Just Two Dudes Reading Theory

This week we read Susan Sontag's Against Interpretation, a phenomenal (and controversial) polemic against dogmatic ways of "interpreting" art. We also offer a (hopefully) nuanced defense of psychoanalysis.

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This week we did some "hardcore phenomenology" and read Sartre's essay on Giacometti. We also talked about Sartre's enthusiasm and how this enthusiasm risks losing the plot (so to speak). Enjoy!

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This week we're finishing our reading of Hannah Arendt's Love and Saint Augustine. We're talking about the love of the world vs. the love of God, and what possible avenues exist towards an unconditional secular love.

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This week we're reading the first half of Hannah Arendt's dissertation, Love and Saint Augustine. With Karl Jasper's as her thesis advisor, and with an indirect engagement with Heidegger's work, this is a great starting point for fans of Arendt. Enjoy!

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This week we finish Judith Butler's What World Is This? A Pandemic Phenomenology. We talk about those most affected by the virus and the day-to-day realities of the pandemic. Enjoy!

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Join us as we delve into the opening of Judith Butler's recent book on the Pandemic. To us, doing a phenomenology of the pandemic seems to be an inherently triggering project, especially if the questions asked include: what was it like to watch mass death from an Iphone? Or, what was extreme boredom and futility like? However, thankfully, Butler chooses a very different route, focusing instead on the world's interconnectedness and what the pandemic reveals about the world's structure. Enjoy!

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This week we read, or, as you will, suffered, through some Edmund Husserl! We talk about his importance to continental theory and his defense of the new field of phenomenology. Enjoy!

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Sartre's excited! And so are we! In our season two inaugural episode, we discuss Sartre's little essay on Husserl and his joy in discovering the phenomenological field. We also do some phenomenology ourselves talking about rivers and smiles.

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To end our first season we're talking about Arcade Fire's first three albums: Funeral, Neon Bible, and The Suburbs. We cover American extremism, growing up, and, of course, life in suburbia. Enjoy!

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This week we finish our discussion of Karl Jasper's Philosophy of Existence. This includes some core existential concepts such as authenticity and we also tackle his categories of truth. Enjoy!

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