He made the proposition that an uncontrollably positive society, one that denies everything negative, produces psychic exhaustion on a mass scale. Han, who teaches philosophy and media theory at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, previously drew attention to himself in 2010 with an essay entitled Müdigkeitsgesellschaft (fatigue society). Nevertheless, wieldy coinages rarely damage intellectual careers, and when used as aggressively as by philosopher Byung-Chul Han (born in Seoul in 1959) they reflect not only the pleasure he takes in pointed thinking but also his ambition to find resonance beyond the academe. The sociological theories associated with all of these concepts are far more differentiated than the slogans the media have culled from them. Successful as well is Gerhard Schulze' s experience society, which, restlessly driven, grapples with its own abundance. Often quoted is Dirk Baecker’s crisis society, which will never again be accorded a state of innocent normality. Operating in the permanent shadows of impending catastrophes, Ulrich Beck’s risk society continues to enjoy popularity.
There is no dearth of catchy phrases to capture the social complexity of our human coexistence with one another.
