Lauren Berlant
1957–2021
“Cruel Optimism — attachments to flourishing that obstruct it.”
The four dimensions in the 16-axis model where this thinker scores highest. People in this archetype tend to lean the same way.
- TVTragic Vision7 / 10
- SISelf as Illusion7 / 10
- TETrust in Experience6 / 10
- SRSkeptical Reflex6 / 10
The six thinkers whose 16-dimensional positions sit closest to this one. Useful as next-reading suggestions.
- Julia KristevaPILGRIM
Abjection — the borders the self draws to remain itself.
- Luce IrigarayPILGRIM
Speculum of the Other Woman — sexual difference as philosophical ground.
- Sara AhmedPILGRIM
The Promise of Happiness — affect that wills us to align.
- Eve Kosofsky SedgwickPILGRIM
Epistemology of the Closet — paranoid and reparative reading.
- Susan SontagPILGRIM
Against Interpretation — the erotics of art beats hermeneutics.
- Roland BarthesPILGRIM
The death of the author — text's pleasure lives in the reader.
Short exercises in the same tradition as Lauren Berlant's thought. Each takes 5–25 minutes.
Three doors lead onward.
- 01 · QUIZThe InheritorFind your archetype — discover whether you'd argue with Lauren Berlant or alongside them.CONTINUE ▶
- 02 · COMPARELauren Berlant vs Julia KristevaOn Mull's map Julia Kristeva sits closest. See where they agree and where they part.CONTINUE ▶
- 03 · DAILYToday's SparOne philosopher, one topic, five minutes. A new one drops every day.CONTINUE ▶