

French philosopher laid low by "Botulism" - julius_geezer
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/world/europe/10levy.html?scp=1&sq=bhl&st=cse

======
_delirium
Not sure it matters much either way, but fwiw, BHL (as he seems to be known)
isn't associated with French philosophy in the school-of-thought sense
Americans use the term, although he's clearly French and a philosopher. That
is, he isn't associated with the prominent intellectual currents that
characterize post-WW2 French philosophy (post-structuralism, postmodernism,
psychoanalysis, deconstruction, etc.). Rather the opposite; he's mainly a
critic of the mainstream of French philosophy, and politically somewhat
towards the right, e.g. opposing socialism and supporting the Iraq War.

(This episode will probably strengthen his critics from the left who tend to
accuse him of being a media-savvy intellectual lightweight.)

~~~
Perceval
To clarify, while BHL finds himself _on_ the right in some public debates, he
isn't _of_ the right. His most frequent criticisms are of the left—he's
somewhat like the Christopher Hitchens of France: a disaffected man of the
left, criticizing the relativist left for failing to uphold its ostensible
values.

------
tptacek
The Keillor takedown of Levi's book (I had the misfortune of reading it
serialized in The Atlantic) is even better than this article. You'll find it
linked to the article. Click that link! What a schmuck.

------
igrekel
While he considers himself a "french philosopher", BHL is not regarded as a
philosopher by everyone. In fact, it is very common to make fun of BHL because
of this. He is certainly more known as a journalist and a well marketed public
figure than as a philosopher.

~~~
Timothee
I hope this blunder will help hearing less about him. His book "American
Vertigo" mentioned in the article was horribly written, with sentences going
over multiple pages for the only and clear goal of appearing like a great
writer.

------
yannis
Worth a read in conjunction with this Wikipedia entry
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Botul>

