A Philosophy of Imposture

A Philosophy of Imposture offers an original ontological theory of fake realities in an age dominated by artificial intelligence, digital propaganda, and post-truth discourse. Moving beyond conventional approaches to deception, this book develops an innovative framework for understanding how entire lifeworlds can become "fake" through imaginary constructs that present themselves as reality and take on world-disclosing power. Drawing on cases from Russian "fake democracy" to the Jean-Claude Romand affair, the author demonstrates how simulacra can structure lived experience while concealing their fabricated nature. He engages with major figures including Plato, Sartre, Freud, Baudrillard, Arendt, and Deleuze to propose imposture as the simulation of phantasm rather than mere negation of truth. The book’s conceptual groundwork is established through an analysis of lying, simulacra, and phantasms, and the author then applies this framework to contemporary authoritarian propaganda. This ontological approach to imposture distinguishes it from moral philosophical treatments of deception and post-truth theoretical frameworks. Ultimately, the book provides crucial tools for distinguishing reality from its simulacra without relying on metaphysical absolutes, offering an immanent ontology of the fake that speaks directly to our contemporary moment of digital disinformation and authoritarian manipulation. This book is essential reading for philosophers, political theorists, media scholars, and anyone seeking to understand how reality itself can be falsified in the digital age.