Just to let you know that the Philosophy Society is showing Fight Club on Thursday 2nd of December in GEE 004 LT1. This will be followed by a discussion.

This week's Blog

Since I think we have had some relative success this week with the blog thanks to Paul's post. I think it would be useful to extract some questions and problems from the class room and set them out here where we can trash them out a bit more. I will speak to you about this on Thursday.

Best,
P

Consciousness Mathematics and Unitary structure

(first part aimed at Paul Geddes)

In order to deduce mathematics; one first has to learn numbers, so your relation would fundamentally have to be based on how a person learned numbers? as how are we first taught numbers?..by relating them to something are we not? e.g. in terms of apples or cows and further more basic fractions are taught sometimes using things like pies.

so which ever way anyone learns any mathematics, there is always relation involved, of any kind.

so, because our mathematics is fundamentally based on a relational education structure we cannot say that mathematics does not have to relate to the outside world.

my point is (as i know I am not the most coherent arguer) that we can think of mathematics/equations without a relation, but only after we have initially learned mathematics which is fundamentally relational. so in this instance (mathematics) is not the best example of 'consciousness is not necessarily relational.'

the problem i think is - that as humans we have experience, and as such we learn things from a very young age, and sub consciously we carry this knowledge through life until we understand our knowledge, so one might argue that every part of our consciousness could be relational to something we have experienced previously. The only thing i could think of that does not require relation or previous knowledge is actually sex, as this is one of the most basic human things - to procreate. nowadays we have education to tell us what to do, but what would happen is that education was not there? e.g. early human history, how did early humans find out about sex? i think in this instance, it is one of the few things that our consciousness 'Just knows' because of the fact that consciousness just 'is,' and natural human identities like this do not require relation to know how something is or how it is done. What do you think about this paul?

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the problem i am having is that.. 'Consciousness is'...so it has 'being,' consciousness, therefore is the fundamental 'groundstate' of all being and all knowing,
if this is the case how can consciousness ever be objectified? as surely consciousness is always the subject? therefore surely consciousness is actually unitary?

has anyone any thoughts on this?
Terence Nabbs
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Visiting speaker at NTU Wednesday 1st December

Dear All

A date for your diaries: Wednesday 1st Dec 2-4pm in GEE090 (LT4) when Dr Trevor Curnow (Reader in Philosophy at University of Cumbria) will present on ethics and everyday life, and consider the changing face of philosophy.

All are welcome!

Cheers

Ruth

Questioning Merleau-Ponty

Hey guys have just finished a lecture on Merleau-Ponty (M-P) and have some questions. It has come about that M-P implies that all consciousness is relational to the world as it is fundamentally linked to the body, which is within the world. However, I was thinking that to deduce mathematics in ones mind, does not necessarily have to relate to the outside world, as we can all conceive numbers and equations without subscribing it to an object within the world. Is this not what Descartes did? Surely we can therefore argue that consciousness is not necessarily relational?

Paul Geddes
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(Not to be marked)

Some New Links

I have just added the SEP entry for Derrida. I have also added the In Our Times BBC dicussion about vitalism. This will be useful in giving you some background to Bergson and Ravaisson.

Library and Course

I have been informed by the library that all of the texts
which are on this course should be available within a week
or two.

Project Gutenburg

I have just put up a link to project Gutenburg. Due to copyright law, I am not allowed to send you, or use the pdf's from Project Gutenburg, but I am allowed to direct you towards it. Project Gutenburg is valuable since they have an available copy of Bergson's Creative Evolution.

John Protevi's Website

John Protevi, an American Philosopher from Louisiana State university has kindly made his lectures available on-line. Many of these lectures touch on the thinkers that we will be dealing with Contemporary French Philosophy. I would also reccomend reading any of Prof. Protevi's work as he published voliminously on 20th Century French Philosophy. The link is on the list of links to the right.

Ruth on Alain Badiou

Pocket Pantheon

Anyone interested in the work of Badiou and/or key philosophers of the C20th might want to take a look at my Culture Machine book review of one of Badiou's recent works, Pocket Pantheon (2009) available at:

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/view/412/424

Badiou's Pantheon is a small, informative yet provocative volume, well worth a look...

Cheers
Ruth
Posted

RIP Claude Lefort 1924-2010

Perhaps one of the lesser known of French poststructuralists, Claude Lefort utilised both phenomenology and Maussian sociology in the service of political theory. Some of his key influences were Merleau-Ponty, Machiavelli and Tocquievelle. He was particularly known for his analysis of totalitarianism. This was effected by the famous Socialism or Barbarism journal, along with JF Lyotard, which analyzed the relationship between corporatism and state. Lefort was also noted for his critique of Soviet beuareaucratic style socialism, particularly in left-wing French thought. Put in the bluntest terms, Lefort's most basic point is that fascism elides the distinction between the state and the company in an organistic unity. Lefort was one of the progenitors of the agonistic conception of democracy, which would be taken up by Laclau and Mouffe in different contexts. Lefort theorised that democracy worked best when it was founded on argument, dissensus and a multiplicity of opinions. He also, following Ernst Kantorowicz analysis of the kings two bodies, theorised the idea that democracy operates through an 'empty sovereignty' after the transition from monarchism to democracy.

Welcome to Phil 305

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to Phil 305's blog. Here you will post your blog entries as well as contribute comments for the participatory component of the module. I will also post anything of interest to Contemporary French Philosophy such as links, conferences and videos which might be relevant to the course.

Cheers,
Patrick

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