SEX AND SEDUCTION: MALE AND FEMALE INTERACTION TODAY USING

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

2. Chapter 1, Concentrate on the

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

Actions taken
a) Title
has
been
resolved by revision
b) Revision of the title is
done. It is revised into
A
Postmodernist
Reading of Seduction
through Baudrillards
Simulacra Towards a
Concept of Ethics
Title is revised so as
to conform to the
recommendation
The whole thesis is
revised so as to
conform
to
the
recommendation

Done

Conform:

Jordan Averilla
Scribe

Prof. Alvin Sario

Panel

Silvino Balasta Jr.

Adviser

Alexander Clyde Antiquia

Panel

Gerry Bajaro
Chairman

A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through Baudrillards 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

Recommendation for Oral Defense

This thesis is entitled, A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through

Baudrillards 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

Panel Members
This Thesis which is entitled, A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction

through Baudrillards 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

Testimony of Approval
This thesis is entitled, A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through

Baudrillards 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

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 doesnt 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 dont 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 dont 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. 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 todays people
are lead to be convinced by what they see as beautiful and admiring as evidence

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 dont 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 todays culture and philosophy.

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 dont 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?

10

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 todays 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
11

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
cant 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 cant 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 todays
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
12

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 slackening. It is a period in which, in the modern, puts forward the
unpresentable in presentation itself . 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 truth. 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 diversity. 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 dont 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 cant 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

15

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
Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United
Kingdom:
Manchester University Press, p 167.
Jean Francois Lyotard, . The Postmodern Condition. Manchester University
Press. Appendix, p 1.
Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United
Kingdom:
Manchester University Press, p 149.
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

18

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
signs. 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 truth. 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 appearance 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
it. 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 discourse, 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 itself 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 duel 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 substance; 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 reality; 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
itself. 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 imaginary. 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 Disneyland. 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 reality, like
real hold up, someone gets killed. Simulations can be defeated however,
by the concept of power, because it is a real discourse of truth 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 Seduction

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 pleasethey are social

creatures. Charismatics have an unusual confidence in themselves.

Stars are ethereal and envelop

themselves in mystery.

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

26

perspective.

Furthermore when theres 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 Rou, The Idol Worshipper, The Sensualist, The Lonely
Leader, and The Floating Gender. 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 todays 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 SecurityApproach Indirectly, Send Mixed Signals,
Appear to Be an Object of DesireCreate Triangles, Create a NeedStir
Anxiety and Discontent, Master the Art of Insinuation, Enter Their Spirit,
Create Temptation, Keep Them in SuspenseWhat Comes Next?, Keep
Them in SuspenseWhat Comes Next?, Pay Attention to Detail,
Poeticize Your Presence, Disarm Through Strategic Weakness and
Vulnerability, Confuse Desire and RealityThe 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 FallThe Pursuer Is Pursued, Use Physical Lures, Master the
Art of the Bold Move, and Beware the Aftereffects. This kind of literature

27

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 Baudrillard.
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 masses; it
portrays a very close account of Jean Paul Baudrillards 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; slackening
means loosely as relaxing or slowing down, in the past where the
postmodern didnt 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

28

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. 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:

29

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

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
Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United Kingdom:
Manchester University Press, p 6.
Ibid. p. 148
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid. p 149
Ibid. p. 150
Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United Kingdom:
Manchester University Press, p 159. An excerpt from Soren Kierkegaards Diary of
the Seducer as mentioned by Jean Paul Baudrillard in his book On Seduction.
Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United Kingdom:
Manchester University Press, p 166
Ibid.
Ibid, p. 167.
Ibid. p. 168.
Ibid. p. 171.
Ibid. p. 178.
Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. Strategy of the
Real. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 182.
Robert Green, (2001). The Art of Seduction. Penguin group USA
Ibid. p. 3
Ibid p. 150-160
Ibid. p. 169-417
Ibid. Appendix
Ibid. Appendix
Jean Francois Lyotard, (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge.
United Kingdom: Manchester University, p. 71. Appendix translated by Regis
Durand.
Ibid. p. 79.
Ibid. p. 82.

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CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

THE POSTMODERN

Simulacra

Seduction

Concept
Of

Ethics
32

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
Baudrillards 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
todays 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 todays postmodern condition by looking on the raw evidences of todays
modern culture and ideologies. The second agenda of this study is to present the
concept of simulacrum which is Jean Paul Baudrillards 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.

34