On the pleasure principle in culture: illusions without owne - Robert Pfaller

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In this fascinating work of cultural theory and philosophy, Robert Pfaller explores the hidden cost of our contemporary approach to pleasure, belief and illusion.

Sports, design, eroticism, social intercourse and games - indeed, all those aspects of our culture commonly deemed 'pleasurable' - seem to require beliefs that many regard as illusory.

But in considering themselves above the self-deceptions of the crowd, those same sceptics are prone to dismissing a majority of the population as naive or misguided.

In doing so, they create a false opposition between the 'simple' masses and their more enlightened rulers.

And this dichotomy then functions as an ideological support for neoliberal government: citizens become irrational victims, to be ruled over by a protective security state.

What initially appears to be a universal pleasure principle - the role of 'anonymous illusions' in mass culture - in this way becomes a rationale for dismantling democracy.