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In this post-apocalyptic rollercoaster ride, philosopher Srecko Horvat invites us to explore the Apocalypse in terms of 'revelation' (rather than as the 'end' itself). He argues that the only way to prevent the end - i.e., extinction - is to engage in a close reading of various interconnected threats, such as climate crisis, the nuclear age and the ongoing pandemic. Drawing on the work of neglected philosopher Günther Anders, this book outlines a philosophical approach to deal with what Horvat, borrowing a term from climate science and giving it a theological twist, calls 'eschatological tipping points'. These are no longer just the nuclear age or climate crisis, but their collision, conjoined with various other major threats - not only pandemics, but also the viruses of capitalism and fascism. In his investigation of the future of places such as Chernobyl, the Mediterranean and the Marshall Islands, as well as many others affected by COVID-19, Horvat contends that the 'revelation' appears simple and unprecedented: the alternatives are no longer socialism or barbarism - our only alternatives today are a radical reinvention of the world, or mass extinction.
After the Apocalypse is an urgent call not only to mourn tomorrow's dead today but to struggle for our future while we can.
List of contents
Acknowledgements Epigraph
Note
Introduction: Nine Theses on Apocalypse
The Apocalypse already happened
Apocalypse as revelation
The struggle for meaning
Post-apocalyptic melancholy
'Normalization' of the Apocalypse
Eschatological tipping points
Extinction is 'supraliminal'
Time beyond 'progress'
Another end of the world is still possible
Notes
1 Climate Crisis: Back to the Future Mediterranean
On the importance of wind
Solastalgia for the Mediterranean
'Normalization' of the Apocalypse
Death of Venice
Notes
2 The Nuclear Age: 'Enjoy Chernobyl, Die Later'
'Cloud that stopped at the border'
The obsolescence of 'ruin value'
Commodification of the Apocalypse
Supraliminal radioactivity
Notes
3 The Collision: Marshall Islands Are Everywhere
'The ontological Garden of Eden'
The collision of the nuclear age and climate crisis
The twenty-first-century pyramids
Time beyond progress
Notes
Postscriptum: 'Revelation' of COVID-19
'Wuhan is everywhere'
Eschatological tipping points
The revolution of breathing
Notes
About the author
Sre¿ko Horvat is a philosopher and author of dozen books, including
The Radicality of Love and
Poetry from the Future. He is co-founder of Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25).
Summary
In this post-apocalyptic rollercoaster ride, philosopher Srecko Horvat invites us to explore the Apocalypse in terms of 'revelation' (rather than as the 'end' itself). He argues that the only way to prevent the end - i.e., extinction - is to engage in a close reading of various interconnected threats, such as climate crisis, the nuclear age and the ongoing pandemic. Drawing on the work of neglected philosopher Günther Anders, this book outlines a philosophical approach to deal with what Horvat, borrowing a term from climate science and giving it a theological twist, calls 'eschatological tipping points'. These are no longer just the nuclear age or climate crisis, but their collision, conjoined with various other major threats - not only pandemics, but also the viruses of capitalism and fascism. In his investigation of the future of places such as Chernobyl, the Mediterranean and the Marshall Islands, as well as many others affected by COVID-19, Horvat contends that the 'revelation' appears simple and unprecedented: the alternatives are no longer socialism or barbarism - our only alternatives today are a radical reinvention of the world, or mass extinction.
After the Apocalypse is an urgent call not only to mourn tomorrow's dead today but to struggle for our future while we can.
Report
'Moneymen think of wars, earthquakes and pandemics as opportunities for exorbitant profiteering. Srecko Horvat, a personal hero of mine, has detected their new predilection: commodification of the Apocalypse, which they fear less than they do the end of capitalism.'
Yanis Varoufakis, author of Another Now: Dispatches from an Alternative Present
'Srecko Horvat plays with the idea of Apocalypse in such a way that our sense of the end of times is transformed and becomes manageable. He takes the ball from great minds of the past and scores a goal for those who are certain that humanity can do better than this.'
Ece Temelkuran, author of How to Lose a Country
