Peter Sloterdijk on the origins of globalisation

In an interview with Elisabeth Lévy, the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk explains how the phenomenon of globalisation was initiated by the great discoveries at the end of the 15th century. "The essential contents of the first wave of 'Modern Times', is the networking of the planet set off by the expansion of Europeans. They started to take the world seriously - first of all as an object of navigation and exploration, but at the same time as an object of domination and exploitation. Europe was thus the starting point for this 'seizing of the world' that ended up, through the inter-play of action and reaction, as today's world: a universe where the law of long-distance action reigns - telecommunication, teleconflict, televiolence, teleobscenity, teleaid, telegenerosity. Only a telerealist form of thinking can interpret, form and reform such a world."

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