CONFRONTING FASCISM IN CONTEMPORARY ESOTERIC THOUGHT: JASON REZA JORJANI’S SPECTRAL PHILOSOPHY

This dissertation seeks to establish the foundation for a sustainable anti-fascism through a critical examination of constructivism. Defined by Alain Badiou as an orientation of thought which reduces truth to linguistic constructs, this dissertation argues that constructivism reinforces identitarian logics that bolster fascism. After tracing constructivism’s evolution in the thought of Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Martin Heidegger, this study turns to scrutinize the work of the contemporary philosopher, esotericist, and co-founder of the Alt-Right: Jason Reza Jorjani.Jorjani seeks to transcend constructivism and its concomitant identitarian logic through his concept of “the spectral”— a form of negative universality aimed at delineating a generic conception of the human in excess of identitarian logics. In his attempt to formulate a universalism decoupled from closure, Jorjani embraces a form of metaphysical voluntarism. This commitment not only undergirds Jorjani’s embrace of the esoteric elements of Nazism but also fuels his fascistic, techno-accelerationist ideology that he refers to as Prometheism. By dissecting Jorjani’s failed attempt to overcome constructivism, this dissertation clarifies the deep structure of fascism and illuminates a pathway toward a genuinely inclusive and open universalism.