Out of the World

Peter Sloterdijk is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Media Theory at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. His recent books include Making the Heavens Speak (2022), After God (2020), and What Happened in the Twentieth Century? (2018).

"This is without question one of Sloterdijk's most important works. Engaging European philosophy across the ages, as well as Indian, Chinese, and Japanese texts, this book takes up themes from his early works but is entirely new."—Eduardo Mendieta, Pennsylvania State University "A remarkable book by one of the most formidable thinkers of our time. Incisive and acerbic, provocative and daring but with the calm confidence of Sloterdijk's inimitable sense of style, this is a powerful, wonderful, essential read."—Stathis Gourgouris, Columbia University "In an era that seems bogged down with flippant posthumanisms and unthinking assumptions about 'the human,' Sloterdijk's work is more important than ever. This book is a heroic venture into what it is to be a being who creates and ends the world."—Claire Colebrook, Pennsylvania State University "As elaborate and eloquent as always, [Sloterdijk] presents a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary reflection on humanity's inclination to reject the world."—Marko Kos, Synthesis Philosophica

• Preliminary Note1. Why is it happening to me?Guesswork concerning the animal that stumbles upon itself, that makes great plans, that often does not move from the spot, and that sometimes is fed up with everything2. Where do the monks go?On world-flight from an anthropological perspective3. What are drugs for?On the dialectic of world-flight and world-addiction4. How was the "death drive" discovered?Toward a theory of the soul's end goals, with continual references to Socrates, Jesus, and Freud5. Is the world negatable?On Indian spirit and Occidental gnosis6. What does it mean to take oneself over?Experiment in affirmation7. Where are we when we listen to music8. How do we stir the sleep of the world?Conjectures on awakening