| Abstract: | In this paper I compare the works of Paul Virilio and Georges Bataille through a discussion of their theories of vision, the image, and destruction. The first section of the paper is a consideration of Virilio's philosophy of speed (dromology) that turns off an interpretation of Theodore Géricault's 1819 work, The Raft of Medusa, moves through a discussion of the Greek mythology of the Gorgon, and ends with an analysis of contemporary military technology. In the second part of the paper I explore Bataille's critique of ocularcentrism through an examination of his famous novel Story of the Eye and a consideration of his concepts of the pineal eye, the limit experience, and the labyrinth. The final section of the paper contrasts the theories of Virilio and Bataille through an examination of the political implications of their ideas about vision, the image, and destruction. |
