Discussion Mark Fisher's Ghosts of My Life and Hauntology. Living in a reality haunted by lost futures.

[naturalbornkitten]

I haven't seen discussions on this forum about Mark Fisher's work and I think he's philosophy and life are so emblematic and connected to the discussions on this site. I love his concept of hauntology and how he links it to Joy Division's songs... I always felt like my thoughts about nostalgia of good times, friends that aren't nearby anymore and the futures i've lost by making bad decisions hurt me like being hauted by ghosts. Fisher's ideas confort me and the fact that he CTB makes me think that he would've been the only person to understand my suicidal philosophy.

Have you heard about Fisher's hauntology or any of his books? What do you think of it?

 

[limenlux]

I have some second-hand knowledge of Fisher's take on capitalist realism that I find compelling. I don't have a strong grasp on hauntology at all, but my favorite example of it personally would be from reading classic gothic literature, where the past often looms ominously over the present in the form of crumbling ruins, the resurfacing of buried secrets, and atavistic guilt.

I think Fisher's take on hauntology revolved more around the effective cancellation of the future via neoliberalism, à la Francis Fukuyama's End of History, right? I wonder how he would feel about the rise of multipolarity and the resumption of said history. Would he be pleased knowing that the future is coming after all, or would he be hung up on his ideological priors and upset that they're playing absolutely no role in any of it? What do you think? I don't know his work, really.

 

[naturalbornkitten]

I have some second-hand knowledge of Fisher's take on capitalist realism that I find compelling. I don't have a strong grasp on hauntology at all, but my favorite example of it personally would be from reading classic gothic literature, where the past often looms ominously over the present in the form of crumbling ruins, the resurfacing of buried secrets, and atavistic guilt.

I think Fisher's take on hauntology revolved more around the effective cancellation of the future via neoliberalism, à la Francis Fukuyama's End of History, right? I wonder how he would feel about the rise of multipolarity and the resumption of said history. Would he be pleased knowing that the future is coming after all, or would he be hung up on his ideological priors and upset that they're playing absolutely no role in any of it? What do you think? I don't know his work, really.

Another great example is music, that the old sounds always come back making us question what is really new nowadays.
Yes! His ideas are embedded to criticism to neoliberalism. It reminds me thematically of OK Computer by Radiohead. This super new technology society that destroys any form of humanity until everything is just a blank.
I liked the ideia of crumbling ruins! That's very interesting.
I think that he would be super upset with all the AI thing going on... He would be even more depressed than what he was back when he took his life imo, idk.