MAGA, Putin, and the Seduction of the Past: A Philosophical Essay on The Great Gatsby

MAGA, Putin, and the Seduction of the Past: A Philosophical Essay on The Great Gatsby by Daniel Shilansky examines the novel's depiction of self-creation, desire, and societal hierarchy through a philosophical lens. It situates Fitzgerald's work within intellectual traditions such as Emersonian self-reliance, Weberian rationalism, and Nietzschean will, highlighting how these frameworks illuminate the novel's critique of modern identity and aspiration. The essay argues that Fitzgerald's narrative reveals the structural impossibility of authentic selfhood in a world dominated by retrospective idealization and the absence of genuine transcendence. Ultimately, it demonstrates how The Great Gatsby encapsulates a broader cultural tendency to seek fulfillment in an unattainable past, a pattern that persists across political and social contexts.