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Over several weeks we will engage with the thought of Immanuel Kant and the Marquis de Sade, culminating with a reading of Jacques Lacan's seminal essay "Kant with Sade".

The dark side of the European Enlightenment is an enduring topic in critical philosophy. The intellectual encounter of Kant with Sade offers us a particularly intense variation on this theme: Kant the rigorous philosopher of the moral law on one side -- Sade the ultimate antinomian and libertarian on the other. In 1807 Hegel argued that the empty abstraction of Kantian duty led directly to the Reign of Terror spearheaded by Robespierre and the Jacobins. Hegel saw that the absolute freedom glorified by the Enlightenment was an abstract universal devoid of living particularity - a force of pure negativity operating in the human subject. Therefore, any attempt to actualize it was bound to produce the caput mortum and lifeless cadaver left behind by the French guillotine.

Should we read Sade's work as the consummate expression of this sinister conspiracy between absolute duty and death? Can we, following Lacan, regard his Philosophy in the Bedroom as a properly philosophical site, akin to the schools of ancient Greece? Paradoxically, Sade saw himself as a radical naturalist and a slayer of superstitious taboos, ultimately championing the vitality of human reason. If we do take Sade seriously as a philosopher, what does his extreme thought tell us about modernity, the (non-)position of the subject and the destiny of our times? While perennial, these questions have renewed significance in our current cultural and geopolitical climate.

Note: Sade's work is notoriously provocative. For this group, we will avoid his graphic portrayals and focus on the philosophical outlines of his radical naturalism and its consequences. Our aim will be to put this perspective in a mature philosophical dialogue with thinkers such as Kant, Hegel, Lacan and the Ancients. As with all texts of this nature, readers' discretion is strongly advised.

We will begin with a reading from Kant's Groundwork, proceed with several sections from Sade, then return to Kant and work our way up to Lacan's essay encompassing both thinkers. Depending on group interest, we may bring other voices into the conversation along the way, such as Hegel, Ancient materialists (Aristippus, Lucretius, Epicurus), contemporary psychoanalysts, French readers of Sade, etc.
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READING SCHEDULE
As the reading schedule may evolve, please use the link below for the most up-to-date version:
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 👇

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ABOUT THIS READING GROUP
This is a comprehensive reading group focusing on 20th century French philosophy. Our current project was stimulated by our recent reading of George Bataille's Erotism: Death and Sensuality. Other writers we have discussed include Sartre, de Beauvoir, Foucault, Barthes, Derrida, Deleuze, Kristeva, etc.
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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 applies: 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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LINKS AND RESOURCES
Join the Facebook group for more resources and discussion:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/755460079505498

If you have attended previous meetings, please fill out a brief survey at this link: https://forms.gle/tEMJ4tw2yVgnTsQD6

All readings can be found in this Google folder:[ https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VPRdvZYmUKBY3cSxD8xC8sTYtSEKBXDs](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VPRdvZYmUKBY3cSxD8xC8sTYtSEKBXDs)

Google Meet link to join the meeting:
https://meet.google.com/uho-cdks-dcb

Note: To join the Google Meet anonymously, first log out of your Google account and then open the link. Alternatively you can open the link in an Incognito window (Chrome) or Private Browsing (Safari).

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Art: Tous les Éléments / All the Elements by Toyen (Marie Čermínová) (1950)

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