The present age esteems illusion in proportion to its distance from truth

Evidence

“But for the present age, which prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation to reality, appearance to essence… truth is considered profane, and only illusion is sacred. Sacredness is in fact held to be enhanced in proportion as truth decreases and illusion increases, so that the highest degree of illusion comes to be the highest degree of sacredness.” — Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle, 10

Categorization

• XREF: This epochal inversion of the sacred directly parallels the claim that deception and institutionalized non-truth flourish where illusion is commodified. — connects to: Socially shared illusion functions as a second reality for participants — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 254; Positivist truths are linguistic illusions grown canonical through use; Rejecting all appearance as false illusion leads to losing truth itself — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 552 (+1 more)
• QUESTION: Worth chasing which figure Debord quotes here (Feuerbach) and how his inversion logic maps onto the spectacle concept.

Broader Connections

• Positivist truths are linguistic illusions grown canonical through use #exemplifies (0.80)
• Rejecting all appearance as false illusion leads to losing truth itself #complicates (0.80) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 552
• Modernity’s self-image as rational depends on denying its own tacit metaphysics #exemplifies (0.75)
• Socially shared illusion functions as a second reality for participants #exemplifies (0.72) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 254