James Brusseau

James Brusseau

A philosopher specializing in contemporary Continental philosophy, he is also a fiction writer.

Brusseau (born 1964) took a Ph.D. in Philosophy under the direction of Alphonso Lingis. In 1994 he joined the faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the Mexican National University in Mexico City where he teaches graduate courses in Philosophy and Comparative Literature. He has also taught in Europe and the California State University. He is married to a Spaniard and has two children.

Scholarship

Brusseau’s scholarship focuses on philosophical decadence, which he defines as philosophers scorning the task of making accurate theories about the world in favor of provoking more theorizing. Within this framework, whether a philosopher is actually right about things seems a secondary concern. There is also no displayed interest in helping non-philosophers resolve ethical issues. The guiding purpose is to provoke more strictly philosophical discussion and study. As a result, the best philosophical idea equals the one producing the most philosophizing.

Brusseau attempts to locate decadence in the history of philosophy at Friedrich Nietzsche’s appropriation by recent French philosophers including Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida. He calls the moment a “reversal” in philosophy’s history, one where thought no longer exists to pursue truth, instead, truths exist to serve and accelerate thinking.

It is unclear from Brusseau’s published work and lectures whether he considers this development to be negative, neutral or positive. It is also unclear whether he considers himself a proponent of decadence.

Literature

Brusseau's novel Empire of Humiliation is set in Mexico City.

Books

• Isolated Experiences, State University of New York Press, 1996
• Decadence of the French Nietzsche, Rowman and Littlefield/Lexington, 2004
• Empire of Humiliation, Overflow, 2008