August & September 2024
Why Philosophize? Lectures by Jean-François Lyotard, translated by Andrew Brown. Polity, 2013. (Lectured delivered in 1964)
All sessions begin at 12:00 pm Eastern Time.
- August 24. Introduction + Lecture 1, “Why desire?”
- August 31. Lecture 2, “Philosophy and origin”
- September 7. Lecture 3, “On philosophical speech”
- September 14. Lecture 4, “On philosophy and action”
September & October 2024
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Originally published by Hogarth Press, 1927.
All sessions begin at 12:00 pm Eastern Time.
- September 21: Part I: The Window, Chapters 1-8
- September 28: Part I: The Window, Chapters 9-19
- October 5: Part II: Time Passes, Chapters 1-5
- October 12: Part II: Time Passes, Chapters 6-10
- October 19: Part III: The Lighthouse, Chapters 1-7
- October 26: Part III: The Lighthouse, Chapters 8-13
November & December 2024
Capitalism and the Death Drive by Byung-Chul Han, translated by Daniel Steuer. Polity, 2021.
All sessions begin at 12:00 pm Eastern Time.
- November 2: “Capitalism and the Death Drive” + “Why Revolution Is Impossible Today”
- November 9: “The Total Exploitation of the Human Being” + “Inside the Digital Panopticon” + “Only What Is Dead Is Transparent”
- November 16: “Dataism and Nihilism” + “Torturous Emptiness”
- November 23: “Jumping Humans” + “Where Do the Refugees Come From?”
- November 30: “Where the Wild Things Are” + “Who Is a Refugee?”
- December 7: “Beauty Lies Yonder, in the Foreign” + “The Big Rush”
- December 14: “In Your Face” + “The End of Liberalism”
- December 21: “It Is Eros That Defeats Depression” + “Capitalism Dislikes Silence” + “COVID-19 Has Reduced Us to a ‘Society of Survival'” + “‘I Am Sorry, But These Are the Facts'”
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Our reading group offers a space for dialogue and philosophical community. Each member’s perspective plays a role in shaping the group spirit. You don’t need any formal academic background to join us. The list of texts we have covered, thus far, is available here. You don’t need to be familiar with the previous texts to join in the discussions. Register at Tier 1 to access the recording of our past sessions. Register at Tier 2 to join our Saturday conversations. We usually have a mix of long-time members and newcomers.
Joining the group will also give you immediate access to over a hundred Patreon-exclusive videos, including the following series: