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SEX AND SEDUCTION: MALE AND FEMALE INTERACTION TODAY USING

JEAN PAUL BAUDRILLARD’S CONCEPT OF SIMULACRA

By: Dan Christian Sabao

Proposal Defense, February 19, 2014, 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Aquinas University College of Arts, Sciences and Education Department

Aquinas University, Legazpi City

Recommendation of the Panel Members

Recommendation Item Actions taken

1. Chapter 1, page 1 (a) the title is out of context (b) Revision of the Title

a) Title has been resolved by revision

b) Revision of the title is done. It is revised into “A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through Baudrillard‟s Simulacra Towards a Concept of Ethics”

2. Chapter 1, Concentrate on the topic on „Seduction‟

Title is revised so as to conform to the recommendation

3. Chapter 2, Instead of presenting a relationship between the Male and the Female, present a more postmodern form of idea leading towards a new ethic in the view of Fixation and Ethics as Aesthetics

The whole thesis is revised so as to conform to the recommendation

4. The Format of the Thesis must be changed into Turabian Chicago

Done

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Conform:

Jordan Averilla Scribe

Silvino Balasta Jr.

Adviser

Prof. Alvin Sario

Panel

Alexander Clyde Antiquia Panel

Gerry Bajaro Chairman

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A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through Baudrillard’s Simulacra

towards a Concept of Ethics

A Thesis

Presented To The

College Of Arts, Sciences Education

Aquinas University of Legazpi

In Partial Fulfillment Of

The Requirements for the Degree Of

Bachelor of Arts, Major in Philosophy

By

DAN CHRISTIAN SABAO

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Recommendation for Oral Defense

This thesis is entitled, “A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through

Baudrillard’s Simulacra towards a Concept of Ethics”, prepared and

presented by Mr. DAN CHRISTIAN SABAO as recommended in order to

achieve the title of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy which is now presented to

the panel members for consideration.

SILVINO BALASTA JR. MPR

Adviser

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Panel Members

This Thesis which is entitled, “A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction

through Baudrillard’s Simulacra towards a Concept of Ethics”, prepared

and presented by Mr. DAN CHRISTIAN SABAO as recommended in order to

achieve the title of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy which is now presented to

the panelists for examination.

President

Member

Member

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Testimony of Approval

This thesis is entitled, “A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through

Baudrillard’s Simulacra towards a Concept of Ethics”, prepared and

presented by Mr. DAN CHRISTIAN SABAO, as a recommendation to be worthy

to receive the title of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy.

SILVINO BALASTA JR. MPR

Adviser

MARYTINA RAQUEL R. BONGANAY, MOS

Dean

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CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

Since the dawn of man, Sex had been a part of its culture, social life

and lifestyle. Sex had undergone numerous criticisms from philosophical and

religious ideologies. It has also made what we see today in our postmodern world: It

basically populated the whole world, it affected the media and arts, it gave rise to

Birth Control and it changed how people interact with each other. What leads to sex?

Seduction enters the scene. In our history, women apply decorations to their body or

wear clothes that attract men which would lead eventually if it permits, to sex.

People now use tools in which they can seduce other people for sex. Not all of them

are aware that they seduce other people by the way they wear their clothes, take

their pictures, move, look or even talk. Women are generally the individuals who

seduce and on the other hand, men crave for sex. When someone sees or feels this

seduction, they are attracted and their sexual urges are stimulated. There are many

examples in which people are lead to sex; the present era doesn‟t see anymore the

sanctity of the subject as having been said by the traditional way. Marriage has been

modified so as to satisfy the urges of the human emotion: there are now homosexual

marriages, marriage between lesbian people or at worst, no marriage at all. Marriage

is not needed anymore because the concept of sex no longer revolves around the

conception of a family or love; it now revolves on the concept of desire to satisfy the

lust for sex only. They don‟t care if what they do is bad or good, the important thing

is that we are satisfied by the sexual stimulations that we feel.

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It is mentioned that the people of the postmodern don‟t really care if

what they do is good or bad, that does not mean that ethics is gone. What we have

believed as the ethics of the past is now different due to the present condition of the

postmodern that is characterized by the arising of the „different models of a real

without origin or reality‟₁. These different models are the representations of the true

reality, but these models I can say are corrupt copies of the real one and these

models are what we see in the present postmodern era. We live each day

encountering these „models‟ and it affects how we see reality today, when this

happens, we look at the world and each other a whole lot more differently in the

past. The dawn of the human thinking already did know the things that they must do.

Instinct as may say provided them the answer on how they must live their lives here

in this world. They already distinguished what is good and what is bad starting on

the conception of deities of good and bad. They already have known if the actions

that they do and see are good or bad. This is what we call, a conception of ethics.

In our everyday lives we see things that make us interpret the world

around us, leading to what we believe must be the truth. This observation however

also teaches us to communicate with other people, through this, we have

relationships. These relationships further lead to observations that would make us

wonder what is good or bad. Through these observations and experiences, we have

a conception of ethical concept. Morality is also an issue today. The present culture

of the new fashion and look of individuals today go far beyond the traditional

modesty that was practiced in the past. In this connection, many of today‟s people

are lead to be convinced by what they see as beautiful and admiring as evidence

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that it is the truth or reality. In other words, they are seduced by this new trend and

culture so as to believe that what they see as aesthetically alluring as good and true.

We are now in the postmodern era where traditional concepts are

snubbed due to the lack of interest on the conservative philosophy. The dawn of

technology and scientific discovery sparked a different lifestyle where people no

longer believe in the traditional ideas of the old; new ideas began to arise and new

principles come into existence. The people of this era simply don‟t care. The

postmodern world offers a wide range of scenarios which would show how principles

are made to affect how the people of the postmodern era interact in a world filled

with technology, social network, television, media and trends. Unlike in the past, this

interaction is affected by these concepts which change the perception of the people

of this era.

The postmodern period is filled with things that blur reality. People

generally accept what they see today as reality even if it is not really the true reality.

It affects the way they feel, understand and perceive things and situations in their

everyday lives. All things in this era are just representations of the true reality so as

to people of the postmodern are lead to believe that these representations are really

true. The mode of the postmodern alters the true essence of the thing represented

thus people are to think that it is the way it is. This condition of the era lead to a

conception of new principles towards what is good or bad thus would lead to

misleading principles that let people wander away from the real truth.

In this connection, we would like to see if these appearances we find in

the postmodern era affect the ethical concepts of today‟s culture and philosophy.

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Because of the present condition of the postmodern, different ideas of ethical

concepts have arisen and with this reality, we would like to know also if these ethical

concepts are acceptable as good and moral even if it is affected by the appearances

which lead people if they are not aware, to unethical concepts which can affect the

future of the human race. With the postmodernist era at hand and appearances

which seduce people to believe in the aesthetically alluring as good and true, I would

like to read through the present era so as to lead towards a new concept of ethics

which would, I hope, will enlighten the people of this era and make the future of

mankind ethically justifiable.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

For many of the people of this time, they don‟t usually see any

problems in the postmodern concepts. The new trends usually imply a positive

ideology in the minds of individual of the postmodern time.

The problem here is that the true reality is not seen. They see

appearances that simulate the true reality. In connection with this, this study wants

to show the following problems so that the people of this time may realize and see

the true reality and how they are victims of illusions and appearances leading to a

conception of a new ethical concept, we ask thus:

1. What is seduction?

2. How does a simulacrum „fixate‟ someone so as to seduce an

individual into believing that it was the true reality?

