Komunizm kwasowy i egzystencja uspokojona. Pomiędzy realizmem, rzeczywistością i realnym
Acid Communism and Pacified Existence. Between Realism, Reality and the Real

Summary/Abstract: The article points towards the philosophy of Herbert Marcuse as signifi-cant source of inspiration for Mark Fisher’s cultural criticism. It compares selectedideas from both authors, taking the analogy between the relation of the performanceprinciple and pacified existence (Marcuse) and capitalist realism and acid commu-nism (Fisher) as its main framework. The text is built around the concepts of reality,realism and the Real, which are applied in order to analyse the problem of mentalhealth and therapeutic culture in the capitalist system. Particular attention is givento the theory of depressive realism, as popularised by Fisher, according to whichdepressive perception is more realistic than “normal” perception. For Fisher, depres-sive realism is a dominant mode of understanding reality as such under capitalism.Sociopolitical transformation requires, above all, a change in the understanding ofreality itself—Fisher’s concept of “acid communism” is such a proposition.

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