The modern cynic, a borderline case of the melancholic

Abstract

In Critique of Cynical Reason, Peter Sloterdijk states that the modern cynic can be understood, psychologically, as a “borderline case of the melancholic” capable of keeping his “depressive symptoms” at bay. Accordingly, he manages to transform his own disillusionment with the world into utilitarian survival realism. In this way, satisfying subjective desires for self-affirmation in harshness through a generalized ironic attitude, quite close to “schizoid phenomena.” This characterization is problematic because it runs the risk of enabling a “psychopathologizing” reading of cynicism, which would mean that the author himself contravenes some of his basic premises. To clarify this point, it is necessary to specify exactly the meaning that melancholy – and from it, schizophrenia – has in the general context of this approach. However, this requires, in turn, delving into what Sloterdijk understands not only by “psychopathology”, but also by “disease”.