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3. How does this simulacrum lead into a new conception of an ethical

concept?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The postmodern period faces many problems regarding modesty that

lead to unwanted actions like rape and pornography. Early pregnancies are more

prevalent today and it affects how a family must suppose to start in today‟s capitalist

state. It will explain why this world is riddled by inventions and ideologies that make

the human body more attractive to the opposite sex. The human person will realize

that they do not perceive realities but just appearances: appearances that are not

really the truth but just simulations of the real truth. Social media is famous today. It

created a connection which connected the whole world and made conversations with

people half way around the world just a click away. People can now show what they

do, what they want and what they have. The internet has created a whole new world

of its own, creating a world of appearances that deceive the human person into

believing that it is reality. With Social Media, seduction is just a „post‟ away in

facebook and a „tweet‟ away in twitter. Seduction stimulates Sexual urges that

makes it easy for advertisements to sell what they want to sell. In connection with

this, this study will make us aware of the dangers of Social media and Television. It

advocates appearances which make us neglect rationality and make way for things

that stimulate the senses. Female discrimination is also an issue today. The use of

seduction as a tool to make money and to entertain men lowers the dignity of

women. It also endangers the lives of millions of children to rape, incest and early

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pregnancies; soon-to-be-born children are in danger of abortion. This study will

make us aware that most of these sensualities can deceive and bring chaos to

morality and the meaning of the family. It will make people think and remember the

sanctity of marriage and procreation of children.

It was aforementioned that that this paper is made to conceive of a

new ethical concept. This ethical concept can be the basis of living an ethical life in

the postmodern period, a period riddled by so many irregularities and arguments that

can‟t be answered by simple debate. The old traditionalist concept of ethics is in a

way not anymore very relevant to be applied in this kind of times where people no

longer care for the principles of the past because it can‟t meet what they desire and

what they want to do. It is the goal of this study to sift on the pages of the

postmodern story so as to help the people of this time to achieve a peaceful ethical

life where their desires are met, without any ethical discrepancy whatsoever.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

This study will present how seduction in all its forms in today‟s

postmodern setting. It will not be limited to the traditional male and female gender

but I will extend the discussion into the realities of the postmodern where

homosexuals are legalized, where dogs can be part of the family, where computers

and fetishes are considered as legitimate individuals who can give all of us the

satisfaction of the sexual through seduction. The study will use the principle and idea

of Simulacra discussed before by Jean Paul Baudrillard to describe the postmodern

world of his time and the future. It will discuss sex in its pure form: sex and its

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pleasure, sex and the family, sex and money, sex and society and sex and morality.

It will show how sex operates today in the postmodern world and how it is used in

the present time. In this connection, the scope of this study is all about seduction,

sex, the postmodern concept of the simulacrum and most importantly, a conception

of a new ethical concept.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

a. The Postmodern Period

This is a period where postmodernism is relevant. Postmodernism is a

period of slackening₁. It is a period in which, in the modern, puts forward the

unpresentable in presentation itself ₂. It would plainly mean that this world of

the postmodern is a period where all are representations of the true reality

and all we see are all just appearances; Simulacra, it is a term in which

Jean Paul Baudrillard calls a simulation. A simulation is a representation of

a real object. It may exhibit an exact appearance with what it represents but

lacks the exact truth in what it represents.

b. Seduction

Seduction is a way to attract someone. Philosophically, it is that which

extracts meaning from discourse and detracts it from its truth₃. When

someone seduces, he or she uses appearances to attract someone for a

specific purpose. That appearance is not the true reality of the one who

seduces.

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c. Sex

Sex is a universal concept. It generally pertains to the reproductive

capabilities of human beings as conformed to its genitalia. Sex can mean

something like gender, sexual intercourse, human reproduction or biology.

d. Ethics

Ethics is the study of Morality. Ethics, sometimes known as

philosophical ethics, ethical theory, moral theory, and moral philosophy, is a

branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending and

recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct, often addressing

disputes of moral diversity₄. It is the concept of what must be done so as to

label it right or wrong to lead a righteous or proper life. This is grouped as

sets of concepts and principles that we should follow and we must remember

that ethics can only apply to human beings or in a philosophical context, to

rational beings. We, as human beings who can think and rationalize can know

knowledge and thus know the right and wrong, the positive and negative, and

the bad or good. Even if we don‟t study of ethics, it is written in our minds or

may I say instinct so as to even without thinking of it is automatically

transmitted on the way we act, move and choose things on what to do. In

connection with this, how do we conceive of ethics? It can be started by

looking first on the concept of environment, on what place we dwell or rather

the environment that we dwell on; perception of an ethical concept starts on

the perception of being in reality or being in a kind of environment which

would lead to different perceptions of ethical concepts very different from the

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other but all in the same goal, to do good as to bring good to the individual

who think it. Conception of ethical concept is relative to what the environment

gives to the individual. They say in the past that Ethical Concept is Universal

and can‟t be changed, well they are right about that because the goal or end

stays the same: bring and do well. The difference is that it indeed changes

without changing the end or goal which is the good. The concept of ethics in

the ancient world is different from the ethical concept of the medieval and the

modern because the people who live in that kind of environment experience

very different things on the different periods of thought.

