Why Has Eros Died? A Contemporary Diagnosis and Redemption in Byung-Chul Hans Agonie des Eros

Abstract

Under the dual erosion of digital capitalism and the achievement society (Leistungsgesellschaft), Eros is undergoing a structural
crisis. This article takes Byung-Chul Hans Agonie des Eros as its theoretical point of departure to analyze three pathological mechanisms
underlying the contemporary demise of Eros: the performance-based logic of the achievement society reduces love to calculable efficiency;
digital technology dissolves the mystery of the Other; and narcissistic culture renders the subject incapable of loving. Hans proposed path of
redemptionacknowledging impotentiality, reconstructing primordial distance, and returning to contemplation of lifeseeks to reactivate the
transcendence of Eros through the reconstitution of intersubjectivity. While Hans theory exposes the colonial nature of neoliberalisms encroachment on emotional relations, it relies excessively on individual ethical practice and neglects the dialectics of social structures and technological mediation. In an algorithm-driven era of homogenization, the defense of alterity within Eros becomes not only a matter of individual
emotional redemption, but also a resistance against the violence of modernity. The core lies in rebuilding the depth and sanctity of human connection through the acknowledgment of difference.