The Calgary Philosophy Meetup

This weekly group is currently reading through George Bataille's seminal Erotism: Death and Sensuality (1957). See below for a tentative reading schedule, a few questions for reflection and some notes on the text.

Tentative reading schedule:
Nov 1: Chapters III and IV (pp. 49-62)
Nov 8: Chapters V, VI and VII (pp. 63-88)
Nov 15: Chapters VIII and IX (pp. 89-109)
Nov 22: Chapters X and XI (pp. 109-128)
Nov 29: Chapters XII and XIII (pp. 129-148)

You can find all texts in the Google folder linked at the VERY BOTTOM of this description. The Zoom link is also posted there.
👇 scroll all the way down for the links 👇

Some reflection questions:

• Can Bataille be read as a radical Hegelian, who brings the dialectic out of its sterile academic context and into the messy world of sexuality, politics, art and religious practice?
• How can we articulate the relationship between death and sensuality, Eros and Thanatos? What is the link between them, if any,, and can it be understood? Or is this another case of an "unknowable = X", a perennial 'missing piece' or 'secret' that structures our human experience?
• Is there something like a logic of transgression emerging from Bataille's text? If so, what are its parameters and its mode of operation? Isn't it already perverse to speak of a 'logic' of sexuality at all?
• How can we compare Bataille's approach to sexuality with that of his two eminent contemporaries, Sartre and Lacan? Is Eros a "useless passion", as Sartre might say? Is a sexual relationship necessarily impossible, as per Lacan, rendering the sexual act a masquerade and a pretense?

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ABOUT THE TEXT
Heavily influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis and the anthropology of Marcel Mauss, Bataille's Erotism offers a look at erotic practice and its place in civilization. We come across familiar Bataillean notions as points around which the book is organized, viz*. sacrifice, taboo, transgression, the sacred* and personal sovereignty. Bataille's view of erotic activity revolves around a number of oppositions that could perhaps be called dialectical. The continuous / discontinuous is one of these pairs, taboo and its transgression another. Something like a logic of transgression could be said to emerge from Bataille's analysis, supporting the argument that Eros is finally inseparable from its opposite, death or Thanatos. Our perennial fascination with the themes of sexuality and mortality is in fact a single interest, rooted, as Freud observed, in the depths of the unconscious. The biological explanation for this would be evident: we are hard-wired, as a matter of instinct, with a natural concern for all issues that bear on survival and procreation. Bataille, however, aims to go beyond such a restricted economy of natural needs. For him death and sensuality are practices of sacrifice that enact unconditional expenditure and partake of ek-stasis that invokes the sacred and the religious.

Note: Bataille's texts, while philosophically important, discuss difficult themes such as mortality, violence, the unconscious, eroticism, rituals of sacrifice, etc. Discretion is advised as you approach him, especially if this is your first experience with French philosophy.

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ABOUT THIS READING GROUP
This is a comprehensive reading group focusing on the works of French writer Georges Bataille. We are reading key texts from Bataille himself, as well as tracing his relationship with other major thinkers such as Hegel, Nietzsche, André Breton/Surrealism, Blanchot, Lacan, Foucault, Deleuze, Derrida, etc.

Some familiarity with Bataille's mode and style of thought is helpful but not necessary. You're welcome to join the group in medias res at any time. See, however, the group rules below.

Please take the time to read and reflect on the reading prior to each meeting. Everyone is welcome to attend, but speaking priority will be given to people who have read the text.

Topics to be discussed in the future:

• Erotism and the 'logic' of transgression
• Foucault's "A Preface to Transgression"
• Bataille's critique of Hegel: the negative and general economy
• Derrida's reading of Bataille in "From Restricted to General Economy"

Past topics included:

• Bataillean transgression and Deleuzian line of flight: reading Fitzgerald's "The Crack-Up"
• Bataille's aesthetics: the rift with Surrealism
• Susan Sontag on avant-guarde literature
• Bataille's novel Blue of Noon
• Inner Experience and a-theological mysticism
• Bataille's reading of Nietzsche and critique of fascism

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MORE ABOUT BATAILLE
Georges Bataille stands out as an eclectic, fascinating and controversial figure in the world of French letters. A contemporary of Sartre and Lacan, he combined ideas from diverse disciplines to create a unique position that he called 'base materialism'. In the early 20s, Bataille abandoned Catholicism, embraced psychoanalysis and Marxism and initiated an unorthodox search for the sacred in late modernity. His obsessive pursuit of ecstatic liminal experiences took him across the boundaries of philosophy, sociology, political economy, mythology, poetry, literature and mystical theology. His works develop a libidinal economy of unconditioned expenditure, offer a critique of fascism and embrace marginal experiences in the style of the French poets. Though he remained largely outside the academic mainstream and worked as a librarian, Bataille is a formative precursor to the post-structuralist philosophers of the '60s -- and may well be more relevant to our time than ever.

In this group we look at a significant cross-section of Bataille's texts. Our aim is to understand his thought on its own terms as well as place him in the context of his predecessors and the French thinkers who followed his lead. In view of Bataille's early relationship with Surrealism, the referenced artworks will spotlight this movement.

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GROUP RULES

• Please spend 1-2 hours per week reading and preparing for the discussion.
• Keep your comments concise and relevant to the text.
• Please limit each comment to a maximum of 2-3 minutes. You're welcome to speak as many times as you wish.
• Virtual meeting courtesy: let's not interrupt each other and keep mics muted when not speaking.
• We'll focus the discussion with key passages and discussion questions. Be sure to bring your favorite passages, questions, comments, criticisms, etc.

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