Kode9 : portrait of the artist as a... writer

[macphellimey]

See to me, that, like existentialism, is obvious and trivially true. The sheer act of engaging in critical examination requires at least an implicit belief that previous theories can and possibly are completely wrong. If one didn't have this belief in the first place, why bother engaging in examination instead of just taking things at face value?

oh oh oh
now i remember what i was initially going to say

there is a large gap between critically examining anything from the inside to critically examining something from outside of its grips

we are all products of our own environments and to rethink everything, free from the bonds of those environments is a very difficult thing

Of course that's true, I'd never deny it. One cannot brake completely from the bonds of one's education and the way one's mental faculties and analytic tools have developed. If you could doubtless you'd be the greatest philosopher ever to have lived. My point was rather that it's an essential feature of philosophical activity that one attempts to avoid dogmatism and critically examine everything. Of course you won't be sucessful, there will be some things you're just unable to doubt, but still, when one engages in philosophical activity one one tries to escape such constraints.

Seems there are lots of philosophical dubstepers - I knew Ben was one but I didn't realise there were so many.

[ufo over easy]

I knew Ben was one

really?

[macphellimey]

I knew Ben was one

really?

Are you not? I'm sure you, Luke and I had a discussion about this?

[ufo over easy]

oh right! I didn't clock your username not very good at making the transition

[macphellimey]

Hehe, I often find that. It's especially wierd the other way around though, if you meet someone in real life and they introduce themselves by their username.

[ikeaboy]

I'm not quiet sure if i feel encouraged enough to explore these concepts with the energy they require. From 5 minutes lazy wiki research I did find a quote which may tip the balance the more I think on it.

The pinnacle of Deleuzean practice, then, is creativity. "Herein, perhaps, lies the secret: to bring into existence and not to judge. If it is so disgusting to judge, it is not because everything is of equal value, but on the contrary because what has value can be made or distinguished only by defying judgment. What expert judgment, in art, could ever bear on the work to come?"

[bribkin]

Thing you gotta understand is the upper echelons of academia are an old boys club. Doesnt get much more elitist than that.

Yeah, the kind of philosophy being discussed in this thread is largely ignored by academic institutions in the UK. There's a strong bias towards the kind of rigourously analytic philosophy MacPhellimey was talking about earlier on.

I don't actually know of any well regarded institutions that teach continental philosophy seriously in the UK, do you Ben?

Sussex and University of London (Birkbeck, QMUL), both in a big way. Although more in a cultural theory context. Also check out the London Consortium.

[epithet]

Just some random thoughts.

Cultural theory or continental theory. I presume we're talking western philosophy though so I'm still left wondering how it applies to cultures outside of that ? Are the tenets of these philosphies transferrable to other cultures and still largely applicable and if so how does it enrich those cultures which adopt them ? Does it also force them to co-opt western style values at the expense of traditional ones ?

[futureproof]

I don't actually know of any well regarded institutions that teach continental philosophy seriously in the UK, do you Ben?

not sure really, Warwick possibly?

I think so. Nottingham does, but it's in a seperate department (critical theory) rather than philosophy.

Yeah, the Philosophy dept at Nottingham is pretty much straight western/analytical philosophy. The only continental philosophy I got to study during my degree in Philosophy was through sub-sids in Critical Theory... But other than a couple of modules there wasn't much open to undergrads - only at post-grad level as far as i remember. It's a shame as it was continental philosophy that I was more interested in...

[bribkin]

Just some random thoughts.

Cultural theory or continental theory. I presume we're talking western philosophy though so I'm still left wondering how it applies to cultures outside of that ? Are the tenets of these philosphies transferrable to other cultures and still largely applicable and if so how does it enrich those cultures which adopt them ? Does it also force them to co-opt western style values at the expense of traditional ones ?

Continental philosophy applied to cultural theory. Go read Orientalism.

[seckle]

Go read Orientalism.

Edward Said for the win. That book is amazing.

[slothrop]

I wouldn't be surprised. Isn't he a lecturer or teacher of some sort?

http://www.uel.ac.uk/ssmcs/staff/steve-goodman/

Aww look at his cute pic.

Christ, imagine having Kode 9 as your PhD supervisor...

I go to that fucking uni!

I'm gonna try track him down when I next go in!

I'll buy you a drink if you go to one of his lectures, wait until he makes a particularly significant point, and then call for a rewind on it.

[sand leaper]

I'll buy you a drink if you go to one of his lectures, wait until he makes a particularly significant point, and then call for a rewind on it.

That would be the best comic relief ever. You have a full auditorium of serious academics with glasses and laptops taking notes and asking heavy theoretical questions about things from Kode's powerpoint presentation, and then suddenly you hear "Pull up daaat!" from the back row somewhere.

[optimum]

Yeah most departments offer only a few modules if any on continental philosophy. we're in the anglo-american tradition for the most part, dunno if that's a good or bad thing

[ory]

[epithet]

Just some random thoughts.

Cultural theory or continental theory. I presume we're talking western philosophy though so I'm still left wondering how it applies to cultures outside of that ? Are the tenets of these philosphies transferrable to other cultures and still largely applicable and if so how does it enrich those cultures which adopt them ? Does it also force them to co-opt western style values at the expense of traditional ones ?

Continental philosophy applied to cultural theory. Go read Orientalism.

Thanks. I'll see if i can find a copy. The wiki looks interesting and funnily enough i edited my last post to exclude the premise that western philosophy bases itself upon a premise of cultural dominance/superiority. That may be or was the case but will it be in 20, 50 or even 10 yrs time? The east always had the numbers so it seems only a matter of time. Technology and the collapse of communism while assimilating free market policies into their cultures has pretty much levelled the playing field. Take away the wests military industrial complex and really whats left ? A dominant moral framework based on a philosophical superiority? Now that is funny. Adopting western style values in the east and elsewhere has done more harm than good. Short term gain for a long term loss. End result...Earth a run red.

[bribkin]

try Alain Badiou and Simon Critchley as well then

[epithet]

Thanks bribkin but no thanks. It's the equivalent of listening to country music in the hope I'll like it and that it might give me a greater appreciation of bluegrass but knowing from the outset i don't like either. Maybe if i lived in tennessee or arkansas. Got any links to oceanic/pasifikan philosophy ?

[spooKs]

I wouldn't be surprised. Isn't he a lecturer or teacher of some sort?

http://www.uel.ac.uk/ssmcs/staff/steve-goodman/

Aww look at his cute pic.

Christ, imagine having Kode 9 as your PhD supervisor...

I go to that fucking uni!

I'm gonna try track him down when I next go in!

I'll buy you a drink if you go to one of his lectures, wait until he makes a particularly significant point, and then call for a rewind on it.

mate that would be fucking SIIICKLE CELL

i need to do that "Melanie can you WHEEL dat bit bout ideological state apparatuses possessing the threat of violent repression and ting"

[epithet]

Here's an interesting oceanic and formerly widespread worldview

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008 ... rentPage=1

Are there any western philosophers that take vengeance as the prime mover in personal, cultural or philosophical development ?