PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy

We read Simone DeBeauvoir's defense of Existentialism as an ethic that is not hyper-individualistic, nihilistic or absurdist. Get all our episodes for free, ad-free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills Here's the homework:  https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/ethics/de-beauvoir/ambiguity /

This is a preview of one of many exclusive episodes available at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills Here is your homework in the meanwhile:  https://monthlyreview.org/2024/01/01/the-dialectics-of-ecology-an-introduction/

We look at Schopenhauer's comparison of various religions' metaphysical explanations for suffering, and why conservative celebrities are converting to the dumbest one. Listen to our public episodes ad-free, for free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills Schopenhauer on the Sufferings of the World: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10732/10732-h/10732-h.htm#link2H_4_0002 Ayaan Hirsi Ali converts:...

Deviating from our usual strategies for the leftist future, we look to the strategists of the conservative future, as discussed in this article , where Christopher Rufo debates Mencius Moldbug aka Curtis Yarvin. It was pretty anti-climactic so we also veered into some more Moldbuggery found here . Listen to our public episodes ad-free, for free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

This week we discuss how modern liberal democracies co-opt resistance and adapt to internal opposition as a mechanism of inverted totalitarian control. Our guest is Tony from 1Dime, who made a video on what he calls "contained opposition", find it here: https://youtu.be/7uPevWDAYFI . Listen to our public episodes ad-free, for free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills Find the 1Dime podcast on...

Erik and Pills read Walter Benjamin's most famous essay (and perhaps the most famous essay of critical theory), The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.  Get this episode and all other exclusive episodes at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

We're still on why everything's ending, this time with another pillar of civilization: art, and modern art in particular. Part of the discussion comes from Frederic Jameson's Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, the cover of which features a (particularly ugly) Warhol print ( https://amzn.to/3PD4M6m ).  The other two books referenced are The Diary of Andy Warhol and The Philosop...

We read Walter Benjamin's (perhaps) undelivered address to the Anti-Fascist Club: The Author as Producer, and try to test whether or not it holds up.  Get this episode and all other exclusive episodes at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Most everyone agrees that the university has failed its ideal, but few agree as to the reasons for why this happened. Did it get too arcane? Too expensive? Too woke? Maybe there's a bit of everything, but these explanations forget the most material cause: the private-sector vampires sucking it dry. We read a case study that you can find here Don't miss an episode! find the full feed ad-free at htt...

Get the full episode and all episodes ad-free at  https://www.patreon.com/plasicpills

Listen to our public episodes ad-free, for free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills Although Conservative Christians are the most attention-seeking of the Flock, our patrons reminded us that there are progressive Christians out there. For the sake of fair and balanced reporting, we invited John Hamer from Centre Place Toronto to represent the leftist side of the Christian Flock. We asked abou...

Listen to our public episodes ad-free, for free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills What if, instead of letting history end or disappear, we hit the rewind button and let the Church have another shot? We navigate through some stars in the Christofascist constellation and read Why Liberalism Failed ( https://amzn.to/3waNh6l) to see what the world might look like if the Catholic intellectuals h...

As all things disappear, we have our rountable on Baudrillard's "Illusion of the End." Get the full episode and all episodes ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/plasicpills

Listen to our public episodes ad-free, for free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills While no one is exactly happy that history has ended, few are quite as perturbed about it as Christian conservatives. We delved into a treasure trove of the Christian brain trust—"The Imaginative Conservative"—to piece together what they think history is for, and how they react to it's having ended.

Adjusted for inflation, Francis Fukyama received $1,311,814.68 to write The End of History and the Last Man ( https://amzn.to/3tPo5Bt ); we want to see what $1,311,814.68 is worth. Get the full episode and many more at https://www.patreon.com/plasicpills

We embark on the notion of "the end of history" by trying to figure out if we have an idea of history. This is mostly inspired by our reading of Fukuyama's book ( https://amzn.to/3tPo5Bt) but the series won't be limited to it. Support our efforts and get the full series on https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Inspired by the new Netflix series, we read some Poe short stories and compared them to their TV adaptation. Victor Hainagiu (aka Litvic aka @horatiovictor ) came on to help us put gothic horror into historical context.   Half our episodes are here, but if you want the other half check us out on https://patreon.com/plasticpills

Some oversimplified Badiou plus a look at Wittgenstein's Antiphilosophy (https://amzn.to/47xStiv) Want more episodes? Every other one is posted to https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Dr. Phil battles Heidegger and Sartre. Get all of our episodes by becoming a patron at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills.

Anaximander, Apeiron, Heidegger, Derrida, Logocentrism. It's a mouthful. Get all of our full episodes by becoming a patron at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Postmodernism has fallen. All hail the new dumbuy cult: METAMODERNISM. We took its FRESH NEW RADICAL academic wing out for a spin, as seen in this book: https://amzn.to/3So0kKH. Find tons of content from our all-powerful postmodern windmill at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Get the full episode and whole lot more at www.patreon.com/plasticpills

We noticed a few Fanon name drops so this week we decided to read "On Violence" from Wretched of the Earth and see whether it's a useful heuristic for the discourse of violence in Gaza. You can read the chapter here . If you want all our episodes they are on www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Despite the shadow of Gaza hanging over our consciences this week, we try to introduce Systems Theory via politics. The book is Political Theory in the Welfare State by Niklas Luhmann ( https://amzn.to/48Q6I3g), and we hope to give you a glimpse of what it looks like in practice. This is the sixth episode on systems theory, some of which are on here and all of which are on patreon at www.patreon.c...

The timeloop continues: Another Ukrainian SS soldier in Canada and another wave of books and articles about the dangers of Heidegger following the publication of the third edition of History of Beyng, we reflect on air fryers and moralism after the end of history.