James Brusseau

Brusseau's scholarship focuses on philosophical decadence, which he defines as philosophers stepping aside from the task of making accurate theories about the larger world, and instead endeavoring to produce theories that in their turn provoke more theorizing. Within this framework, whether a philosopher is actually right about things becomes a secondary or derivative concern. The guiding purpose is to provoke more strictly philosophical discussion and study. As a result, the best philosophical idea directly equals the one producing the most subsequent philosophizing.

Brusseau attempts to locate decadence in the history of philosophy at Friedrich Nietzsche’s appropriation by recent French philosophers including Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida. He calls the moment a “reversal” in philosophy’s history, one where thought no longer exists to pursue truth, instead, truths exist to serve and accelerate thinking.[3]

It is unclear from Brusseau’s published work and lectures whether he considers this development to be negative, neutral or positive.

Brusseau's Business Ethics Workshop[4] focuses on philosophical approaches to the corporation’s role in society, and ethical questions arising around branding and the creation of product reputation. The fabrication of consumer needs and consumer identity is also considered.[5]

Brusseau's Dignity, Pleasures, Vulgarity: Philosophy and Animal Rights[6] asks how animal studies reflect back to reveal human truths.[7]

The documentary Wealth Inequality Workshop[8] unites utilitarianism, Rawls, Nozick, Bataille and Deleuze to explore theoretical dilemmas of wealth inequality. Brusseau argues that the philosophies of Bataille and Deleuze can be mobilized both to allow and limit wealth inequality. [9] [10]

Brusseau's novel Empire of Humiliation is set in Mexico City.[11]

• Isolated Experiences, State University of New York Press, 1996
• Decadence of the French Nietzsche, Rowman & Littlefield, 2004
• Empire of Humiliation, Overflow, 2008
• Business Ethics Workshop, Flat World Knowledge, 2011
• Ethics Workshop, Flat World Knowledge, 2015