The Dissolution of Philosophy: E.M. Cioran

Mihnea Tanasescu, MA Philosophy, studied Human Ecology at the College of the Atlantic and Continental Philosophy at the New School for Social Research, New York. Currently conducting PhD research on representation and democracy in the European Union at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.

Reading the work of Cioran can often be a perplexing experience: the reader is caught between the desire to understand the continuity of the thought and the apparent chaos of the aphorisms themselves. The shattering reaction that they provoke cannot leave one indifferent but rather forces the reader into a position, either going into hiding or accepting the abyss that the text opens. This extended meditation attempts to develop an often lyrical conception of philosophy and thought inspired by Cioran. It serves both as an introduction for the uninitiated and as a different perspective or overview for the one familiar with the thinker's work. It traces the genesis of key concepts in Cioran's thought and argues for a conception of philosophy that is intimately tied to an author's temperament, viscera and blood. The book explores the concepts of obsession, action, temperament, thought, death and lucidity, relying not just on Cioran but also on the essays of Montaigne. This work could be very helpful to the student of philosophy, the professor interested in having an engaging seminar, as well as to anybody looking for a different view of what it is to live and die as a philosopher.