The Toronto Philosophy Meetup

In Either/Or, Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), under the pseudonym Victor Eremita, explores interiority, and the struggle for a meaningful existence wherein one finds lasting happiness. He accomplishes this by portraying two chief personalities: the Aesthete (Book I), and the Judge (Book II). The writings of the aesthete are personal and brooding. Among many aesthetic themes it examines the nature of love, happiness and how to secure these in a lasting way. The writings of the judge are addressed to the aesthete as to a friend, and attempt to convince him that he is putting himself in misery by misunderstanding the themes he has dealt with in Book I.

At this meeting we'll be starting at page 78 (Danish 60). At the last meeting, we started on page 73 (Danish 55).

Can excellence and virtue be taught? Can virtuous politics be taught? Can political excellence be taught or transmitted in any way, shape or form? These are only some of the questions with which Protagoras wrestles and the provide Plato with ample opportunity to engage with diverse topics such as the constitution of human societies, the ultimate unity of virtues and the responsibilities of teachers.

Protagoras, possibly the most famous sophist of his day and a leading figure in the sophistic movement, is charging a king’s ransom as a fee for his professorial services and a young man by the name of Hippocrates is prepared to pay. He persuades Socrates to act as a mediator and convince Protagoras to take him on as a student. The ensuing dialogue will cast doubt on Protagoras’ claim that he is able to prepare the future leaders of the political community.

The dialogue is supposedly taking place some time before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, probably in 434-432 BC but was written in the 380s and belongs to the early platonic period.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This will be a live reading of Plato's Protagoras. Saturday March 21 will be the first session on the Protagoras and thus the ideal time to join our group. Reference will be made to contemporary and older scholarship. Historical context will be brought up whenever necessary to illuminate the dialogue.

After an interlude with Foucault and Deleuze, we continue our reading of Part Two of George Bataille's Erotism: Death & Sensuality, published in 1957*.* The plan is to finish this book over 5 weeks or so. See below for the weekly schedule, overview of this reading group project and group rules.

Reading schedule
See the updated weekly reading schedule at this link:
https://sites.google.com/view/existentialism-and-its-critics/

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

ABOUT THE BATAILLE 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:

• Return to the 2nd part of Erotism
• Bataille's critique of Hegel: the negative and general economy
• Derrida's reading of Bataille in "From Restricted to General Economy"

Past topics included:

• Foucault on transgression, power and the history of sexuality
• The philosophical friendship and later rift between Deleuze and Foucault
• Bataille's Erotism, Part 1 & the logic of transgression
• 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

***

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.

***

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.

***

This will mostly be a discussion around major recent and ongoing events in international relations, while applying as much IR concepts and frameworks as possible.

Tentative Topics:

• Venezuela
• Iran
• Greenland / NATO
• Middle East Peace Deal
• Ukraine / Russia
• Cuba
• Tariffs, US-China trade war, and geopolitical competition
• Multipolarity
• Nuclear weapons proliferation
• A.I. race and chips
• Sudan
• Taiwan
• South China Sea
• North Korea
• .....

Links from event on Venezuela: