READ ALONG SERIES - KANT'S "PROLEGOMENA"

Kant’s influence on philosophy and thinking in general has been immense but also difficult to pin down because he is so challenging to read. His influence has come almost entirely second and third hand as we encounter versions of his thoughts and approaches through other thinkers who are using, attacking, or expanding on Kant’s insights. Here we launch a read-a-long series featuring one of his shortest and most accessible works - the Prolegomena to Any Future Meta-Physics. A clearer and much shortened version of his Critique of Pure Reason, this work transforms the landscape of philosophy and, whether one agrees or disagrees with him, it now becomes impossible to ignore him in good conscience. 

Project Gutenberg Kant's Prolegomena

A nice critical edition Amazon.com: Immanuel Kant: Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics: That Will Be Able to Come Forward as Science: With Selections from the Critique of Pure Reason (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy) eBook : Kant, Immanuel, Gary Hatfield: Kindle Store

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Q & A #2 - HOUSE OF THE INTELLECT

Wes and Jeremy take questions from Patreon Members on House of the Intellect.

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BUREAUCRACY:

As our societies have grown larger, more complex and more digitally integrated we have become enmeshed in ever larger and more centralized bureaucracies. These systems are, perhaps, inherently, the enemy of intellectual community. It is possible they could be organized differently, but for now they have a strong tendency to strip us of our individuality and personal integrity in the name of ‘efficiency’. Widely experienced but little commented upon, this powerful cultural force has undermined many of the institutions that had previously been havens of intellectual and artistic community. 

I would be curious to hear listeners' Kafkaesque moments and how this made them feel.

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Largely forgotten today, she was an influential thinker and, perhaps, mystic who lived a life of ethical commitment in an extraordinarily difficult period in history. She provided an inspirational example to many of her contemporaries and the tone of her works as much as the power of her arguments brought her wide acclaim.

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CONCLUSION:

I conclude the series with the end of the first book of the Red Book. In the last section we see Jung sliding back and forth between various ideas of the role he is supposed to fulfill - kill god, be god, ignore god - and how we should respond to this. I also reflect on the difference between inspiration and discovery, what Jung is trying to do, and Philosophy, which generally requires a much more rigorous implementation of vocabulary, logic and consistency. Nonetheless I think Jung provides a great example of someone trying to explore and overcome the limitations of their own beliefs in a way that I find quite inspirational.

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TECHNOLOGY AND DATA:

Neither Barzun nor myself are opposed to technology or data per se - it is the way our culture tries to isolate technology from the cultural environment and, hence, de-value most everything the house of the intellect values. The notion that the quality of the people who control technology and the experiences of people who interact with it simply do not matter is one of the recurrent and obviously deeply flawed cultural concepts that has attached itself to our modern conception. The chart I mention is below and demonstrates that, at least as traditionally measured, workers are not producing more per capita despite 50+ years of massive technological transformation. 

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One of the most influential and controversial philosophers of the late 20th century, Derrida specialized in trying to unmoor our sense of certainty and truth. Working across 50 books, he was an intellectual gad-fly in the tradition of Socrates who always wanted us to be suspicious of clarity. He almost single-handedly brought continental philosophy back to the English speaking world. 

You can find the original Lecture Notes Here

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Q & A #9 - CONCLUSION

Wes and Jeremy take questions from listeners on Lectures IX and X: Conclusion Parts 1 and 2

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BEYOND RIGHT AND WRONG

Here Jung moves beyond simply rejecting the Right and Wrong and tries to create an ethos of ambiguity. Focusing on a dream involving Elijah and Salome, he experiences the intertwined relationship of lust and purity, truth and lies, seduction and holiness. 

Here is a great entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on De Beauvoir’s Ethics of Ambiguity Simone de Beauvoir (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

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ROB US OF WHAT WE LOVE:

In this episode I discuss the ways in which our culture and mental habits combine to rob us of the experiences we would love to be having by both limiting our capacity to participate and limiting the communities in which we might participate. I use contemporary American film culture as an example of a simultaneously booming art form that nonetheless seems to be culturally barren.

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