In this ep, we discuss Derrida's "White Mythology."  Some themes and talking points:  - metaphor as an organizing principle of philosophy - how to ground or "unground" a philosophical system - catachresis vs metaphor - Hegel vs Derrida  - Heidegger's nostalgia 

In this special episode, Dr. Brooke Rollins, an Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University, joins the Thinking With crew to discuss Derrida's "Nietzsche and the Machine" interview, as well as Brooke's research in risk, gambling, analytics (in sports and in life), and rhetorical theory.

In this ep, we talk through Derrida's essay, "From Restricted to General Economy: A Hegelianism Without Reserve." Much of this episode is dedicated to teasing the orientational differences between Hegel and Derrida, as well as the difficulties and affordances, generally, of the post-Hegelian project. 

In this episode, we discuss Derrida's essay, "Structure, Sign, and Play."  Topics covered include:  - the relationship between ethnocentrism and metaphysics - our culpability in metaphysical structures of engagement - Derrida’s version of rigor in critical theory - Derrida’s treatment of Levi Strauss - the limits of deconstruction - the bricoleur vs engineer - the relation between contingency and universality

In this episode, we talk through Derrida's "Signature Event Context," which is primarily a reading and extension of J.L. Austin's How to Do Things with Words. Our conversation covers, among other things, Derrida's notion of iterability, Austin's concepts of performativity and illocutionary force, the Searle vs. Derrida exchange, and the desire for truth and certainty in philosophy. 

First ep of 2023! We took a lil break for the holidays. In this ep, we're talking about Derrida's "Plato's Pharmacy" again, among other things. Good episode -- no effort in the episode description.

In this episode, Nathaniel, John, and Nate talk through the first half of Derrida's "Plato's Pharmacy." 

In this episode, we talk through the first 25 pages of Derrida's Of Grammatology:  - the primacy of writing  - embeddedness of metaphysics  - who needs Saussure anymore?  - signifiers, signifieds, and signifier/signifieds  - writing instruction as constitutively theological

We cover a lot of ground in this episode, but not a lot of this ground is tied directly to Derrida. In the beginning of the episode, we talk about the dynamics of appropriation, math, physics, the terminology of becoming, and Heraclitus. Towards the middle and end, we discuss the brevity of history, how Hollywood must save us, and the genius of the Matrix. 

Thinking With... is back! This season, we cover a variety of Derrida's texts, including "Différance," Of Grammatology, "Plato's Pharmacy," "Signature Event Context," "From General to Restricted Economy," "Nietzsche and the Machine," and "White Mythology."  In this episode, we do a short intro where we discuss the details of this season as well as the new intro music.  In the episode, proper, we discuss Derrida's "Différance," the various components of Derrida's central (non)concept, the differences between Heidegger and Derrida, the dynamics of contemporary theory, among other things.  

Sampled conversations from previously recorded episodes on Heidegger that did not make the cut (but are still potentially worth your time).

0:00-16:00 as thinkers of movement, why don’t Hegel and Heidegger use the term, “becoming”? Heidegger’s celebrating of ancient Greek thought the duality of “Being” and “being” the performative undercurrent of representational thinking 16:00-29:00 H’s fetishizing and essentializing of Greek thinking essence for Heidegger vs. essence for Nietzsche trying to think the problematic of representationalism H’s seeming obsession with origins vs. Nietzsche’s disinterest in origins 29:00-41:00 what counts as philosophy for Heidegger the ambiguity and fundamentality of the “Being” vs. “being” dualism how the opposition functions in Heidegger 41:00-end H’s emphasis on the verb (as a constitutive linguistic-ontological element) H’s weird example of “blossoming” the simultaneity of difference and identity

0:00-13:00 thinking as perceiving dwelling in the problematic slogans in philosophy H’s notion that philosophical questions cannot (structurally) have answers 13:00-19:00 thinking the movement of thinking rendering the unthought thinkable Heidegger’s ambitions as a philosopher 19:00-31:00 essence as ambiguity Heidegger’s fetishizing of ambiguity the problem of common speech and language 31:00-40:00 calcification as a way of enabling difference and complexity how posing a definitive answer to a philosophical question is not inherently reductive or restricting why representational thinking is “too advanced” for Heidegger 40:00-end the anti- or post-Hegelian project why is Nate bringing up Hegel again? Karen Barad’s orientation negotiating intellectual subject positions the violence of subjectivity

0:00-13:00 teaching deconstructive moves in the classroom meta-reflection Nathaniel’s exploratory essay assignment 13:00-27:00 AF / AM critical discourse Teaching Ta Nehisi Coates an argument in favor of difficult writing 27:00-46:00 Heidegger’s mysticism / nostalgia the ambiguity of H’s notion of authenticity 46:00-end H’s etymological linking of “thinking” and “thanking” human being’s indebtedness to the other

