethink how you view the world. The major problem with the book, as at least one other person has pointed out, is Baudrillard's cultural references. They are quite dated by this point, and you'll find yourself completely lost as to his point, since you can't relate to his subject. In the end though, it is a book that anyone interested in contemporary philosophy should read.

Rating:
Summary: Pitiful!
Review: Yes, if reality no longer exists then why write simulations that will add to that non-existence. This is the end of the road for French non-thought. Baudrillard brings together disparate items to make his case. I bought this book in order to get an idea of what postmodern philosophy has to say about the creation of models and their relation to the actual real product (mental or physical) that they are creating. This book was useless. Baudrillard says that models are to blame for the simulations that are created. This is Platonism devoid of the promise. For persons interested in the origins of statistical models this book is useless. For persons interested in the rhetoric of ekphrasis it is equally useless. If an image of a work of art (a model) is the basis for the ekphrastic in literary works, and the original model is not really "there", then what are people referring to? Baudrillard says nothing because there is no reference point. It is not clear if our simulations are to blame for the erasure of reality or what. The joke is on Baudrillard because he has to prove that what he is trying to prove doesn't exist. In the words of Gwendolyn from The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde) "Ah! that is purely a metaphysical speculation, and like most metaphysical speculations has very little reference at all to the actual facts of real life as we know them."

Don't waste you time or money.