Inner Experience (Intersections Phil Crit Theory)

Bataille has a way of terrorizing us with the sublime--with ecstatic movements that leave us dazzled and anxious. Sublime or totally destructive? One could answer "Yes". Not for the faint of heart. But I challenge anyone that believes themselves to be an "rational" atheist to approach this work with an empty mind and let Bataille's black sea of mysticism wash over them. You will beg for liberation after most pages, and you will see the end of an active atheism, void of all humanism and scientific faith. No free will, no gods, only the night terrors of one who has given himself over completely to Chance. Mediocre religious people should be required to read this in Sunday school so that they might be stripped of their bourgeois, dead god and have the opportunity to return again to the spirit of ancient religion.

Bataille challenges us to free ourselves from as many mental categories as possible and to experience the raw, naked moment just as it is, even if it is intolerable. He challenges us to throw away all of our pre-concieved notions about... everything, and to enter into the endless unknown. In this way his viewpoint reminds me a lot of someone like Jiddu Krishnamurti and/or other great sages. What makes Bataille different from someone like Krishnmurti, Alan Watt, or related people is that his communicative style is much more along the lines of a continental philosopher than a "sage" or "guru". His teachings are not all that radical for people familiar with the aforementioned "guru's" but his method and communicative style are different enough to make this a worthwhile read even for those of us who practice this sort of spiritual path.

I love Bataille which is not the subject of this review. It’s a crime that Amazon charges full price for on demand books that isn’t noted in the description. This one in particular I’ve received today was alarming in that the first twenty pages were longer than the rest of the book and print defects everywhere. It’s unacceptable that this company charges 32 dollars for a product that is hastily made and not the original product.