Philosopher Left to Muse on Ridicule Over a Hoax

The New York Times ^ | February 10, 2010 | DOREEN CARVAJAL

[Cincinna]

For the debut of his latest weighty title, “On War in Philosophy,” the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy made the glossy spreads of French magazines with his trademark panache: crisp, unbuttoned white Charvet shirts, golden tan and a windswept silvery mane of hair.

But this glamorous literary campaign was suddenly marred by an absolute philosophical truth: Mr. Lévy backed up the book’s theories by citing the thought of a fake philosopher. In fact, the sham philosopher has never been a secret, and even has his own Wikipedia entry.

In the uproar that followed over the rigors of his research, Mr. Lévy on Tuesday summed up his situation with one e-mailed sentence: “My source of information is books, not Wikipedia.”

Despite his celebrity as a philosopher, Mr. Lévy has a long history of fending off critics who have attacked his research. In the United States, where Mr. Lévy published “American Vertigo,” his version of traveling in the footsteps of Alexis de Tocqueville, Garrison Keillor wrote a scorching critique in The New York Times Book Review in 2006 citing “the grandiosity of a college sophomore, a student padding out a term paper.”

The blunder particularly resonated in Paris, where Mr. Lévy is a ubiquitous presence on talk shows and in magazines, and is known simply as B.H.L.

[James C. Bennett]

Isn’t this guy the one who made Islamists spin into a tizzy with his articles, leading to serious death threats from them?

[Cincinna]

*** FRENCH POLITICS AND CULTURE PING LIST *** FREEPMAIL ME IF YOU WANT TO JOIN ***

BHL is a pompous, plagiarizing, poseur in a Puffy Shirt.

The Puffy Shirt looked much better on Jerry Seinfeld. He didn't want to be a pirate! He ALWAYS wears the Puffy Shirt.

BHL in PUFFY SHIRT

The pictures I promised you of

BHL and WIFE ARIELLE DOMBASLE

[fieldmarshaldj]

Ew. Guilty.

[Bahbah]

LOL. The pomposity is dripping out of my computer screen.

[The Comedian]

As a philosopher, I am professionally obliged to laugh my ass off at this poser.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[Cicero]

I’ve met Derrida. In fact, I once hired him as a visiting professor, until the French department wrested him away from us. I can’t stand his silly stuff, but I couldn’t resist the deal and the 15 minutes of fame for our department.

But I must admit that I’ve never met this fellow.

[achilles2000]

Non, non! C’est essence de fancy Frenchman.

[Billthedrill]

I envy you. Derrida was at least honest enough to laugh at himself on occasion. If you have any stories I’ll buy your beer... ;-)

[padre35]

Sorry Cincinna, I’ve never heard of the man.

[denydenydeny]

I have to speak up in defense of Levy, who wrote Barbarism with a Human Face at a moment in European history when "Eurocommunism" was all the rage.

He's far from a conservative, but he was a stalwart anti-Communist when it counted.

[Army Air Corps]

Garrison Keillor wrote a scorching critique in The New York Times Book Review in 2006 citing “the grandiosity of a college sophomore, a student padding out a term paper.”

If the bitter old leftist windbag Keillor does not like him, then he can't be half bad.

[TrueKnightGalahad]

Wow — what happened to Arielle? She was a real cutie back when; now she looks as though she’s had more work done than Pelousy!

[Blind Eye Jones]

Yeah I hired Derrida too, to deliver a lecture on the pompadour but the bastard didn’t show.

[Cicero]

Did you pay him his fee?