It can be thus said that the postmodern concept of ethics is very

different on that of the past, we can say that it has changed relative on the

people that now live in this kind of environment but the goal has never

changed: to be good and have goodness. The problem here of today is the

fact that the postmodern have simulacrum and this simulacrum as we have

said and the authors have said is a period where the representations of reality

become reality itself and the perception of the good and bad interchanges, or

in other words meanings have changed: the good or the bad can no longer be

distinguished the old way because the models of simulacra has substituted it

with signs which make representations realities thus ethics becomes a

difficulty as to the goal is concerned, what is good and bad? In this kind of

problem where the individuals of this time live in an environment where

representations themselves become reality, it is the goal of this study to

arrange this different concepts in the postmodern perspective so as to bring

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and create a new kind of ethical concept in which the individuals of this time

would really like because of its relevance to their environment and it sure will

bring them good.

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Endnotes

₁ Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 167.

₂ Jean Francois Lyotard, . The Postmodern Condition. Manchester University Press. Appendix, p 1.

₃ Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 149.

₄ http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics

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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

I. Jean Paul Baudrillard

a. Biography

Jean Paul Baudrillard was born in Reims, North Eastern France on

July 27 1929. His parents were Civil Servants. During his High School

Studies in Reims, he encountered pataphysics which was said to be crucial in

developing his later thought. He studied German Language and Literature

and became a teacher. While teaching, he began to publish reviews and

translations of the works of several authors including Karl Marx. During this

time as a teacher, he began to transfer to sociology where he completed his

thesis „the system of objects‟ where he ended also teaching sociology.

He traveled also to the US and Japan. While in Japan, He was given

his first camera which eventually made him into a photographer.

He then transferred to the University of Paris where he taught until the

end of his career. He received a wide audience and referred him as an

intellectual celebrity. He died on March 6, 2007 at the age of 77.

b. Philosophy

He lived in the time where postmodernism is actually relevant. He

developed a Philosophy where he developed „fascinating and perplexing

aspects of advanced industrial industry‟ (Mark Poster, 2003). The developing

advanced media has made him aware of the „new language‟ being used by

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the society in order to communicate with each other and it „differs from both to

face-to-face symbolic exchange and print

He developed the concept of the „Hyper Real‟, in which all things are

just represented by signs and are just simulations of the real thing; but before

that, he was a Marxist as plainly shown in his writings. Gradually, he

abandoned Marxism and showed signs that go along Foucault and Derrida.

He spoke about that the new culture of the postmodern period has

provided the world with time-space distancing new form of communication;

that the old way of communicating with print and face-to-face conversation is

now at cease. The new technology of mass media and the television made

him think about the „principle of film‟ in which the things that are shown on film

are just simulations of what is real and are just appearances in case of

advertisements that want to sell their products by exploiting these

appearances for the people to believe and buy these products.

He said that this world is now on a culture where traditional

metaphysical assumptions cannot penetrate the new trends of the

postmodern. Instead of the old metaphysical assumptions, the postmodern

era is rooted on consumption where all the people of this time are just

concentrated on buying and selling things; they think that their lives are just

that way. He said that Consumption had become the chief basis of the social

order which would mean that for the social order to have „order‟, the people

must embrace consumerism in order to give harmony to this order.

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He envisioned this world as a world filled with signs misunderstood by

people to be the true reality. In this idea revolved the essence of his

philosophy in which he related the presence of signs to politics, economy,

culture, Sex and Seduction; the world that is filled with charms and

appearances that seduce and use the pleasure attributed to sex to produce

appearances that deceive and eventually attract the one who is being

seduced to feast on this pleasure without thinking of the consequences.

