Portland Free Philosophy Lectures and Discussions

Reading Assignment:

For the next two sessions, we'll focus on the Everett “many worlds” interpretation (MWI).

We continue staging a critical conversation between Gilles Deleuze and Georges Bataille. This week we take up The second part of Deleuze and Parnet's essay from the collection Dialogues II, in which they mount an implicit critique of Bataille and the literature of transgression*:*

"On the Superiority of Anglo-American Literature" (pp. 36-76) -- Focus on Part II

Some discussion questions:

• Why do Deleuze and Parnet prefer Anglo-American literature to the French?
• Is it fair to paint Bataille as a writer of "the dirty little secret"?
• Not long ago we read Susan Sontag's defense of French avant-guarde literature against Anglo-American realism. Are Deleuze and Parnet simply making the opposite argument to Sontag here? Or is the story more complicated?
• How does the Deleuzian way of "going to the limit" differ from that of Bataille? Is a line of flight to be preferred to the logic of transgression?

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You can find all texts in the Google folder linked at the BOTTOM of this description (also the Zoom link) -- scroll all the way down 👇

For notes and commentary on the texts see my Bataille blog at this link:
https://sites.google.com/view/existentialism-and-its-critics/

Upcoming topics:
Aug 23: Deleuze & Parnet's "On the Superiority of Anglo-American Literature" (Part I)
Aug 30: Deleuze & Parnet's "On the Superiority of Anglo-American Literature" (Part II)
Sep 6: Fitzgerald's "The Crack-Up"
Sep 13: Deleuze's reading of Fitzgerald: on the "Herculean" philosophy

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

Future topics to be discussed:

• Deleuze with/against Bataille
• Eroticism and the 'logic' of transgression
• Foucault's "A Preface to Transgression"
• Bataille's reading of Hegel, the negative and general economy
• Derrida's "From Restricted to General Economy"

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ABOUT THIS GROUP
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 labeled 'base materialism' and which could equally be called 'ecstatic materialism'. Keeping outside the academic mainstream (he worked as a librarian), Bataille writes at the intersection of multiple disciplines including philosophy, psychoanalysis, sociology, mythology, and mystical theology. His works develop a libidinal economy, offer a critique of fascism and embrace marginal experiences in the style of the French poets. He is a formative precursor to the post-structuralist philosophers of the '60s -- and may well be more relevant in our time than ever.

We'll start with Bataille's early writings on Nietzsche and make our way through his important concepts over a number of weeks. We'll aim to understand Bataille's thought on its own terms as well as to place him in the context of the German thinkers that preceded him and the French philosophers who followed his lead. In view of Bataille's early relationship with Surrealism, the referenced artworks will spotlight this movement.

Note: Bataille's texts, while philosophically important, discuss difficult themes such as mortality, the unconscious, eroticism, primeval social practices, etc. Keep this in mind as you approach him, especially if this is your first experience with French philosophy.

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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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