ABSTRACT. I follow recent research (e.g. Ågerup and Larsson, 2019; Ahearne, 2017; Demker, 2019; Williams and Sweeney, 2019; Williams, 2019; Willging, 2019) showing that Houellebecq’s fiction represents a prism via which characteristics of present-day cultural policy are displayed, conveys a practically distinct insurgent view integrated into despotic and benevolent perspectives, addresses numerous dominating political anxieties in present-day France, depicts the damaging dynamics of neoliberalism and consumerism, calls into question the confines of political and ethical controversies, and initiates an inflammatory condemnation of Islam.

Keywords: alienated capitalism; social metaphysics; genomic cloning; cultural nostalgia

How to cite: Petcu, Carmen (2019). “Democratic Metaphysics and Political Anxieties in Houellebecq’s Novels,” Review of Contemporary Philosophy 18: 140–146. doi:10.22381/RCP1820198

Received 16 March 2019 • Received in revised form 10 July 2019
Accepted 13 July 2019 • Available online 29 July 2019