He was fascinated by the truth and wants us to see it in its real form

thus he was very strict about his concept of the hyper real so that we may see

clearly what is in between these signs and understand them in the most

critical way.

c. Relevance

His Concept of the Hyper Real is an exact description of the

postmodern era. Almost everything in this time is not the exact reality as it is.

All is characterized by appearances that blur the true identity of the one which

is represented. The industrial age has pushed the people of the postmodern

era to leave the difficult life without machines; pushed the people to leave the

old ways of communication and travel. This time is filled with new inventions

that make life easier. This easy life has rendered and paved the way to the

period of slackening in which people would rather choose the easy way than

the hard way. It would follow that if the people like the easy way, they would

also follow the pleasurable way. The old way of attaining pleasure is boring to

the people of the postmodern and with the help of new trends in technology

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and fashion; they made sex more pleasurable and seduction more exciting. In

connection with this, his philosophy makes us see these realities that are

concealed between these technological advancements. Advertisements

seduce us to buy their products and these advertisements have hyper real

characteristics. The Major relevance of his philosophy is that it is now

happening today in a major perspective and we, the people of this time are

the constituents of these realities; these appearances make us victims of

illusion that would lead to irrationality and contradiction to our Human Nature.

d. Concepts

His ideas revolved around his concepts of „Hyper reality‟. This „hyper

reality‟ is a concept in which the world is filled only with „self-referential

signs₁‟. He developed an idea on illusions which he called „simulacra‟ or in

plain language „simulations. He argued that we lived in a world where we are

living in a world which things are just representation and simulations of the

true reality.

He also developed a philosophy on seduction in where he said that

„Seduction is that which extracts meaning from discourse and detracts it from

its truth₂‟. It means that it represents someone or something and it blurs the

true reality of that someone or something. The seducer changes the way the

reality must look like to seduce someone into believing that the appearance or

representation that is seen is indeed the true reality.

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II. On Seduction

This is a book written by Jean Paul Baudrillard to describe his concept

and ideology of seduction in the postmodern perspective. In this writing,

he distinguishes manifest discourse from latent discourse; manifest

discourse he says has the status of labored appearance₃ which would

mean in other words a manifestation of the reality from its truth, while

latent discourse diverts manifest discourse not from its truth but towards

it₄. It said so that seduction is more like a manifest discourse in which from

the real truth, the thing manifests a „labored appearance‟ to represent the

reality of the truth of the real thing. Manifest discourse is the most

superficial aspect of discourse₅, which would act on the conscious or

unconscious to blur it and make traps of appearances. In connection with

this, seduction thus would mean, in the light of manifest discourse, a kind

of trap which uses appearances and charms to attract an individual to

believe and suppose that the thing is real and true. Seduction is not a kind

of interpretive discourse in which interpretative discourse wants to get

truth from the thing itself; interpretation has not seduced anyone because

it wanted the individual to understand the true reality of the thing itself not

in the way seduction acts itself on an individual because seduction does

not want to relay the truth but wants to get some truth from the thing itself

and modify the truth to get something different out of it. Seduction in its

goal to seduce even seduces itself₆ to further absorb meaning and

empties itself of meaning to further fascinate others to believe in a truth

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that is not truth. Seduction is forever connected to sex so as to it has been

said that a girl that is beautiful and enigmatic, in order to seduce her, one

must become an enigma for her; an enigmatic duel₇ in which would end

with sex if one discloses the „secret‟, the secret is the hidden truth of the

thing being represented.

III. Simulacra and Simulations

This is another work done by Jean Paul Baudrillard on his view

towards the postmodern period. Simulacra and Simulations are all about

the postmodern condition that is characterized by the vast number of

simulations that dominated not only the media of today but also dominated

the perception of the individual itself. It is said that simulacra is no longer

that of a territory, a referential being or substance₈; this means that a

simulation is not part of a place or a state (territory), a being that refers to

something (referential being) or an essential thing (substance).

