As semesters adjourn and quarters eye the end, InterCcECT invites you to propose summer projects. What are your summer reading goals? Writing goals? Want to convene a session or working group? InterCcECT wants you!
May is wrapping up with a theory bang around town; let some of these events this week from our calendar inspire your proposals to us!
17-19 May Which Way Forward for Psychoanalysis?
19-21 May Phenomenology Roundtable
20-21 May two talks presented by Paul of Tarsus Working Group
With the generous support of Gallery 400, InterCcECT is very pleased to present “Nothing Just Isn’t (what it used to be): The Void and Structure,” a talk by Tzuchien Tho, researcher at The Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and The Centre International d’Etude de la Philosophie Française Contemporaine. Join us Thursday 25 April at 4pm!
abstract:
Alain Badiou inherited a series of concepts in the late 60’s that manifest a similar sort of argumentative strategy. From
Neo-Kantianism, French epistemologie, Hegelianism and structuralism, there were a number of different figures of the void, the nothing, indeed the “not”, all of which stood in as a reified repository for the undetermined and contingent (the virtual), the not-yet (the new in history), the horizon of determination and knowledge (regulative judgment). By looking at how Badiou refuted this construal of the problem of the void (the nothing and the like) in the late 60’s, I will demonstrate how these initial works led to his arguments concerning the void in the 1980’s provided a real alternative to those that he inherited. In turn, understanding Badiou’s rejection from this late 60’s context of treating the notion of the void sheds light on the meaning of his “mathematical ontology” through set theory and allows us to evaluate his larger philosophical project from a different historical vantage.
InterCcECT is delighted to present a talk by Andrew Cutrofello, “Two Contemporary Hegelianisms,” Tuesday 19 March, 4pm, Newberry LibraryRoom B82.
Abstract:
Robert Brandom’s and Slavoj Žižek’s appropriations of Hegel seem radically different. Brandom’s Hegelianism takes the form of a semantic holism that is essentially normative and pragmatic. Žižek’s is a version of dialectical materialism that is avowedly perverse and revolutionary in intention. Curiously, however, there are significant parallels in the two philosophers’ conceptions of Hegelian spirit. These are evidenced in their respective readings of T.S. Eliot’s essay, “Tradition and the Individual Talent.” Nevertheless, Brandom’s and Žižek’s Hegels ultimately diverge with respect to the nature of reason and commitment. In my talk I will try to sketch these differences by bringing into play another of Eliot’s essays from The Sacred Wood, namely, “Hamlet and His Problems.” In this essay, Eliot develops his famous conception of the objective correlative, explaining why it goes missing in Shakespeare’s play. Brandom and Žižek, I suggest, have fundamentally different conceptions of Hegel’s “missing” objective correlative.
a few highlights from our calendar, which contains additional details:
8 March Issues in Phenomenology
13 March Gregory Flaxman at U of C
13 March Bill Martin, “Zen Maoism: An improbable Buddhist-Marxist synthesis”
15 March Paola Marrati on Deleuze
This Thursday, Andrew Benjamin will be speaking under the auspices of the Interccect reading group at Newberry Library (Room B82) at 4pm, over his current work-in-progress. “Being-In-Relation: Philosophy’s Other Possibility,” Professor Benjamin’s latest project, revisits Descartes, Fichte, Kant, Hegel, and Heidegger in a radical attempt to think the priority of relationality to singularity. We are pre-circulating the text of his introductory chapter — you can e-mail me (akotsko at gmail) to request the text.
InterCcECT is pleased to commence the new year with a winter line-up bookended by two special events in contemporary philosophy:
24 January, 4pm: InterCcECT presents Andrew Benjamin,“Being-In-Relation,” Newberry Library, Room B82
19 March, 4pm: InterCcECT presents Andrew Cutrofello, “Two Contemporary Hegelianisms,” Newberry Library, Room B82
“Being-In-Relation: Philosophy’s Other Possibility,” Professor Benjamin’s latest project, revisits Descartes, Fichte, Kant, Hegel, and Heidegger in a radical attempt to think the priority of relationality to singularity. For the InterCcECT works-in-progress session, we will pre-circulate a draft of Chapter One, which establishes the parameters of the problem. Request the paper (interccect at gmail) and join us!
In between, look out for our February event announcement, and check our calendar regularly for highlights from around town, like:
9 January, Wendy Brown, The Protoean Morphology of Homo Economicus
11 January, Graham Harman, A New Look at Identity and Sufficient Reason
17, 18, 25 January, Andrew Benjamin, The Fabric of Existence, Recovering Relationality, and more
31 January, Pierre Keller, Kant’s World Concept of Philosophy
13 February, Elizabeth Rottenberg, Freud’s Other Legacy
InterCcECT wants to hear your theory new year’s resolutions! Contact us to announce or propose events, and “like” us on Facebook for frequent links.
Yesterday Interccect hosted a lecture by Jodi Dean over her new book The Communist Horizon. It was my first time meeting Jodi in person after many years of online interaction, but more importantly it was a great lecture.
One thing that came up frequently in the Q&A was the issue of how we can know that advocating communism won’t lead straight to the worst excesses of Stalinism. She had addressed this question already in the lecture — saying, for instance, that the very existence of the question shows that we “know better” at this point and that there’s no reason to assume that history will repeat itself in exactly the same way — but she also admitted that part of her theory is that there can be no absolute guarantees in politics, so that tyrrany is always a danger to some degree in any political formation.
