As my first Not School group, I led some folks in discussing two Netflix philosophy documentaries, i.e. things that have been on my instant queue forever, and which I feel culturally, given my position here, I should watch, but always seemed too boring. Examined Life (2008) (Netflix link) was the best of the two that we picked, and the well of that sort of thing is dry enough Continue Reading …
Zizek and Adorno: The Function of the Popular?
[Editor's Note: We welcome Derick from our semiotics episode You can read more of him on his blog.] http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-njxKF8CkoU Watch on YouTube. With Slavoj Zizek's Lacanized form of Hegelian Marxism being all the rage these days, it is interesting to look at the Frankfurt School's earlier Freudian version of the Continue Reading …
Žižek on Hegel on Identity
One public intellectual who has made much hay of Hegel's continued relevance is Slavoj Žižek, who begins one of his jazz-session-like lectures on Hegel’s concept of identity here: Watch on youtube. It’s not clear to me whether Žižek is properly interpreting Hegel, mostly because I find both Žižek and early Hegel incomprehensible. Z's been accused of mis-reading Hegel, and Continue Reading …
Slavoj Zizek on Applying Psychotherapy to Culture
Here is a somewhat startling video of Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek talking briefly about trying to apply the insights of psychotherapy (which deals with individuals) to cultures: Watch on youtube. His remarks about being able to relate an "anonymous social field" reflect Heidegger's conception of "Das Man," i.e. our tendency to conform to social norms, seeing Continue Reading …