Name: Psychoanalysis and Existentialism by Why Theory
Duration: 1 h 17 min 14 s
Description: In this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss the possibilities for the marriage of psychoanalysis and existentialism, including the ideas that might render this marriage ultimately untenable. They explore how psychoanalysis and existentialism each provides a critique of the other, touching on Jacques Lacan's critique of Jean-Paul Sartre and Sartre's version of existential psychoanalysis.

hey this is the first episode I've listened to by you two and I think you're going to be a big part of my life as I go through your archive. just wanted to tell you thanks for this discussion and look forward to hearing more

I’m wondering, after listening to the death drive episode, if that is part of the “project” and “fundamental change” that you both were talking about this episode. Thanks for these podcasts!! 

I think what is missing here is the idea of practice in the sense of a musician learning to play an instrument. For example, I am a piano player, and I decided I wanted to learn guitar, but in order to actually become a guitar player, I had to practice regularly. In the same way, if you have practiced being a coward your entire life, you can choose to be courageous, but you won't automatically live a life of courage. To do that will take the hard work of repeatedly performing courageous acts, along with constant vigilance against the tendency to slip back into a life of cowardice. Interestingly, this reminds me of the difference between modern evangelical "saved in an instant" Christianity, versus traditional Christianity that emphasized spiritual practice and cultivation of Christian virtues.

The intellectuals I’ve met who subscribe to the postmodern French philosophy, including Lacanian psychoanalysis, don’t generally have nice things to say about Sartre. As I’m not in that circle, I’ve never understood why. It would be one thing, if they vehemently opposed his ideas, but they usually dismiss him by laughing or sneering. So, I’m glad to hear you discuss his ideas seriously.  I think the source of jouissance for some people is simply to be different and exceptional intellectually. I see that in Zizek. He enjoys too much the idea of being the smartest man in the room.  I think when people like Sartre and Jordan Peterson become too mainstream, they become a convenient source of jouissance and at the same time a threat. Because exceptionalism is their drive, the last thing they want is to be associated with someone who hit the mainstream. It’s a strange form of prejudice where differentiation becomes more important than the merits of their ideas.

What was the name of the author who has made a good practice of writing little books?

Check out the book from 1962, Psychoanalysis and Existential Philosophy, edited by Hendrick M. Ruitenbeek

In this episode, Ryan and Todd conceptualize narrative structure in psychoanalytic terms, addressing how the master signifier, the subject supposed to know, the objet a, the object of desire, and the quilting point manifest themselves in the constitution of a narrative. They look at examples such as Hamlet, Memento, Star Wars, and Wandavision.

Psychoanalysis & Narrative

Ryan and Todd analyze the presuppositions and argument of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's Dialectic of Enlightenment. They challenge the conception of dialectic that the book proffers and its general condemnation of the culture industry by examining cases that illustrate the culture industry's failures.

Dialectic of Enlightenment

In 1927, the Irish republican Michael Flannery emigrated from the quiet backroads of Tipperary to the crowded streets of New York City, swapping a life of rebellion for a humdrum career in life insurance. 

But the Irish American community hadn’t forgotten about the old country, and as the Troubles began in Northern Ireland, Flannery found himself at the heart of the campaign to end British rule.

In episode two of Foreign Agent, Flannery’s life story unlocks the roots of anti-colonial struggle in Ireland and how the Irish became white in America. We trace the history of Noraid, the organisation he helped to found, and the political tensions threatening to rupture the republican movement.

Further reading:
Irish America and the Ulster Conflict by Andrew Wilson
Noraid and the Northern Ireland Troubles, 1970-1994 by Robert Collins
The Provisional IRA by Tommy McKearney
Ireland, Colonialism, and the Unfinished Revolution by Robbie McVeigh and Bill Rolston
How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev
Black and Green by Brian Dooley
Enemies and Passing Friends by Pamela Clayton
“Irish Republicans in Inter-war New York” and “The Politics of Noraid” by Brian Hanley

The interviews recorded with Michael Flannery and Martin Lyons are courtesy of the Tamiment Library at New York University.

Hosted by Nate Lavey
Produced by Nate Lavey and Michael McCanne
Original music by Matt Huxley
https://novara.media/ForeignAgent

Foreign Agent Episode 2: The New World and the Old Country

After Bloody Sunday in 1972, Irish Northern Aid saw its power, influence and donations increase dramatically – but a higher profile brought new enemies. Secretly, the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned its sights on Noraid, auditing their books, cultivating informers and staking out meetings. On the public stage, Irish American politicians like Ted Kennedy, who had once wooed voters with their militant rhetoric against the British, began working to turn the community away from the IRA and Noraid. An array of powerful actors had finally taken notice, and were ready to clamp down. But Noraid had some moves of its own to make.

Further reading:
The American Connection by Jack Holland
Irish America and the Ulster Conflict by Andrew Wilson
The Provisional IRA: From Insurrection to Parliament* by Tommy McKearney
‘It was networking, all networking’: the Irish republican movement's survival in Cold War America by Danielle Zach

Hosted by Nate Lavey
Produced by Nate Lavey and Michael McCanne
Original music by Matt Huxley

https://novara.media/ForeignAgent

Novara Audio: Radio for a Different Politics

Foreign Agent Episode 3: Agents of the State

Ryan and Todd begin a series of discussions about the classical Hollywood genres with the screwball comedy, a genre that centers on the sexual antagonism. They look at the film that kicks off the genre, It Happened One Night, as well as the high point of the genre, Bringing Up Baby, in addition to others. 


Ryan was recently a guest discussing graduate student conferences, which one can listen to here: https://soundcloud.com/lclcoralhistory

Screwball Comedy

In the middle of a grave cost of living crisis, bosses at Royal Mail, BT and elsewhere are imposing pay increases on workers way below inflation. On Downstream, Aaron Bastani speaks to CWU General Secretary Dave Ward about corporate greed, the shadowy world of CEOs, the return of the working class and how he plans to coordinate direct action beyond his union’s own disputes.

Downstream: The Moral Crisis in Corporate Britain w/ Dave Ward

Ryan and Todd discuss the diagnostic categories of psychoanalysis, beginning with neurosis. They analyze the three forms of neurosis--hysteria, obsession, and phobia--while also focusing on the different manifestations of these three forms in the contemporary political arena.

Neurosis

Ryan and Todd delve into Freud's late essay "Analysis Terminable and Interminable." They focus on the role that the death drive plays in this essay and in Freud's later thought. They view this through the lens of Freud's claim in this essay that psychoanalysis represents one of the three impossible professions.

Analysis Terminable & Interminable

In this episode, Todd and I work through two of psychoanalytic theory's most fundamental terms: desire and drive. Despite how fundamental these terms are there exists a fair amount of disagreement. Far from being generally agreed upon first principles, desire and drive are consistent sites for some of psychoanalysis's most interesting interventions (e.g. Alenka Zupancic's What is Sex? and Lee Edelman's No Future, both discussed in this episode). As always: thanks so much for listening! We very much appreciate it.

Fall 2018

Desire & Drive

In this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss the possibilities for the marriage of psychoanalysis and existentialism, including the ideas that might render this marriage ultimately untenable. They explore how psychoanalysis and existentialism each provides a critique of the other, touching on Jacques Lacan's critique of Jean-Paul Sartre and Sartre's version of existential psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalysis and Existentialism

This episode is the third in a seven part series devoted to Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. Ryan and Todd discuss the second major section, Self-Consciousness, with a special focus on the master/slave dialectic. They also explore the transition from Consciousness and then the transition to Reason.

Hegel's Self-Consciousness

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

Psychoanalysis and Existentialism

Why Theory

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