Žižek And So On

The fellas are back—and are accompanied by a new member. We dive into two recent articles from the Philosophical Salon. The first is by Fabio Vighi, who charges Žižek with capitulating too easily to new forms of social domination with his acceptance of lockdowns. Vighi argues that we now live “in a neo-feudal inferno where our Lords enslave us in order to protect us, and protect us in order to enslave us.” In his response, Žižek charges Vighi with missing the crucial lesson that the “brutal reality of the pandemic [is] a contingent event,” not some mega-plot knowingly developed and orchestrated by the establishment. The argument laid out by Vighi is, Žižek argues, dangerously close to a paranoid conspiracy theory. Following Žižek, we discuss how Vighi’s position is maintained by the fantasy of a consistent ordering of the antagonism at the heart of the social and the symbolic order.

Yes, we’re back. Thanks to all our listeners, new and old, and our patrons who have stuck with us during our hiatus. More to come!

Episode reading:

Vighi: SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK, EMERGENCY CAPITALISM, AND THE CAPITULATION OF THE LEFT ; Žižek: LES NON-DUPES ERRENT

This week, after contemplating which philosopher f's the most, the fellas approach the elusive concept of Interpassivity. We locate the origin of the term somewhere in-between the thought of Žižek’s and Robert Pfaller. Referring to texts of each, we  define interpassivity within the scope of Althussier’s influence in the 90s, as the immanent response/critique to the prevailing ideology of “interactivity”. We discuss a few infamous examples of interpassivity from Žižek’s texts like “canned laughter” and “TiVo”, and consider how interpassivity structures the subject’s relating to the Other as the subject supposed to know, believe, and enjoy.  We also try to think through the constitutive role interpassivity plays in the subject/object relation, and how this might furnish an anti-ideological position – or, a secondary ideology that does not rest on becoming a subject, and liberates us from the injunction to “enjoy!”  

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Robert Pfaller's Interpassivity: The Aesthetics of Delegated Enjoyment

The lads compare notes on Freudian-Lacanian-Zizekian concept of the death drive. 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lydBPm2KRaU&ab_channel=carrieunderwoodVEVO

This week, we talk Žižek’s concept of the Neighbor. In contrast with Levinas’ ethics of the Other, Žižek understands the neighbour to be the site of a kind of inhuman monstrosity. We ask: who are we to speak, who are you to listen?

Žižek’s text:

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/N/bo16265666.html

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UNLOCKED PATREON EPISODE: Žižek on the politics of psychoanalysis—with reference to Gabriel Tupinambá's new book "The Desire of Psychoanalysis", the limits of Lacan, the crazy philosophy of the Ljubljana school, women and Hegel, and his upcoming works: ecology and Marx (and Hegel), and living and dying in a topsy-turvy world etc. Then some final remarks on television shows and Rammstein.

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Žižek on the politics of psychoanalysis—with reference to Tupinamba's new book "The Desire of Psychoanalysis", the limits of Lacan, the crazy philosophy of the Slovene gang, women and Hegel, and his upcoming works: ecology and Marx (and Hegel), and living and dying in a topsy-turvy world etc. Then some final remarks on television shows and Rammstein.

To hear the full episode, listen on patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon

Part ONE of our interview with Slavoj Žižek. Covid & philosophy; why we need "War Communism" &...

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https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon

Part 1 of our interview with Slavoj Žižek. Covid & philosophy; why we need "war communism" &...

To listen to the full interview, check it out on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/zizekandsoon

Patreon Preview - Better late than never, we take on Zizek's 2019 book "The Relevance of the Communist Manifesto''. We discuss how the Manifesto falls short in diagnosing the antagonisms of capitalism in its current iteration, yet also retains its ability to open up a relevant critique of capitalism. The limitations of the text identified by Zizek are problematized by contemporary features of capitalism he insists are crucial for understanding our predicament today—namely, the problem of (the privatization of) the commons, and the failure of the revolutionary subject to present itself.  Also, Foucault is cancelled.

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Alright, we're talking the groundwork for understanding how and why Žižek uses examples. With reference to Robert Pfaller’s chapter in “Interpassivity” on Žižek, and relying on Matthew Flisfeder’s idea that materialism and idealism coincide in Žižek’s examples, the hosts discuss the exampling that supports Žižek's idiosyncratic style of intervention and analysis; and, how “the example” is ultimately what makes Žižek “enjoyable”.

This week kicks-off a series of future episodes that will unpack and treat specific reoccurring examples throughout Žižek’s work. (See also our episode on the Antisemitism example, episode 34).

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