The Biocentric Worldview - Ludwig Klages | Reading & Discussion

Hi all -

Since February, I've been joining with a wonderful few of you (aristocrats of the soul, might we say) every other Sunday to dig and crawl through a spectrum of spiritually-grounded anti-modern woo-woo and wackadoo texts that have ranged from the radically protestant to the supra-fascist, spoken by folks bearing the mark of everything from the theosophist to the traditionalist, advocating the abolition of all things from the political party to the school system. I appreciate you all and am most impressed that no one ever knocked over my dainty glass of morning wine at our cramped table.

This reading of Ludwig Klages' The Biocentric Worldview will mark the end of the first phase of this reactionary reading series, allowing me (and you) to temporarily move on to Nietzsche at Night and the new 5-part Sunday series that I intend to start in late July, which will be focused on art theory and aesthetics. More on this to come.

Like many of our thinkers in this series, German philosopher and neo-vitalist Ludwig Klages is concerned with and highly critical of modernity, technology, and the ding-dong legacy of the Enlightenment, specifically the cold rationalism (conceived by him as Geist - something that divides and differentiates, reducing all experience to base representation - brrr) contra what he perceives as the necessary, experiential, life-affirming, generative, cosmic force - Eros - and its peak in the "noblest form of ecstasy," Eros of the distance. Bear in mind, I haven't read this shit yet but Paralibrum has a great write up on Klages and On Cosmogonic Eros for the similarly ignorant.

This text is stellar because it meanders through many of Klages' essays, giving us a broad overview of his system of thought and his fierce critique of the lack of quality in our modern world.

I will be reading this edition, published by Arktos and translated by Joseph D. Pryce.
It is also available for free via this EPUB here (link triggers a download).

We will be reading the book in its entirety because that's what we do here.

My copy is 130ish pages. That said, if you omit the introduction and the poetry at the end (both of which are fine), it'll be around 100ish pages. As always, if you're unable to complete the book prior to our meeting, no worries - we're just happy to have you and welcome whatever insights, critiques, questions, etc., you may have based on what you were able to read.

We will be meeting in the Ace Hotel lobby on W 29th. It's cozy, there are couches, there is lunch, there is wine (thank god) and there is a Stumptown Coffee in the front. It's great. Message me the day of if you can't find us. I usually sit toward the back next to the bar.

It bears repeating, this group is open to newcomers to Klages (who isn't?), novices of philosophy, ragamuffins, ne'er-do-wells, urchins of all sorts, etc. I'll be providing additional resources as we approach the date of the meeting.

Alright, looking forward to it and reach out to me with any questions in the meantime.