A Political Theory of Post-Truth by Ignas Kalpokas

Author:Ignas Kalpokas
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9783319977133
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

3.2 Mediatised Affective Capacity: A Spinozist Theory

This section is aimed at better understanding human agency and developing a theoretical framework of post-truth , including the drives and motivations that lead people towards embracing post-truth in today’s mediatised environment. The key inspiration here is the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza and, more precisely, his Ethics. Spinoza is important, first and foremost, as one of the key theorists of affect . Indeed, affect has already featured prominently in the accounts of post-truth and mediatisation, and the latter in particular, because its substitution of face-to-face interactions with virtual ones posits affect as the main way of maintaining one’s existence. Closely related to that is the importance of desire , more precisely—desire for pleasure —in Spinoza’s thought that clearly corresponds with experience and maximisation of satisfaction Admittedly, it would be unwise to transplant Spinoza’s seventeenth-century ideas verbatim. As a result, some key elements will have to be rethought in the light of the present context. Nevertheless, such rethinking is also conducive to the overall aim of this book as the ways in which Spinoza’s ideas have to be reframed reveal a lot about the changes that have taken place with mediatisation. Moreover, there is an affinity between Spinoza and Ernesto Laclau whose ideas will prove crucial in the final chapter while discussing the political aspects of the present theory of post-truth . That affinity is not accidental: Spinoza was an inspiration to the French psychoanalyst thinker Jacques Lacan while the latter has informed the thinking of Laclau, and particularly his theory of signification, which is the main takeaway of Laclau in the final chapter. Hence, framing the theory of post-truth through the lens of Spinoza’s though appears to be a natural choice.

In order to fully understand Spinoza’s potential to contribute to understanding post-truth , one needs to first delve into his conceptualisation of particular things, such as human beings. In this context, the key proposition is undoubtedly the following: ‘[e]ach thing, insofar as it is in itself, endeavours to persevere in its being’ (EIIIp6). Indeed, this endeavour, or striving ( conatus in Spinoza’s Latin), is ‘nothing other than the actual essence of the thing’ (EIIIp7). Clearly, then, ‘as an individual thing exists, it is exercising a power to maintain itself in existence’ (James 2016: 116). The ability to interact with the environment and affect one’s surroundings (or, as will be demonstrated later in this section, the ability to partake in affective exchange) is of absolute importance: the more is encompassed by one’s conatus , i.e. the more nodal points for interaction with the environment a particular thing has, the more reality and, therefore, existence belongs to it, and vice versa (EIp9). Conatus thus refers to ‘our capacity to affirm […] affects in exchange with other bodies that increases our power and capabilities’ (Carnera 2012: 81). Hence, our entire existence is dependent on affective exchange.

The constant striving to persevere in existence implies that existence is never full: there simply would be no need to strive for perseverance if it was full and self -sufficient.

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