Obama as a "Blank Screen" - Simon Critchley November 4, 2008

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/09/18/Branding_Democracy_Barack_Obama_and_the_American_Void

Simon Critchley, Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research, argues that part of Barack Obama's appeal comes from his ability to act as a "blank screen" onto which his supporters can project their own views and values.

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Simon Critchley delivers a lecture entitled Barack Obama and the American Void. He examines Obama's subjectivity, the existential detachment that seems to haunt him, and its relation to democracy.

Simon Critchley is an English philosopher now teaching in the United States. Critchley works in continental philosophy, history of philosophy, literature, ethics and politics. He is Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research.