Camille Paglia is a professor at the University of the Arts, in Philadelphia. She is an outspoken critic of any form of censorship and political correctness. Her views of human nature are based on Freudian object relation theory. She believes that human nature is essentially violent, and animalistic. She believes that the close connection between art and emotions allows it to serve as a lens through which we can catch a glimpse of our baser instincts and drives. She believes that humans create societal norms and belief systems in an attempt to contain and control human nature. This is not necessarily bad or good. It is simply a fact. We use our imagination to create a world which gives us the illusion of control. What Paglia detests is when people then claim that their world-view is TRUE and that others’ views are FALSE or DANGEROUS. She demands that we recognize our basic nature and the truth of our attempts to hide/contain it.
When reading her work, keep your eye out for hypocrisy within her own writings. Paglia often uses shock to stress her points. But, in her criticism of others’ work as being too close-minded, she often doesn’t recognize her own assumptions (for example, re objects relations theory).
Regardless of the faults, Paglia’s work is useful because it calls very basic beliefs into question and braves discussion on issues that are commonly ignored.