The Interrationale was an attempt at a philosophical synthesis through sheer determination. It began and failed in 2008.
The goal was to do a thorough analytic-style treatment of two continental philosophical works, constructing line-by-line a parallel system of semi-formal definitions and theses by which to judge them. The works studied were The Theory of Communicative Action, by Jürgen Habermas, and The Society of the Spectacle, by Guy Debord. At some point Georg Lukacs’ History and Class Consciousness also got sucked in somehow.
As it turns out, I didn’t have the staying power. The Theory of Communicative Action is a long book, so long that it is impractical to carry on a subway. It also ranges so broadly that it was not possible to systematize it with the time I had available. Meanwhile, The Society of the Spectacle resisted almost all attempts at formalization.
“Well, what did you expect?”