Simulations are like models or dolls that can be reproduced and be made

many, these reproductions are further distributed to the individuals of the

postmodern era; it is like that there is a factory of simulacra that makes

these simulations and distributes it to the victims of their own ignorance.

The postmodern period is called the generation by models of a real

without origin or reality₉; it is like a map of a territory that does not really

show the truth of the real territory, a map that we can call a model of the

real place so as to this model shows the shape of the territory but does not

show the true pathways across the territory. It is obvious that a map drawn

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and presented like this is misleading. But it does not end here, a worse

contemplation of a simulacrum and its simulations is that it is no longer a

question of imitation, nor of reduplication nor of parody; it is rather

characterized by the substitutions of the signs of the real for the real

itself₁ₒ. This would mean that these models are not seen as

representations of the real, rather it is seen that this models is reality itself.

To show this model allegory in a situation, Baudrillard shows the

difference between feigning and simulation. Feigning means that you will

imitate or copy something whereas simulation means that you are

considered the real itself; he gives an example from Littre: an individual

who feigns that he is sick goes to bed and pretends that he is ill whereas

an individual who simulates that he is ill produces some of the symptoms

of the illness itself. Thus, it is very clear that feigning keeps the reality

principle intact where the difference to reality is that it is only masked.

Simulation threatens the difference between true and false, between real

and imaginary₁₁. Another example are the accused idolaters that

supposedly worship the images itself, not God; this idolaters or he calls

them iconolaters are more advanced, he says, because they refer to

images which in itself represent God whom they worship, a thing of the

postmodern. Another prominent example that he talks about is the famous

venue of Disneyland₁₂. We can observe that before Disneyland was

made, characters in the models of cartoon characters like Mickey mouse

and Donald duck was to be made first by the famous cartoonist, Walt

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Disney. When this characters became famous, it was envisioned that it

would be profitable and the people will enjoy the characters essences by

the creation of the theme park he called Disneyland. Furthermore we can

observe that these characters are just pigments of the imaginary because

all of them are animals given the faculties of the human beings, animals

that talk and have emotions; it is not only children that was lead into

believing that Disneyland is reality, rather also the adults came to be

satisfied of this creation. This is a good example of simulation where

things are not only representations of the real but on the worse case,

reality itself. Simulation itself cannot isolate itself from reality, because a

simulation that was meant to be isolated always results in reality. If we

would fake a holdup as to simulate it, have some fake weapons, choose

the best victim possible, and ensure that no one gets hurt, it would not be

regrettable that a police officer in ignorance would shoot at will or the

victim would have a heart attack; thus we would end just in reality₁₃, like

real hold up, someone gets killed. Simulations can be defeated however,

by the concept of power, because it is a real discourse of truth₁₄ in which

simulation can be countered; just like having the power to destroy the

factory of simulacra and its simulated models of deception.

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IV. The Art of Seduction₁₅

This book was written by Robert Greene. It was a book all about

Seduction and how you can use it to seduce women. He says, in the

paper back, the one that I first noticed that seduction is the most subtle,

elusive and effective form of power. In the first part of the book, he

describes 9 kinds of seducers and their respective characters: The Siren,

The Rake, The Ideal Lover, The Dandy, The Natural, The Coquette, The

Charmer, The Charismatic, and The Star. He explains thus:

“There are nine seducer types in the world. Each type has a

particular character trait that comes from deep within and creates a

seductive pull. Sirens have an abundance of sexual energy and know

how to use it. Rakes insatiably adore the opposite sex, and their desire

is infectious. Ideal Lovers have an aesthetic sensibility that they

apply to romance. Dandies like to play with their image, creating a

striking and androgynous allure. Naturals are spontaneous and

open. Coquettes are self-sufficient, with a fascinating cool at their core.

Charmers want and know how to please—they are social

creatures. Charismatics have an unusual confidence in themselves.

Stars are ethereal and envelop themselves in mystery₁₆.”

