The book hasn't been translated in English which is a shame because it is superb. I put off reading it because a former professor of mine with whom I usually agree told me it is not that good, but I suspect that he didn't connect it to K慰ndylis鈥� philosophy as a whole. Kondylis is one of those special kind of philosophers, exceedingly rare in recent times, who have created a system of thought that attempts to explain every aspect of human life. It is partially fleshed out in his Power and Decision (l蟽蠂蠉蟼 魏伪喂 螒蟺蠈蠁伪蟽畏). It may be reductive or, for some, self contradictory but at the very least offers a refreshing, alternative look at things. In this book he compares the modern times with the current ones, what he calls the period of mass democracy. The whole book reads like an attack at our times and the postmodern ideas which is probably what irked my professor since it really seems like Kondylis espouses this attack, but I think that at least partially, it is only a descriptive chronicle of change. For Kondylis, it is important for the philosopher to put aside his own claims of self-preservation, which translate to a claim of power, work at a higher descriptive metalevel, and by doing that offer lucid descriptions of reality. This is difficult but important because for him, ideas and evaluations do not guide behavior but conform to behavior. The physical, the aim of self-preservation through accumulation of power is primary and views are adapted to serve that purpose. In the final words of the book, after all the endless descriptions of the fall of the modern and the rise of something worse, Kondylis admits that although he stressed changes because this is the only way to make comparisons, behavior did not change drastically, and many things remain the same. Also, he oritisizes those who idolize the past, clinging to the idea of progress and he mentions that originality and research is actually not worse off now compared to before and it might even be better. Tv is not worse than the priest. Those who need either of those will always be around and will be the vast majority. Also, in the first chapter he already told us that changes in worldviews are mostly symbolic and signify only a victory of a small elite, while the masses usually stay with the older view. So, I would say that, one, for Kondylis the change made things worse in some areas but not that worse because human behavior is relatively stable and, two, he is not interested in any kind of normative claims. What I have written so far are just hermeneutical, scholarly disputes that very few should care about. The substance of the book is the identification of the different ways of thinking between the ages. The change started through art and as a reaction to the seemingly monistic authority of Reason. There is an inbetween precursor to postmodernism (he calls it literary - artistic modernism) and a lot of art analysis that I will skip. A central motif is that ideas are adopted based on what ideas one鈥檚 enemy holds and that views without opposites fail to survive. The modern is characterized by the belief in Reason and a human-centric approach that attempted to replace God and make belief in Reason and a human centric approach that attempted to replace God and make this -instead of the next- world central, allowing economic activity to flourish. It turned against the previous feudalistic and aristocratic ideas the same way that later the postmodern turned against the monistic reason and towards pluralism and against the humancentric approach by starting to doubt all the stories that made humans look special. Now the guide could no longer be just a part of the individual, Reason, which was meant to control the passions in the previous conception, but the whole of one's being. Both reason and passion have to be fulfilled. Whereas before fulfilment was achieved by self-discipline, restrain of the lesser animal instincts within us for something greater that was the 鈥渞eally human鈥� part, now these instincts have a valid claim and fulfilment is achieved by hedonism and conveniently, consumerism. Now a human is not a 鈥渞eal human鈥� not if they are not educated but if they are not consuming experiences, products and other humans. Having character is not a matter of being truthful, but also of being original, of following some kind of personal, innate desires, and turning what was previously thought as perversions look valid. In practice this supposed originality is following one's heroes, and heroes are heroes not because they are virtuous but because they are successful. The result is a lot of narcissism, self-pity and autism. In a more abstract level, the former views are guided by a way of thinking that is based on synthesis and harmony. Here the parts takes place in the Whole, which is more than its parts, with their own personal characteristics and their own essence intact, since the accepted authority of Reason can prevent conflicts. Everyone contributes towards progress even if they are not ascetic and even if they -within reason- look after their own interests. The postmodern on the other hand relies on analysis and combinations, quantity and not quality. Since there is no authority and no direction, there are infinite possible combinations where each part has no essence but only function, with the analysis into basic parts turning each of them identical and capable of moving to any other place. Truth is now only typical and the Whole is just the sum of its parts. Now things that were used to be conceived as opposites, say good and evil or man and woman can be the same, when they are judged by some third function. Another interesting idea is that in the modern worldview time was central, against the previous static (God, aristocracy) conception. With the idea of progress some civilizations are in a chronologically and evolutionary more primitive stage, while others in a more future one. Now these kinds of comparisons cannot be made and civilizations are just different, all existing in the same plane. Space has become the dominant unit. I mentioned how conveniently hedonism fits with consumerism. Obviously, this is not a coincidence. Again, for Kondylis, if something has priority it is the physical conditions, which in this case is the sudden increase in the availability of goods. Before that, the fact that goods were rare by itself (and by rulers who wanted to keep their privileged status) created ascetic ideas and belief in the supremacy of spiritual goods over material ones and Reason over the passions. So in modernism the world already starts moving towards more democratic ideas because the increased production makes things less rare and the worker must now be also a consumer for the system to hold. Mass production, mass consumerism and increased concentration in cities come together and they are also connected with increased division of labor, with individuals, as opposed to extended families becoming the basin societal unit and increased social mobility. All these give the impression of equality. There is no hierarchy within the family so the elderly are now way worse than before and even at work each one plays a necessary role within an institution that each individual is powerless against (another aspect of the less human-centric system) or in social situations there is no hint of the actual material differences that still exist. The middle class convinces itself that they are the universal class and that their "good enough" life makes them equal with the higher ones. This ideological acting vs the physical reality is the first contradiction of the system. The second is that both technical rationality and hedonism exist as ideals at the same time. The first justifies performance or efficiency as the basis of rewards and the selection of roles. The second justifies consumerism, makes the super consumers (of goods and experiences) the heroes and makes work, not a building of character and integrity like before, but what guarantees the consuming of goods and experiences. But the important thing is that these contradictions are not to be seen as what will destroy the system, but as structural and necessary parts of the system. Hedonism or even human rights became central because of the need for consumers and technical rationality is what guarantees the availability of goods. And the lack of metaphysical meaning can easily be replaced by hedonism or humanism for most.