is there any method to the madness? I stumbled upon some stuff and its horrifying, but could be understood from a very neutral perspective. Is it entirely full of racists and reactionaries?
is there any method to the madness? I stumbled upon some stuff and its horrifying, but could be understood from a very neutral perspective. Is it entirely full of racists and reactionaries?
He's not an easy writer to get into in all fairness.. In order for your reading to bear fruit a foundational knowledge in Kant, Nietzche, Bataille, Marx, Deleuze/Guattari, and even some Lovecraft is very helpful.
Also, just because Land is a full fledged reactionary these days, doesn't mean he's like one of these pseudo-intellectual figures of the alt right a la Peterson or Molyneux. Land isn't so easily dismissed in my opinion. He has an incredibly exhaustive background in continental philosophy/ critical theory which he consistently draws from and purposefully subverts at any opportunity.
His most important essays are probably:
“Kant, Capital, and the Prohibition of Incest”
“Machinic Desire”
“Meltdown”
I would reccomend reading them in that order. As they get progressively unhinged as they go.
I would also reccomend reading a bit on his concept of Teleoplexy and his theory of time, which is...fucking wild lol.
This is article is a good primer for that:
https://onscenes.weebly.com/philosophy/nick-land-on-time-teleoplexy-templexity
Edit:
I would also reccomend the Lemurian Time War, and the Origins of the Cthuhlu Club to get a hint of the pulp horror theory-fiction he had been trying to make as well.
First off, thanks for that. I have read your linked primer, and I think I'm getting somewhere. Made me think of roko's basilisk a whole lot, that. I'm planning to make my way through those essays over the next days - do you mind me messaging you, if I do manage to formulate a coherent question regarding the material?
Not at all! Although keep in mind I'm still working on formulating my own understanding haha. Nick Land and the CCRU stuff is a fairly recent hyperfixation of mine so I've amassed a ton of resources though.
I've been fascinated by all things cybernetics since reading a whiff of Stafford Beer a while ago, so this is really getting interesting. I've been getting into the first pages of 'Kant, Capital, and the Prohibition of Incest', and there's already been a few sentences that... maybe not exactly blew my mind, but certainly were a pleasure to read and re-read. What he said about the ideal of bourgeois politics being the absence of politics; that was just chef's kiss. Anyways, I'll be logging off soon - see ya, and thanks again <3