Why Theory

Ryan and Todd investigate the possibility of thinking about all competing philosophies under the headings of dualism, multiplicity, and dialectics. They take as avatars for each position St. Paul, Gilles Deleuze, and Hegel. Rather than serving as a reductive matrix for dismissal, this model becomes a way to think about relationality between different thinkers and systems of thought.

Ryan and Todd delve into a shorter text from Freud's later years--"Notes on a Mystic Writing Pad." Freud takes the child's toy that he discovers as a paradigm for how memory works in the psyche. Ryan and Todd tease out the implications of the essay for how to understand the unconscious, and they conclude with an analysis of Jacques Derrida's famous discussion of it in "Writing and Difference."

Ryan and Todd conduct a thorough exploration of Freud's 1920 text Beyond the Pleasure Principle, beginning with the claim that this represents Freud at his most radical and original point. They look at the notion of death drive that Freud develops and trace how he comes to abandon the idea of the primacy of the pleasure principle.

Ryan and Todd examine the theoretical underpinnings of the genre of the superhero film. They look at its origins in the western and its development from the 1970s through Christopher Nolan and culminating in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They discuss why one might see it as a failed genre.

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.

Ryan and Todd discuss Lacan's claim that "there is no metalanguage." They address the political implications of this idea and look at various attempts to constitute a metalinguistic position. Finally, they explore the connection between metalanguage and capitalist subjectivity.

Ryan and Todd return to the theorization of the Christmas film by examining three entries in the genre: Meet Me in St. Louis, Holiday Inn, and Christmas in Connecticut. They discuss the Christmas film's depiction of castrated authority, its challenge to cynicism, and its insistence that one must immerse oneself in a fiction to find truth.

Ryan and Todd delve into the theoretical importance of the 1942 film Casablanca. They examine its critique of cynicism, its intermixing of love and politics, and its enactment of the importance of the barrier. They conclude by exploring how the film figures enjoyment and the political implications of this figuring.

Ryan and Todd explore the concept of retroactivity or Nachträglichkeit from its development in Hegel's philosophy to its pivotal status as the basis for freedom in Slavoj Zizek's thought. In between, they discuss how Freud, Lacan, and Laplanche each deploy this central theoretical concept and trace its political implications.

Ryan and Todd finish their three-episode examination of Freud's structural theory of the psyche with a focus on the id. They discuss the lack of discussion of the id among theorists and try to fill this lacuna. They then explore its cultural resonance.