You say "no one reads it all" but I read it all!

The problem with your dismissal of Birth of the Binge is the failure to understand, following Plato, Derrida, and Stiegler, is that every technological form is always a Pharmakon: simultaneously poison, cure, and scapegoat. The question is, can you recognize its toxicity WITHOUT turning it into a scapegoat, and develop the techniques that allow one to use TV without succumbing to its toxic effects. It's like building a fire in your fireplace: fire isn't bad per se, but there are techniques you should follow, you need to pay attention and exercise care, if you don't want to burn your house down!

Jung’s views changed considerably from 1933 to 1936. The blanket statement that “Jung was a Nazi” is not worthy of your podcast. Often, theory outruns history. To simply place Heidegger (a literal, card-carrying Nazi, who never renounced his views) and Jung in the same camp is laughable. Maybe this is also a case of a thinker’s life not living up their thought? You properly spent considerable time on how accusations are simply leveled to excuse oneself from having to think, and yet you manage to do the very thing right here in the episode, which, I suppose, speaks to relevance of psychoanalysis. The rape of Sabina Spielrein is horrific, and speaks to Jung’s character, or at the very least some dimension of it. Some commentators think Freud’s omitting Spielrein’s contributions to the concept of the death drive as even worse fate. I too prefer Freud to Jung, by the way.

Thank you so much for making content like this. Y'all singlehanded got me into psychoanalytic theory and for that I am forever grateful. Also, can you guys possibly do an episode on  Deleuze and Guattari / anti-oedipus?

It is interesting and relevant to analyze why so many people dismiss Freud and psychoanalysis, and you have done so psychoanalytically, which proves how useful psychoanalysis is. But it would not be complete without analyzing the opposite side: Why are psychoanalytically oriented theorists bothered by the dismissal of psychoanalysis? In short, why is dismissal bothersome? I think it's because it contains a threat of symbolic castration.  If disinvestment in both positions is the psychoanalytic cure, why should you defend psychoanalysis at all? Isn't your defense just as "fraudulent" as the dismissal?  As academics, you have to erect your phallus by orienting your position on someone like Freud. It's this erection of your position that comes under threat of castration. If you didn't erect such a thing, you would have no reason to defend it.

@aike-aike-38130395: I think you're right that the association of homosexuality with perversion is a problem. But I don't think that neurosis comes out on top in the implicit hierarchy of disorders. In fact, given what Lacan says in "Kant avec Sade," I would say that the masochistic (perverse) position is closest to the embrace of the drive. There is certainly, at any rate, a homology between masochism and death drive. Best, Todd

Coop and Taylor speak with Jon Greenaway, aka The LitCritGuy. Writer, podcaster, and content creator from the North of England. Host of the Horror Vanguard Podcast. He writes about horror, contemporary capitalism, and cultural theory. Today we’ll be discussing his book, A Primer on Utopian Philosophy; An Introduction to the Work of Ernst Bloch.

Jon's Links:

https://soundcloud.com/user-317910500

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/horror-vanguard/id1445594437

https://twitter.com/horrorvanguard


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Jon Greenaway - An Introduction to the Work of Ernst Bloch

This week, Jon Repetti joined Coop and Taylor for a discussion on Lacan's Seminar 11. 

Jon is finishing a phd in American literature at Princeton, focusing on naturalism, radical empiricism, and psychoanalysis. 

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Twitter: @unconscioushh

Jon Repetti - Lacan's Seminar 11

In this continuation of the previous episode, Ryan and Todd spell out the common criticisms launched against Freud and psychoanalysis. In each case, they try to show how these critiques ultimately come up short and either secretly rely on Freud's own psychoanalytic method when criticizing him or miss the aim of the psychoanalytic project. In this part, they confront the charges of Freud's heteronormativity and his sexism, while also speculating about why critiques stick to Freud and not to other theorists.

Defending Freud (side B)

Why Theory brings continental philosophy and psychoanalytic theory together to examine cultural phenomena.

Defending Freud (side B)

Why Theory

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