Ebook: The Philosophy of Mario Perniola: From Aesthetics to Dandyism

Enea Bianchi provides the first in-depth introduction to the pioneering thought of 20th-century Italian philosopher, Mario Perniola. Examining Perniola’s entire oeuvre, this book also pushes his philosophy into new directions by investigating the connection between his aesthetics and the philosophical underpinnings of dandyism.
Rich in influences, from ancient Stoicism to avant-garde revolutionary movements and his former teacher, Luigi Pareyson, Perniola’s philosophy is wide-ranging. So, where does one start? This book highlights and explores seven notions pivotal to understanding Perniola’s thought, including: the “sex appeal of the inorganic”, the “enigma”, “strategic beauty”, and the “artistic shadow”.
Combining these concepts with three exemplar dandies – George Brummell, Charles Baudelaire and Oscar Wilde – Bianchi not only sheds new light on these famous figures but also demonstrates the close relationship between their principles and Perniola’s aesthetics. This ranges from the similarity between Brummel’s “ritual clothing” and Perniola’s “ritual thinking” to Wilde’s concept of artworks as “living things”, which is mirrored in Perniola’s view that, regardless of any commercial appropriations, artworks convey ideas, meanings and value.
Through examination of Perniola together with the phenomenon of dandyism, The Philosophy of Mario Perniola: From Aesthetics to Dandyism uncovers their shared, and timely, opposition to the status quo. All four figures engage in a constant aesthetic challenge against their own lives and times, which has striking relevance today in an age of mass and digital media, when individuality is the only weapon against commodification and the banalisation of taste.
The Philosophy of Mario Perniola. From Aesthetics to Dandyism is the first monograph ever written on Mario Perniola, one of Italy’s most influential philosophers and writers. It explores Perniola’s central aesthetical ideas, such as the ‘sex appeal of the inorganic’, the ‘enigma’, the ‘strategic beauty’, and the ‘artistic shadow’ by intertwining them with the lifestyles of three exemplar dandies, namely George Bryan Brummell, Charles Baudelaire and Oscar Wilde. ‘Opposition’, ‘challenge’, and amor fati (‘love of fate’) are at the heart of the figures discussed, united by a common thread that weaves aesthetics, politics and everyday life together. An aesthetics of challenge towards the status quo, a philosophy and practice against normativity and ideologies which nonetheless implies a choice in favour of the present and its not-yet-uncovered enigmas and possibilities.
Not only does the book take into account Perniola’s youthful and mature works, providing the readers with up-to-date critical tools to engage with his overall thought and the major cultural and critical debates involved; it also pushes aesthetic theory into unexplored grounds to articulate the phenomenon of dandyism through an innovative discussion of its philosophical underpinnings and interpretation.