It can be said that his work was one of the kind because he

distinguishes the kinds of seducers and it is written in postmodern

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perspective. Furthermore when there‟s the seducer, then there is its

victims; he describes Eighteen types of victims: The Reformed rake or

Siren, The Disappointed dreamer, The Pampered Royal, The New Prude,

The Crushed Star, The Novice, The Conqueror, The Exotic Fetishist, The

Drama Queen, The Professor, The Beauty, The Aging Baby, The

Rescuer, The Roué, The Idol Worshipper, The Sensualist, The Lonely

Leader, and The Floating Gender₁₇. These victims are perfect for this

study because it characterizes characters that are apt for the postmodern

perspective like Fetishism, The Idols and some characters that are based

on today‟s kind of living.

In connection with this, how can someone seduce? He describes thus

the 24 ways on how to seduce namely: Choose the Right Victim, Create a

False Sense of Security—Approach Indirectly, Send Mixed Signals,

Appear to Be an Object of Desire—Create Triangles, Create a Need—Stir

Anxiety and Discontent, Master the Art of Insinuation, Enter Their Spirit,

Create Temptation, Keep Them in Suspense—What Comes Next?, Keep

Them in Suspense—What Comes Next?, Pay Attention to Detail,

Poeticize Your Presence, Disarm Through Strategic Weakness and

Vulnerability, Confuse Desire and Reality—The Perfect Illusion, Isolate the

Victim, Isolate the Victim, Effect a Regression, Stir Up the Transgressive

and Taboo, Use Spiritual Lures, Mix Pleasure with Pain, Give Them

Space to Fall—The Pursuer Is Pursued, Use Physical Lures, Master the

Art of the Bold Move, and Beware the Aftereffects₁₈. This kind of literature

28

not only teaches you how to seduce and become a seducer so as to tell

and identify victims but it the book also seduces you to read it also! It can

be seen that this literature of the postmodern is really postmodern

because he writes in his bibliography the name of Jean Paul Baudrillard₁₉.

He also describes the kind of environment the seductive brings and how to

be soft in seduction so as to how to sell anything to the masses₂ₒ; it

portrays a very close account of Jean Paul Baudrillard‟s factory of models

wherein you use seduction so that the masses would believe in you and

eventually be seduced in a very superficial for of reality.

V. The Postmodern Condition

No one can best describe the postmodern condition in its early stages

than Jean-Francois Lyotard. He writes a book about the postmodern

condition wherein he describes it as a „period of slackening‟₂₁; slackening

means loosely as „relaxing‟ or „slowing down‟, in the past where the

postmodern didn‟t exist, it can be seen that people are very worried of any

things like religion, God and making life easier. It has been a long time

since mankind has begun to innovate and invent to make living easier and

longer, the postmodern made men „gods‟ as to that mankind has

innovated and reinvented itself so as to the inventions that he made works

for him in a way that these inventions are slaves and he, the slave master.

Now that he has workers and servers on his side, now that the long time

of hard work and innovation where many have been killed and suffered, it

29

is time to rest and slow down for a bit and think: I am now a master of

puppets, now it is time to rest or slacken; this can be seen as why Lyotard

has described it as a „period of slackening‟ because people of the

postmodern are masters of their tools and the tools are working for them

now, so it is time to rest for a while and slow down. The postmodern is not

the modern anymore because it is said that „postmodernism thus

understood is not modernism at its end but in the nascent state and this

state is constant‟₂₂. Modernism is the time where people are more

indulged in the arts in time of grandiosity and reform, it is the time where

the inventions and innovations are arranged and assigned to its respective

uses so as to give them the jobs that men have done in the past. It is

constant because post modernity does not end what the modern has

brought about because post modernity does not cease to make

innovations and inventions that make life easier at its best, it is nascent

because it is only the beginning of something new: The postmodern is the

beginning of slackening where the modern concept is not removed but

modified so as to have lead into the creation of tools more human-like and

more real than ever, the creation of models that exchange reality for it so

that the people of this time are made to believe that it is the true reality.

The past fantasies must be seized and be made reality so as to he having

written the answer thus:

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“Let us wage a war on totality; let us be witnesses to the

unpresentable, let us activate the differences and save the honor of the

name”₂₃

This waging of war on totality is the war against reality and we are

witnesses of this or rather we are now witnessing a kind of situation where

we see the unpresentable meaning the presentation of non-reality; the

differences are now in jumble mode and this differences are now

activated, a confusion of false and true so as to save the honor of the

name of, Postmodernity.

