THOSE CRAZY EUROPEAN INTELLECTUALS

European intellectuals went on the offensive last week, but few people here seem to have noticed. Oh well. Not a peep in any of the major U.S. newspapers.

One of the shots fired was by Umberto Eco, published in La Repubblica. Anyone who can find a translation (into English, German or French) will get a gold star from me, and maybe even a beer. Adolph Muschg's contribution in the Neue Zuercher Zeitung is here (link from here).

For German speakers, Jan Ross's Die Zeit article on last weekend's offensive is worth a read, as is Roger Koeppel's contribution in Die Weltwoche. Both are strongly critical of the essays; in Ross's account, Habermas and Derrida are indulging in smug anti-Americanism and proto-(supra)nationalism, at the cost of missing the significance of the eastern European support for a U.S. campaign against a brutal dictator. Koeppel is even less kind and focuses on the financial crisis of the European welfare state.

A few thoughts can also be found at Maries Weblog and at this forum (both in German).

Next week I'll post the (expanded) second draft of my translation of Habermas and Derrida's article and probably also post selections from Ross's commentary, which is probably the best I've read so far.

MORE: Don't forget to see Josh Cherniss's thoughts here, here, and here.

MORE: See also more commentary and links at the blog Dormouse Dreaming, here.