Philosophy
One of the more interesting lessons Hegel's dialectical method has contributed to our understanding of ideas is that ideas carry within them the seeds of their own internal contradictions, and that out of this tension of thesis and antithesis grows a continuous (if punctuated) process of conflicts and resolutions that is repeated indefinitely. According to Hegel, the force driving this process, which he saw as teleological, was Geist (mind, spirit). Marx, for his part, adopted Hegel's dialectical method, but took away the teleological and idealist elements, and argued that the driving force is a combination of material and historical conditions.
While Marxist historical analysis has been discredited in many circles, dialectical materialism is still nevertheless a powerful tool to understand historical, political, cultural and social phenomena, and to make explicit the negative space of shared assumptions we tend to take for granted by virtue of the material and cultural conditions that surround us and to which we unwittingly contribute.
In the following fascinating and humorous talk, philosopher Slavoj ?i?ek performs an exercise in understanding the dialectics of the unsaid, showing in the process how certain ideological presuppositions, especially capitalistic and consumerist ones, lead us to perpetuate the logic of the current hegemony, which ultimately demands that we treat our own selves, and therefore everyone else (though without realizing it), as commodities to be used and discarded. This commodification is not an accident or unforeseen consequence, but a necessary requirement of the internal logic of the prevailing hegemony. If you've ever read Plato's myth of the cave, this is what our modern cave looks like:
And so on, and so on. :)
- G.w.f. Hegel
(1770-1831) [The author has been made aware of certain errors in this entry on Hegel's philosophy. The text will soon be updated to make the corrections.] ?Only one man ever understood me, and he didn't understand me,? said the German philosopher...
- The Allegory Of The Bourne Identity
Continuing the discussion about education, Socrates begins telling the story of prisoners kept under a very specific set of conditions. These prisoners are kept shackled so that they may only face the wall of a dark cave that they are in, and all they...
- Pawel Kuczynski's Thought-provoking Illustrations
As you've seen in this fascinating lecture by Slavoj ?i?ek, the logic of the reigning neoliberal corporatist hegemony requires that people become mindless, selfish, individualistic consumers and automata in a zero-sum game rather than thoughtful citizens...
- Slavoj Zizek - First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
When Marx attempted to analyse world history through the lens of dialectical materialism, it was clear to him that the development of any given economic and social stratification would produce the seeds of its own destruction. Accordingly, he thought...
- Masters Of Money - Karl Marx
When the name Marx comes up, people's immediate reaction usually takes them to thoughts of communism and the various failed attempts by the Russians, Chinese and Cubans to institute their own versions of what they considered Marx's vision to represent....
Philosophy
Slavoj ?i?ek - On Ideology
While Marxist historical analysis has been discredited in many circles, dialectical materialism is still nevertheless a powerful tool to understand historical, political, cultural and social phenomena, and to make explicit the negative space of shared assumptions we tend to take for granted by virtue of the material and cultural conditions that surround us and to which we unwittingly contribute.
In the following fascinating and humorous talk, philosopher Slavoj ?i?ek performs an exercise in understanding the dialectics of the unsaid, showing in the process how certain ideological presuppositions, especially capitalistic and consumerist ones, lead us to perpetuate the logic of the current hegemony, which ultimately demands that we treat our own selves, and therefore everyone else (though without realizing it), as commodities to be used and discarded. This commodification is not an accident or unforeseen consequence, but a necessary requirement of the internal logic of the prevailing hegemony. If you've ever read Plato's myth of the cave, this is what our modern cave looks like:
And so on, and so on. :)
- G.w.f. Hegel
(1770-1831) [The author has been made aware of certain errors in this entry on Hegel's philosophy. The text will soon be updated to make the corrections.] ?Only one man ever understood me, and he didn't understand me,? said the German philosopher...
- The Allegory Of The Bourne Identity
Continuing the discussion about education, Socrates begins telling the story of prisoners kept under a very specific set of conditions. These prisoners are kept shackled so that they may only face the wall of a dark cave that they are in, and all they...
- Pawel Kuczynski's Thought-provoking Illustrations
As you've seen in this fascinating lecture by Slavoj ?i?ek, the logic of the reigning neoliberal corporatist hegemony requires that people become mindless, selfish, individualistic consumers and automata in a zero-sum game rather than thoughtful citizens...
- Slavoj Zizek - First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
When Marx attempted to analyse world history through the lens of dialectical materialism, it was clear to him that the development of any given economic and social stratification would produce the seeds of its own destruction. Accordingly, he thought...
- Masters Of Money - Karl Marx
When the name Marx comes up, people's immediate reaction usually takes them to thoughts of communism and the various failed attempts by the Russians, Chinese and Cubans to institute their own versions of what they considered Marx's vision to represent....