So one of my philosophy professors told me about Foucault and he was going to invite him to teach for a semester at PSU. The department called Foucault and he was excited to teach. The next day, they get a phone call from Foucault and he said that he cannot come to PSU because he is not allowed to be more than 60 miles away from his psychologist at all times.

Xxio

Canada5565 Posts

November 22 2013 16:51 GMT

#3142

On November 21 2013 12:52 sam!zdat wrote:
i learned a good chunk of what i know about kant, hegel, and lacan by reading zizek, going "huh?" and then reading more zizek until I understood what he was talking about. that's why it's ok that he plagiarizes himself.

don't think about it as trying to understand an explicit theory, think about it as letting his words invade yr brain :D

edit: oh and you are in for some awesome reading there

edit: cool lecture

Watching now. I enjoy the way he thinks about art and consuming ideas/theory.

Doublemint

Austria8753 Posts

November 23 2013 09:44 GMT

#3143

Such a treat. Highly recommended read, about halfway through in the - sort of cut - german translation since I am incapable of reading it in french T_T. But the book itself and he is just plain brilliant. Timeless classic really. Self reflexion, human condition, encouragement to think about thinking. Win.

Boblion

France8043 Posts

November 23 2013 09:48 GMT

#3144

It is very interesting indeed. Good old times !

sam!zdat

United States5559 Posts

November 23 2013 18:41 GMT

#3145

i wish i understood what the fuck is the point of actor network theory. what does this help me understand. it just seems like a gimmick

silynxer

Germany439 Posts

November 24 2013 12:39 GMT

#3146

I haven't read any theoretical work on actor network theory but since I just finished Bruno Latour's On the Modern Cult of Factish Gods I will try to give a perspective. Latour wants to explain the condition of being modern and he identifies the divide between facts and the production of facts as one of the core tenets of modernity (among others). This is also one of the devices by which the Moderns are able to think of themselves (wrongfully in Latour's opinion) as radically different from the non- and pre-Moderns.
Actor network theory seems to be the framework with which he wants to bridge the many chasms that define modernity and to understand some of its contradictions.

I don't know how fruitful this approach is but both books I read by him (the above and We Have Never Been Modern) have been stimulating and I would generally recommend them, especially chapter 1 and 3 of OtMCoFG. While his analysis is interesting, I found him to be weakest whenever he talked about solutions (maybe with the exception of chapter 3 mentioned above) and at the moment I'm personally not interested enough to read about actor network theory in detail, so take from this what you will.

[EDIT]: Also, what is written about fetishes in chapter 1 of OtMCoFG (or rather the naive belief in the naive belief in fetishes as Latour would say) could be valuable for Marxists although you might strongly reject it (my Marx is not strong enough to gauge this).

corumjhaelen

France6884 Posts

November 24 2013 13:15 GMT

#3147

Thank god I read Kant before Hegel or it would have been even more difficult to read what he has to say about him... Really interesting commentaries on other philosophies, and so far I get most of what he's saying... I fear it will get a lot harder once I start the main stuff though.

shaftofpleasure

Korea (North)1375 Posts

November 24 2013 15:58 GMT

#3148

guys .. can anyone suggest me a book with an adventure/steampunk theme??

sam!zdat

United States5559 Posts

November 24 2013 18:09 GMT

#3149

On November 25 2013 00:58 shaftofpleasure wrote:
guys .. can anyone suggest me a book with an adventure/steampunk theme??

have you read perdido street station?

edit: I read we have never been modern.

mainly what confuses me is why they want to separate agency and intention and go around calling everything agents. it's a weird animism.

I understand WHY he wants to do what he does, but the formulation of his theory is often very mystifying to me. and it is too strongly skeptical. why do we have to talk about making "alliances" with inanimate objects, how does that possibly help

Shiragaku

Hong Kong4308 Posts

November 24 2013 18:25 GMT

#3150

On November 25 2013 00:58 shaftofpleasure wrote:
guys .. can anyone suggest me a book with an adventure/steampunk theme??

There is a really good biopunk book called The Windup Girl if you are interested.

maybenexttime

Poland5816 Posts

November 24 2013 18:40 GMT

#3151

On November 25 2013 03:25 Shiragaku wrote:

Show nested quote +

There is a really good biopunk book called The Windup Girl if you are interested.

It's next on my list after I finish:

[image loading]

elt

Thailand1092 Posts

November 24 2013 19:47 GMT

#3152

On November 25 2013 00:58 shaftofpleasure wrote:
guys .. can anyone suggest me a book with an adventure/steampunk theme??

I'll second both Perdido Street Station and The Windup Girls. Both have a sense of dystopia and bleakness though.

I'd also suggest The Alloy of Law. It's great as a standalone, but even better if you've read the earlier Mistborn trilogy.

Xxio

Canada5565 Posts

November 24 2013 21:31 GMT

#3153

The Windup Girl is really good. Haven't read Perdido Street Station but heard only good things.

Shiragaku

Hong Kong4308 Posts

November 24 2013 22:45 GMT

#3154

And while we are on sci-fi (sort of) dystopia, I would like to recommended Never Let Me Go. It is arguably one of the best novels of the 21st century and will hopefully be taught in high school in the future.

shaftofpleasure

Korea (North)1375 Posts

November 25 2013 01:15 GMT

#3155

thank you for the sugesstion .. will look into it now ..

stroggozzz

New Zealand81 Posts

November 25 2013 02:01 GMT

#3156

i read brief history of neoliberalism. Was pretty good, learn't some new stuff about china.

I think the best book i've read so far on the free market ideology is '23 things you don't know about capitalism'. It's very easy to read and amusing

currently reading:
Freefall, by Joesph Stiglitz
Neuroscience: exploring the brain
Neoliberalism's War on Higher Education by Henry Giroux

Meadowlark

United States349 Posts

November 25 2013 02:29 GMT

#3157

On November 25 2013 07:45 Shiragaku wrote:
And while we are on sci-fi (sort of) dystopia, I would like to recommended Never Let Me Go. It is arguably one of the best novels of the 21st century and will hopefully be taught in high school in the future.

eh, I'm still not sure how I feel about that book. There was so much wishy-washy language in the narration along the lines of "for some reason..." "I'm not sure why it happened..." I get that it was supposed to make everything seem ephemeral, but to me it just came across as awkward and graceless. It was like the author was yelling at me, "HEY GUYZ THIS WON'T LAST! IT'S SEW EPHEMERAL! I'M SO ART RITE?"

sam!zdat

United States5559 Posts

November 25 2013 02:38 GMT

#3158

edit: ^on man, so far this book is dope

[image loading]

corumjhaelen

France6884 Posts

November 25 2013 09:55 GMT

#3159

^ that's an awesome title imo.
So god is the truth and the truth is the concept (I think), so I guess this should indeed internalize every contradiction. I'm not sure I want that though, Hegel... This is getting very confusing :/ Funnily enough, sam's post in the US politics thread was useful for me...