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Endnotes

₁ Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 6.

₂ Ibid. p. 148 ₃ Ibid.

₄ Ibid.

₅ Ibid. p 149 ₆ Ibid. p. 150

₇ Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 159. An excerpt from Soren Kierkegaard‟s “Diary of the Seducer as mentioned by Jean Paul Baudrillard in his book „On Seduction‟. ₈ Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 166

₉ Ibid. ₁ₒ Ibid, p. 167.

₁₁ Ibid. p. 168. ₁₂ Ibid. p. 171.

₁₃ Ibid. p. 178.

₁₄ Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. „Strategy of the Real‟. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 182.

₁₅ Robert Green, (2001). The Art of Seduction. Penguin group USA ₁₆Ibid. p. 3

₁₇ Ibid p. 150-160

₁₈ Ibid. p. 169-417 ₁₉ Ibid. Appendix

₂ₒ Ibid. Appendix ₂₁ Jean Francois Lyotard, (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge. United Kingdom: Manchester University, p. 71. Appendix translated by Regis Durand. ₂₂ Ibid. p. 79.

₂₃ Ibid. p. 82.

32

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

THE POSTMODERN

Simulacra

Seduction

Concept Of

Ethics

33

The following conceptual framework would explain the flow of idea of

this study. The first box contains the first concept which is „The Postmodern‟, this

first concept would bring us to the kind of environment this study would be most

relevant; it will also explain the period of time the study was made and it would show

on whom this study is for, the postmodern individuals of the postmodern world of

today. This post modernity would lead to the relevance of the second concept which

is simulacra. How does the postmodern period connect with simulacra? The

postmodern is riddled and bombarded with lots of simulacrum and we call it

„postmodern‟ because of the presence of „simulacrum‟. We can see that we used the

concept of simulacra by Jean Paul Baudrillard to present the world of the

Postmodern hence the part of the title „A postmodernist reading of seduction through

Baudrillard‟s Simulacra‟. This would lead us to the third concept which we call

„seduction‟; we said that the „simulacrum‟ „seduces‟ the individual to believe the

charms and appearances in which the supposed reality exists. Seduction is a

manifest discourse which would mean labored appearance, or in other words, the

simulacrum. Now, from the concept of post modernity, simulacrum and seduction, in

its discussion would lead to the next and the utmost goal of this study: the

conception of ethics; through the simulacrum, we would present a postmodernist

reading of seduction which would lead towards a conception of ethics. In my

preference, it would mean that I would make, through this study, a new kind of ethics

in which would be relevant to the people of the postmodern so as to they would

benefit from the ideas which would make it all right for all of the individuals of this

period of slackening: The Postmodern.

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Chapter 3

Methodology

The first agenda of this study is to present the concept of seduction in

today‟s postmodernist setting. To present this concept, I have to expose and open

the idea of postmodernism so as to pick up the concepts of sex and seduction to

thoroughly study the concept which would lead to my own ideology of how seduction

affects the people of this time in which it is now, postmodern. . It will make a

blueprint of today‟s postmodern condition by looking on the raw evidences of today‟s

modern culture and ideologies. The second agenda of this study is to present the

concept of simulacrum which is Jean Paul Baudrillard‟s concept. The study would

show on how this concept affects how seduction behaves in the postmodernist

setting. Using his concept of the „simulacrum‟ and after understanding its true aim

and meaning, it is very relevant to see it in the perspective to what is happening

today in the postmodern period. The third and most important agenda is how, on

these presentations of these two concepts, we can arrive on a new concept of

ethics. The presentations of the concepts are not just in the light of the related

literature but by these related literature and studies, I will be inspired to present a

new ideology in which I would arrive on a new concept of ethics so as to apply this

new concept on the postmodern condition to give betterment to the present ethical

situation of the time. Thus, simply the method of this study is first to present and

understand; out of this presentation and understanding create a new concept to

apply it to the specific concept aforementioned.