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Why Theory

Why Theory brings continental philosophy and psychoanalytic theory together to examine cultural phenomena.

Ryan and Todd explore the possibilities for praxis in the vein of the notorious philosopher who expresses disdain for the possibilities of a philosophical praxis—Hegel. They look at instances of Hegelian praxis in action, including the church of contradiction developed by Peter Rollins. Hegelian praxis focuses on contradiction, failure, disappointment, and universality. Most importantly, it never operates through a preestablished road map.

Hegelian Praxis

In this episode, Todd and I discuss dialectics (as the title of the episode implies). After charting the historical development of the term, we focus on the different roles dialectics play for Kant and Hegel. Later, we finish the episode by talking about how Lacan's dialectical thinking manifests itself in his theory. This was a listener suggested episode. Shout outs to Ken in Birmingham and Sean in Dublin. Thanks so much for listening!

Dialectics

Ryan and Todd pick up their discussion of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit with an exploration of the "Spirit" section of this book. They probe into Hegel's conception of Sittlichkeit (or the ethical order) and his investment in the act of getting one's hands dirty ethically and politically.

Hegel's Spirit

Ryan and Todd conclude their series on Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit with a discussion of the Absolute Knowing section. They explore the relationship between this section and the rest of the book as well as considering what this section has to say about the relationship between mediation and immediacy.

Hegel's Absolute Knowing

Ryan and Todd lay out the key points in Jean-Paul Sartre's vast attempt to marry existentialism and Marxism--The Critique of Dialectical Reason. They discuss the best moments of this work and then attempt to clarify how it goes awry. Its huge unspoken influence on more recent French thought is also a topic.

Critique of Dialectical Reason

In their annual Christmas special, Ryan and Todd explore the Lesbian Christmas film and the theoretical contribution that this specific type of film makes to the Christmas film genre. They discuss Carol, Happiest Season, and Let It Snow in terms of their depictions of desire and the importance of desire itself coming out.

Lesbian Christmas

Ryan and Todd work through Jacques Lacan’s Seminar X: Anxiety. Since this is the seminar that provides a great deal of Lacan’s initial theorizing of the objet a, they devote much of their time to this concept. Additionally, they discuss how Lacan responds in this seminar to existentialism, especially through his redefinition of anxiety. They conclude with an analysis of the role that sacrifice plays relative to anxiety.

Seminar X: Anxiety

Ryan and Todd pay tribute to David Lynch’s life and work by discussing each of his ten feature films in order of value as artworks (in the view of one of the cohosts). They explore the role of fantasy in Lynch’s works and how he implicates the desire of the spectator in the films.

David Lynch

Ryan and Todd discuss Lacan’s Seminar XVI: From an Other to the other. They focus on Lacan’s modification of Marx’s surplus value into surplus enjoyment and the implications of this discovery for the interpretation of capitalism. They frame this seminar as the end of the most fecund era of Lacan’s thought, a culmination that produces one of his greatest insights and the basis for a psychoanalytic theory of capitalism.

Seminar 16

On this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss Rick Boothby's terrific recent book, Embracing the Void: Rethinking the Origin of the Sacred. First they discuss how the book begins its argument by intervening in the gap between Freud's and Lacan's notion of religion (in both its social and psychical import). They then move to highlight Rick's original theorizing that links das ding to an encounter with the unknowability and indecipherability of the other. Finally, they conclude by discussing the relationship that Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker has to an extension of Rick's argument.

Also mentioned on this podcast:

Misconstruity, "Let Them Rot" (referenced as Russ Sbriglia's King Crimson power hour)

On Drugs, CBC Podcast (Special thanks to Hadeel and Geoff!)

Ryan's essay in World Picture

Embracing the Void

In their second episode devoted to the classical Hollywood genres, Ryan and Todd explore the western by focusing on some of the most popular and some of the most theoretically compelling. They discuss directors John Ford, Howard Hawks, and Anthony Mann, as well as devoting time to the western 3:10 to Yuma. Their theorization of the western stresses the way that the genre lays out the social antagonism between law and lawlessness, in which the western hero functions as a vanishing mediator.

Western

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