James Brusseau is a philosopher specializing in contemporary Continental Philosophy

Continental philosophy

Continental philosophy, in contemporary usage, refers to a set of traditions of 19th and 20th century philosophy from mainland Europe. This sense of the term originated among English-speaking philosophers in the second half of the 20th century, who used it to refer to a range of thinkers and...

. Brusseau (born 1964) took a Ph.D. in Philosophy under the direction of Alphonso Lingis

Alphonso Lingis

Alphonso Lingis is an American philosopher, writer and translator, currently Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University...

. In 1994 he joined the faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the Mexican National University

Unam

UNAM or UNaM may refer to:* National University of Misiones, a National University in Posadas, Argentina*National Autonomous University of Mexico , the large public autonomous university based in Mexico City...

 in Mexico City where he teaches graduate courses in Philosophy and Comparative Literature. He has also taught in Europe and the California State University

California State University

The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...

. 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

Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...

, Gilles Deleuze

Gilles Deleuze

Gilles Deleuze , was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , both co-written with Félix...

 and Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. He developed the critical theory known as deconstruction and his work has been labeled as post-structuralism and associated with postmodern philosophy...

. 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.

Books

• Isolated Experiences, State University of New York Press
  State University of New York Press
  The State University of New York Press , is a university press and a Center for Scholarly Communication. The Press is part of the State University of New York system and is located in Albany, New York.- History :...
  
  , 1996
• Decadence of the French Nietzsche, Rowman & Littlefield
  Rowman & Littlefield
  Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books and journals for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns a book distributor, National Book Network...
  
  , 2004
• Empire of Humiliation, Overflow, 2008