Simulations

by Jean Baudrillard, Paul Foss (translator), Philip Beitchman (translator)

It is Baudrillard's version of Foucault's Order of Things and his ironical commentary of the history of truth.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory, Politics

163 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1983

About the author

Jean Baudrillard was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet, with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as well as his formulation of concepts such as hyperreality. Baudrillard wrote about diverse subjects, including consumerism, critique of economy, social history, aesthetics, Western foreign policy, and popular culture. Among his most well-known works are Seduction (1978), Simulacra and Simulation (1981), America (1986), and The Gulf War Did Not Take Place (1991). His work is frequently associated with postmodernism and specifically post-structuralism. Nevertheless, Baudrillard had also opposed post-structuralism, and had distanced himself from postmodernism.

Reviews

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting little text, and the copy I read has had a rough life - it looks like fake blood is on the cover, and two pages fell out while I was reading it. Anyway, it's surprisingly clearly written, considering when Baudrillard wrote it, and a lot of the ideas in it are very simple and intuitive. I give it four stars because it seems like he's writing his way into ideas rather than expressing full thoughts - that's where later texts, especially S&S, come in. I'm glad I read "The Conspiracy of Art" before this, because it's neat to see just how ludicrous the response to it was, given that the same general idea is presented here. Even his idea of transaesthetics comes in here, in a rough and broad form. Overall, I recommend this to people who want a quick and easy intro to Baudrillard, and to anyone who wants to trace many of his most significant ideas to their simpler roots.

[Nicoleta Faina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jean Baudrillard analyses the situations of hyper-reality and of simulation. Worth reading!
His essay about Disneyland demonstrates that its childish imaginary is neither true or false, it is there to make us believe that the rest of America is real, when in fact America is a Disneyland.

[My Little Forest · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the record, Disneyland is fake but our real world is faker.
Ecclesiastes

*wink wink*

[cookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

BORN TO SIGN
WORLD IS A SIMULACRA
鬼神 Sublimate Em All 1983
I am unreal man
410,757,864,530 FAKE COPS

[Bob Woodley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book consists of 2 essays, which I guess were the basis for more fleshed out works later. So we should excuse some of the gaps and leaps I suppose. Certainly there are many insights from a lively mind.

I. The Precession of Simulacra
A dizzy, sloppy tour of his notion of the hyper-real and simulation. Virtuosic flourishes interspersed with unclear asides. I'm sure it all seemed like good fun at the time, but in our current era of 'fake news' and corrupt media players, maybe we shouldn't just all chuckle at the relativity of the hyper-real but instead work a little harder at discerning fact from fiction.

II. The Orders of Simulacra.
Some notes:
- Counterfeit->Robot->Model
- "The code", I presume he means computer code. Extensive, simplistic analogy with DNA.
- Critique of Science/writings of Monod.
- Testing/Referendums/Samples/Walter Benjamin on Film and Camera
- Polls/Politics
- "Duopoly is the final stage of monopoly".
- The Hyper-real

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

yup.
I'm for it.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most relevant work done by a philosopher - with Rick Roderick being the exception.

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bible.

The End of the Panopticon >

[David Mcnicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

fuck if i know what it means

[Sean McGuckian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used partly as inspiration for the movie "The Matrix" this analysis of media, technology, postmodern society, and "political economy" is even more relevant today than when he wrote this in 1980s. I will be (re)reading more Baudrillard, as the future unfolds.