0:00-16:00 Heidegger’s central question diagnosing representational thinking propriety / purity in Heidegger the fascism built into the text 16:00-38:00 Heidegger’s disdain for commonness and traditional thinking differences between Heidegger and Hegel social constructionism difficulties with language and representation 38:00-end the functions/effects of education fear of death provisional thinking

The Heidegger Files: What is Called Thinking? By Martin Heidegger Lecture X With: Nate DeProspo, John Muckelbauer, & Nathaniel Street Time Complicates Being, Eternal Return of the Same, Deliverance from Revenge, Let Will be Will (Start-11:55) Why does the “same” return?; what’s up with the “eternal”?; this is why no one writes about time anymore; linear time, blurred (12:00-21:50) Dasein and the pros and cons of representational thinking; time, history, eternity; perspectivalism, epistemological or ontological?; (22:00-29:30) Cosmological Eternal Return; What’s up with eternity?; Eternity of being/will/presence; how does the will will itself? (30:00-40:20) Nathaniel resurfaces; Eternal will, willing itself; it’s okay Nathaniel, we already figured it out; (40:30-47:50) Misreadings of the Eternal Return; how to not engage/think; contingency of essence and destiny (48:00-end)

0:00-13:00 teaching on zoom unpacking theory for students lectures 9 and 10 what makes Heidegger and this text so compelling how Heidegger rehabilitates Nietzsche 13:00-24:00 the “treasure of metaphysics” for Heidegger how Heidegger and Derrida relate to metaphysics the relative inescapability of metaphysical thinking 24:00-43:00 the eternal return overcoming the will’s desire for revenge representational thinking as a way of enacting revenge on difference Hegel’s Aufhebung vs. Nietzsche’s transformation via overman 43:00- more on sublation in Hegel transition of last man to overman what is involved in the negation of negation of Absolute Spirit

0:00-4:00 Nate trying to learn the game, “Go” John’s golf game 4:00-20:00 instinct or “feel” vs analysis / cognition Heidegger’s commitment to authenticity (and to pluralism / becoming) Heidegger’s strange etymological interpretation of “blinking” 20:00-33:00 the importance of Nietzsche for Heidegger’s thinking (and post-structuralist thinking) Heidegger’s attempt to surpass Nietzsche Heidegger’s slowness 33:00-end the “superman” or “overman” the characteristics of the overman and the last man

0:00-4:00 The therapeutics of reading philosophy 4:00-9:00 Heidegger’s pace and style preliminary reflections on H’s notion of authenticity essences of being and thinking 9:00-23:00 critique of representational or technological language abbreviations, acronyms, etc. styles and tones of thinking (Heidegger and Nietzsche) 23:00-39:00 overman being “in the zone” how might one channel the overman? some necessary basketball talk in here 39:00-49:00 what disposition is Heidegger attempting to cultivate? ways of inhabiting language, texts, life Heidegger’s anthropocentrism 49:00-end Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity the ontological conditions (and ethical implications) of Heideggerrian thought being grounded in groundlessness

The Heidegger Files Focus: What is Called Thinking? By Martin Heidegger Lectures I, II, III With: Nate DeProspo, John Muckelbauer, & Nathaniel Street Opening Gambit: Thinking is not simply a mental event but always emerges in-relation; the irksome problem of essences; antagonistic progressivism (Start–11:00) Heidegger’s Pedagogy, teaching, learning, thinking; example of the wordworker, authenticity and pluralism; involvement vs confrontation; Externality and Simulacrum vs Internality and Authenticity; Tuna Production (11:10–27:15) Pluralizing disclosures; the luxury of authenticity (27:20–32:30) The intimacy of reading and thinking – questions: answers and responses; Socrates’ orientation to questions and responses, the dialectic; what is called thinking – "was heißt" vs "was ist"); “one track thinking” – it’s not laziness, it’s the essence of technology; Heidegger+ now with 10% more Performativity (affirmative reading required) (27:25–53:05) Posthumanism + Nostalgia = ??; Confrontation and Affirmation; Rerouting ruts; Challenging the forms that slumber within (53:10-1:03:35) Woodworking and Nathaniel’s secret Heideggerianism (seriously, he’s hand-making hammers now); Authenticity vs Difference; Nate’s construction-worker mask; the role of telos in involvement; John’s macro-agoraphobia (1:03:40–1:13:10) Thinking as the becoming-molecular of the molar (or the deconstruction of the model); the therapeutic value of the molar (thinking as the becoming-molar of the molecular?); Vertigo; thinking is only thinking in relation – should philosophy incorporate the biography of thinking?; Illustration vs Reflection (serial connection vs general/particular) (1:13:15-end)