I was pretty satisfied with her answer, but the insistence of the question made it clear that some people needed more. That’s why I am announcing an exciting new financial product that will provide peace of mind to those who are interested in advocating communism but worried about the risk: Stalinism Insurance. In the event that a totalitarian dystopia emerges, the policyholder will get a generous payout to help them escape. We also offer a “Get Out of the Gulag Free” certificate to be presented to the authorities in the event of a purge, and we are currently cultivating relationships with literary agents to help our policyholders sell their memoirs.
Please do not hesitate to contact me about setting up a payment plan.
InterCcECT proudly presents Jodi Dean, “The Communist Horizon” Saturday 27 October, 4:30pm, generously hosted by Gallery 400. Based on her brand new book, the talk urges us to imagine new Octobers.
*theorizing October*
(highlights from our calendar, which contains links and details):
12 Oct Laurence Hemming, “Production: Formerly This Was Called God: Heidegger in dialogue with Marx”
13 Oct Frances Ferguson, “Economic and Sentimental Reasons”
15 Oct Anthony Paul Smith, “Liberating Lived Experience: François Laruelle and the Work of NonPhilosophy”
16 Oct Michael Hardt, “The Right to the Common”
16 Oct Ramin Takloo-Bighash, “History, Theory, and Practice of Prime Numbers”
17 Oct Adam Kotsko,”Agamben on Liturgy and Politics”
17-19 Oct UIC French, “Inequality and Exclusion:The Theory and Practice of Human Rights”
18 Oct Achille Mbembe, “Notes on Fetishism and Animism”
26-28 Oct DePaul Philosophy, “Hegel and Capitalism”
29 Oct Danielle Bergeron,”Psychosis As It Is Lived”
Propose or announce your October aspirations by contacting us , and “like” us on Facebook for frequent links.
InterCcECT is delighted to announce a lecture by Jodi Dean, “The Communist Horizon,” Saturday 27 October, presented at Gallery 400 with their generous support. Based on her book forthcoming in late October, the talk proposes new ideals for communism today.
In preparation, InterCcECT will host a reading group on excerpts from Dean’s recent book Democracy and Other Neoliberal Fantasies, along with selections from the comrade anthology The Idea of Communism. Join us Thursday 4 October at The Newberry Library, room B82, 3pm. PDFs available upon request .
*this week in theory*
(highlights from our calendar, which contains additional details):
5 September Graeber’s Debt (History of Capitalism reading group)
5 September Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (German Philosophy reading group)
6 September Leibniz’s Exoteric Philosophy (Lecture by John Whipple)
7 September “Kristeva’s Severed Heads: Sadomasochism and Sublimation” (Lecture by Kelly Oliver)
What’s on your docket? As always, write us to propose or announce events, and “like” us on Facebook for frequent links.
What are the formal constructions of realism in art and literature? What, if anything, distinguishes the realism of nineteenth-century capitalism from the realism of twenty-first-century capitalism? What binds Breaking Bad to Balzac?
InterCcECT, with special guest Annie McClanahan, turns to Georg Lukacs for renewed debate on realism in these times. Read “Realism in the Balance” and “Reportage or Portrayal” and join us Monday 13 August, 4pm, at the InterCcECT salon in Bucktown; write to interccect at g mail dot com for details and PDFs.
Our continuing conversation on the realism-complex of psychosis convenes Thursday 2 August, 3pm for Lacan’s Seminar 3, Chapters 7-8.
We highly recommend the History of Capitalism Reading Group’s next session, Wednesday 1 August, 1pm, on Arrighi’s The Long Twentieth Century. Check our calendar for details on these and other events.
Have a summer reading bucket list? A fall mini-seminar wish list? InterCcECT welcomes your announcements and initiatives.
In Why We Love Sociopaths: A Guide to Late Capitalist Television, Adam Kotsko surveys the overwhelming fascination in contemporary culture with sociopathy. With readings spanning South Park, Dexter, Mad Men, and The Wire, Kotsko argues that the sociopath’s ability to instrumentalize all forms of social bonds critically discloses the arbitrary status of the codes, ties, and institutions that order collective experience. “Perhaps we might all benefit from being more sociopathic,” he provocatively concludes. Click here for recent footage of Slavoj Zizek’s enthusiastic discussion of the book.
With the generous hospitality of 57th Street Books, InterCcECT is proud to present a conversation on Kotsko’s work, joined by the author himself, Monday 16 July, 6pm, 1301 E 57th St, Hyde Park. For additional reading pleasure, we also recommend Kotsko’s prequel, Awkwardness.
Atop inducements to sociopathy, add a different kind of maddening to your summer reading list: join us for our ongoing group on Lacan’s Seminar 3: The Psychoses. Chapters 3 and 4 are up for Thursday 14 June, 5pm, at our salon in Bucktown. Write us for PDF and details.
Alternately, or additionally, we recommend a companion reading group conducting weekly sessions on philosophy. Their latest text is Levinas’s Totality and Infinity, with the first session Wednesday 13 June, 6pm, at The Bourgeois Pig, covering the Intro, Preface, I Same and the Other: A. Metaphysics and Transcendence. Check our calendar for more info on their schedule of readings.
As always, we welcome proposals / announcements for other summer reading materials.
