Slavoj Zizek argues that conservatives sometimes have a point when they point out a condescending hypocrisy about how certain segments of the population, suc...
Harvard evolutionary psychologist and popular public intellectual Steven Pinker openly described Žižek on Twitter as a “charlatan” (as well as a “student-detesting … plagiarist”); and Noam Chomsky, perhaps the world’s foremost public intellectual, recently accused Žižek of engaging in “theoretical posturing” by “using fancy words,” but that Žižek’s work ultimately contains “no content … beyond the level of something which you can explain in five minutes to a twelve-year-old.”
Dude puts himself in "this camp" a paragraph later lmao. Zizek has some problematic stuff, and he puts out more books than he needs to, but to think he's bereft of original thought is asinine. The modern theorizing around both Hegel and Lacan are tremendously influenced by Zizek.
What the fuck is Lacan's work about and why is it important? I get very vague answers any time I ask.
also I'll always give Zizek credit for first breaking through to my lib brain because he was the first to make me realize that the background lib ideas and assumptions I had about the world were just that: lib ideology. But thats about as far as I'll gve him credit. Some of his stories seem straight up like an ironic fake post on /r/thathappened or something. Take the story about him saying the N word and two black men giving him a hug for it, calling Zizek the N word back? What?
Lacan is a theorist of desire. Lack is the human condition, and it is constituted of a desire for a lost object that we mistakenly believe to have existed. The imaginary, real, and symbolic are the orders that Lacan works through.
The Imaginary is constituted in the Mirror Stage and is the egoic formation that occurs as a child. The fragmented subject mistakenly sees itself as whole in the image or understands oneself as whole in the gaze of the other.
The Symbolic is language, and is the location of desire and drive. The unconscious is structured like a language, and it is here that the psychoanalyst works.
The Real is that which cannot be signified and stands opposed to the imaginary. It is the material world and our sense perception of it.
Other words to look up would be objet a, big other, das ding, jouissbait , and master signifier.
Super basic and confusing at the same time eh? Check out Todd McGowan and Ryan Engley's podcast cause I hate typing on my phone lol.
On the Zizek stuff. He tells stories that may or may not be true, I'm not sure that even matters. I don't remember the exact video or interview that was from, but I'm fairly certain he was liberal particulars and recognition. Sure it's bad taste, but the dude wears greasy t-shirts outside. His writing is incredible, the videos are basically bait
Yeah. When he says “Muslims are incompatible with the west” he is no different than reactionary charlatans. Does he know the overwhelming majority of Muslim immigrants have integrated just fine right?
His take on immigrants is also pretty bad, idk he comes off as pretty racist when he says things like:
“it is a simple fact that most of the refugees come from a culture that is incompatible with Western European notions of human rights”
I'm not sure how to take the Current Affairs review of Zizek cause I haven't read a lot of Zizek but it's pretty damning on its own.
Harvard evolutionary psychologist and popular public intellectual Steven Pinker openly described Žižek on Twitter as a “charlatan” (as well as a “student-detesting … plagiarist”); and Noam Chomsky, perhaps the world’s foremost public intellectual, recently accused Žižek of engaging in “theoretical posturing” by “using fancy words,” but that Žižek’s work ultimately contains “no content … beyond the level of something which you can explain in five minutes to a twelve-year-old.”
Dude puts himself in "this camp" a paragraph later lmao. Zizek has some problematic stuff, and he puts out more books than he needs to, but to think he's bereft of original thought is asinine. The modern theorizing around both Hegel and Lacan are tremendously influenced by Zizek.
What the fuck is Lacan's work about and why is it important? I get very vague answers any time I ask.
also I'll always give Zizek credit for first breaking through to my lib brain because he was the first to make me realize that the background lib ideas and assumptions I had about the world were just that: lib ideology. But thats about as far as I'll gve him credit. Some of his stories seem straight up like an ironic fake post on /r/thathappened or something. Take the story about him saying the N word and two black men giving him a hug for it, calling Zizek the N word back? What?
Lacan is a theorist of desire. Lack is the human condition, and it is constituted of a desire for a lost object that we mistakenly believe to have existed. The imaginary, real, and symbolic are the orders that Lacan works through.
The Imaginary is constituted in the Mirror Stage and is the egoic formation that occurs as a child. The fragmented subject mistakenly sees itself as whole in the image or understands oneself as whole in the gaze of the other.
The Symbolic is language, and is the location of desire and drive. The unconscious is structured like a language, and it is here that the psychoanalyst works.
The Real is that which cannot be signified and stands opposed to the imaginary. It is the material world and our sense perception of it.
Other words to look up would be objet a, big other, das ding, jouissbait , and master signifier.
Super basic and confusing at the same time eh? Check out Todd McGowan and Ryan Engley's podcast cause I hate typing on my phone lol.
On the Zizek stuff. He tells stories that may or may not be true, I'm not sure that even matters. I don't remember the exact video or interview that was from, but I'm fairly certain he was liberal particulars and recognition. Sure it's bad taste, but the dude wears greasy t-shirts outside. His writing is incredible, the videos are basically bait
Hey thanks for taking the time to give a good response. I've been looking into his work thanks to you.
Yeah. When he says “Muslims are incompatible with the west” he is no different than reactionary charlatans. Does he know the overwhelming majority of Muslim immigrants have integrated just fine right?