This is a searing, provocative, and psychologically penetrating account of the crude thought and bad politics that arise from excessive bad conscience. The Tyranny of Guilt An Essay on Western Masochism by Bruckner, Pascal at. And, indeed, since the Holocaust and the end of World War II, Europeans in particular have been consumed by remorse. Fascism, communism, genocide, slavery, racism, imperialism-the West has no shortage of reasons for guilt. Lamenting the vice of anti-Americanism that grips so many European intellectuals, Bruckner urges a renewed transatlantic alliance, and advises Americans not to let recent foreign-policy misadventures sap their own confidence. The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism. In this, Europeans should learn from Americans, who still have sufficient self-esteem to act decisively in a world of chaos and violence. The West should be proud-and ready to defend itself and its values. The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism Pascal Bruckner Princeton University Press ( 2010 ) Copy BIBTEX Abstract Fascism, communism, genocide, slavery, racism, imperialism - the West has no shortage of reasons for guilt. The West has no monopoly on evil, and has destroyed monsters as well as created them-leading in the abolition of slavery, renouncing colonialism, building peaceful and prosperous communities, and establishing rules and institutions that are models for the world. Bruckner, one of France's leading writers and public intellectuals, argues that obsessive guilt has obscured important realities. It has become a pathology, and even an obstacle to fighting today's atrocities. But Pascal Bruckner argues that guilt has now gone too far. And, indeed, since the Holocaust and the end of World War II, Europeans in particular have been consumed by remorse. Bruckner, one of Frances leading writers and public intellectuals, argues that obsessive guilt has obscured important realities. Why the West must overcome its guilty conscience to foster a better global futureįascism, communism, genocide, slavery, racism, imperialism-the West has no shortage of reasons for guilt.

The Tyranny of Guilt by Pascal Bruckner