philosophic issues and thoughts
Slavoj Zizek the Slovene sociologist, philosopher, and cultural critic takes on the reigning postmodern agenda with a manifesto for several "lost causes". http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7471000/7471059.stm
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6501366664724267502&q=zizek&ei=onZYSJyfI46kjQLl78mCDw Zizek, guest speaker at The 8th EURAM 2008
bhtv05227jd-300 John Horgan interviewing David Chalmers. Here is the link to the original conversation. http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/254
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZLl5e1HfWc Simon Critchley talks about his book "On Humor".
The 'death of man', the 'end of history' and even philosophy are strong and troubling currents running through contemporary debates. Yet since Nietzsche's heralding of the 'death of god', philosophy has been unable to explain the question of finitude. Very Little...Almost Nothing goes to the heart of this problem through an exploration of Blanchot's theory of literature, Stanley Cavell's interpretations of romanticism and the importance of death in the work of Samuel Beckett. Simon Critchley links these themes to the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas to present a powerful new picture of how we must approach the importance of death in philosophy. A compelling reading of the convergence of literature and philosophy, Very Little...Almost Nothing opens up new ways of understanding finitude, modernity and the nature of the imagination. ' This is a very brave book ...it makes philosophical conversation possible again after two decades of pragmatist intolerance.' - Roger Poole [...]
H κριτική της αξίας δεν σχετίστηκε από τη σύλληψή της με τη θεωρία της καταστασιακής διεθνούς (situationists international), δεν υπάρχει λοιπόν κάποια εκ γενετής συγγένεια μεταξύ τους. Όποιος όμως θέλει να αποφύγει τον κίνδυνο η καταστασιακή θεωρία, από εκρηκτικός μηχανισμός στον καιρό της, να υποβιβαστεί σήμερα πλήρως και αμαχητί σε μουσειοποιημένο «πολιτιστικό αγαθό», οφείλει να προσπαθεί, πέρα από τις διάφορες οπισθοδρομικές τελετουργικές χειρονομίες αναβίωσης, να κάνει σήμερα αυτό που οι καταστασιακοί επιχειρούσαν στην εποχή τους: Nα μην θεωρεί τίποτε αυτονόητο και να αναζητά συνεχώς νέες προσεγγίσεις της κριτικής της κοινωνίας. Σε αυτό το πεδίο, η κριτική της αξίας αποτελεί σίγουρα μια από τις λίγες υπάρχουσες συνεισφορές. [anselm-jappe-ebook, http://www.disobey.net/hotel/]
This is an interesting public conversation between Simon Critchley and Alain Badiou that took place on November 15, 2007 at Slought foundation. It features a first session were Simon Critchley outlines his thoughts about democracy and disappointment as presented on his recent book (Infinitely Demanding: Ethics of Commitment, Politics of Resistance). His analysis is based on his quasi-Levinasian, Badiouan, Lacanian and Kantian ideas about ethics, politics and philosophy and he is mainly interested in the politics of resistance-military neoliberalism, neo leninism, neo anarchism. In the next session Badiou outlines his thoughts upon 6 phrases that he spotted on Critchley's Book, and tries to relate/contrast them to his philosophical beliefs. Badiou, A., & Critchley, S. (2007). Democracy and disappointment: alain badiou/simon critchley on the politics of resistance, Conversations in Theory. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved from http://www.slought.org/content/11385/. The Conversation can be downloaded from this link. Slought Foundation quotes: "In disoriented times, we [...]
It is a piece of ancient wisdom that to philosophise is to learn how to die. From Socrates onwards, the philosopher is the person who has no fear of death, but accepts their fate with calm and contentment. Yet, how do philosophers themselves die? This song will explain and the answers are unexpectedly and darkly funny? As some of you might recognize, this song is also an indirect homage to Brian Eno. Taken from the show Sex, Death and Desire, written and directed by John Simmons of Ouch! Media and founding member of Critchley and Simmons.
(1998, Chris Landreth) Ideal ego and the ego ideal. The image you assume and the symbolic point which give you a place and supplies the point from which you are looked at. A nice example of the interaction of the Lacanian "three registers of human reality": the imaginary, the symbolic and the real. Bingo is based on a short play, Disregard This Play, by Chicago's Neo-Futurist Theater Company. The story is a little ditty of existentialist hell in which the central character, Dave, is told he is a clown. At first he denies, then he argues, then he dispairs, and ultimately, he concedes.
Aphorisms in action: On authors "I will never again read an author of whom I suspect that he wanted to make a book, but only those whose thoughts unexpectedly became a book." "Real thoughts of real poets always go about with a veil on, like Egyptian women." "Paradoxes are only assertions that carry no convictions. The author has made them wishing to appear brilliant, or to mislead, or above all to pose." On readers "A book is made better by good readers and clearer by good opponents." "Nowadays the text often disappears under the (reader's) interpretation." "The weakness of modern personality comes out in the measureless overflow of criticism." Happy new year! μο.