Slavoj Zizek. Materialism and Theology. 2007 7/8

[Toxxi]

"hee hee hee!"

[Neurotrash1982]

My god... what is with all these spiteful comments to the host in this comments page??? Ok, so he made a clumsy intervention. Maybe he was simply anxious about something? I dont know... Is this really grounds for speaking about a scolar in such condemning terms? Have at least some courtesy if you cannot muster the dignity of respect. What did this guy do wrong? I mean, really...

[skankingrhythmics]

@Neurotrash1982

Umad?

[qalat23]

Mr .Schimacher try to be funny , but he is not funny at all , just like lost man ...........

[JaCorBoar]

I think transhumanism/biogentics or whatever is a good idea, but it needs to be cushioned with a maturity that I dont think the current "powers that be" have - if we are to have transhumanism then, the legal, ethical and structural foundations for its application and existence should be established before it is implemented, like Asimovs 3 laws of Robotics. Otherwise under our current Corporatist Oligarchy we will be forever programmed 4 nothing more than servitude of corrupt leaders. Thoughts?

[cuervacho]

Great comeback at 9:54. 

[ExEverest10]

@cuervacho I disagree; to call an opposing view tortorous is, conventionally, to give a compliment, in the sense that because this view is opposing it's going to be recieved negatively anyways, and because torture signifies a significant distress, such a description compliments the [relatively] incontrovertible nature of the viewpoint.

[CPLains]

hihihihi

[folliu]

subtitles please

[Njok57]

what was the German guy talking?

[qalat23]

I would like to know whose the lost man asking from P-Z?

[SeracRavel]

God exists.

[1826TJ]

@SeracRavel but it is an atheist....

[thecommercialedge]

@SeracRavel ...in your head.

[zoomorning]

this was a great lecture, great in the true sense of the word. and the german limp-wrist guy, whoever he is, is a totally ignorant egomaniac who made a complete fool out of himself, behaving like a teenager hungry for attention, i kept blushing watching him doing his little bitter clown routine. this was a truly great lecture. i am not always on zizek's side, so to say, but this was really brilliant. thank you, sir.

[Siyamac]

"... some people would say your comments at the end ... hee hee hee hee he... tortue"

[InfectedDaemon]

I thought Harris was advocating torture because Zizek was still alive!

[InfectedDaemon]

I agree wholeheartedly with Zizek, the truth is we have no where else to go. We have the opportunity to preserve ourselves (or species) with our science, we are able to produce the thesis to the antithesis (Here I mean we are currently making artificial life forms that will potentially be more efficient photosynthesizers, we are also making bacteria to produce hydrocarbons for fuel).

Nature by itself will only kill us if we are not prepared for upcoming catastrophes.

[fractaldog]

3:38

[Krelianx]

'Some people would say your comments..."

That is right; it also makes me want to think twice about studying where he is the director of studies. He seems to insist stubbornly on some ill expressed arguments which do nothing but confuse or sound itself confused. Not exactly the kind of 'progressive thinking' that should emblematize a school which prides itself in presenting a real alternative, and not just a New-Age hoax. Of course, people like Zizek make things much better.

[mahyarmohaghegh]

his laugh right before the end is amazing Hee Hee Hee

[Krelianx]

He just owned Wolgang beyond repair.

[lGnossos]

it's hilarious the way zizek's eyes glaze over every time the guy with the limp wrist starts speaking :P

[mahyarmohaghegh]

hahahahah

zizek's laugh at the end IS SO GOOD

TEHE TEHE

ahhahaha

[brokennarcissist]

Sam Harris is a douche nozzle.

[lisalov4]

zizek has zero sexual appeal.

he looks so ill.i doubt if such a body can contain a fully functional spirit.

[Krelianx]

What a remarkably stupid comment.

[0neironaut]

ahahah "some people would say your comments are... torture! rehee hee hee!"

[Krelianx]

I'm rejoicing.

[mrmusler]

"why are you for death penalty? because sam harris is alive."

WTF? what's his problem with mr. harris? he does not advocate torture of any kind, he advocates "conversational intolerance" meaning treating religious discourse like any other realm of human discourse.

[Krelianx]

The problem is that the concept is far too much a conservative one: it does two things: a) denounce appeals to it as justification for their acts (thereby justifying intervention on those countries where wars are waged for religious reasons...) and so that b) it is a false homogenization of religious discourse since it vulgarly indexes religion to subjective discourse as opposed to the 'factual' objective facts of the sciences. That kind of (transcendental) ontology Zizek seeks to avoid.

[exminre]

what is wrong with that guy in gray suit? seriously. he is kind of jealous of Zizek I guess.

[tedhaggardly]

I wonder if he's not taking a chemical enhancement via the nose. He's quite swift and he keeps sniffing and rubbing his nose. Just a silly thought.

[chabrow]

Damn, Schirmacher is an unbearable smartass, trying to take Zizek from an ironic angle, but clearly lacking the intellectual capacities for that.

[alexpg1]

he's not a stalinist he was joking about that. How can any intellectual who wants to be taken seriously claim to be one?

[0neironaut]

oh no, he IS a Stalinist!

[hastobe24]

A man who calls himself a orthodox Lacanian Stalinist has got it so wrong. Stalinism has been responsible for the largest scale holocaust of the Russians. An intellectual wanker.

[ebauer]

He's not actually a Stalinist but says it with an excess which he believes is necessary in order to prevent the liberal consensus from reappropriating it.

[donbarroco]

Basically, he says so in order to scare away idiots. Yet, there´s a dimension in Stalinism which makes it impossible to equal it to fascism: by making remarks on it, Zizek criticizes the lack of seriousness and ideological naivete of the liberal concept of totalitarism by telling us that there were notions in stalinism (discipline, sacrifice) which were not inherently totalitarian or bad, but were reapropiated by fascism. We got once again the kind of paradoxes that Zizek love...

[phezla]

zizek owned the guy in the grey suit at 09:50 :-D

[sweetpotos]

If freedom is only possible in an ontologically unfinished universe then wouldn't taking the pills or chemicals be an artificial attempt to complete the unfinished universe, and therefore an attack upon freedom? I suspect that I misunderstand but there seems to me to be a contradiction in what Zizek is saying here.

[briannewion]

Genetic/chemical augmentation has nothing to do with a project of 'completing the universe', has nothing to do with the ontology that Zizek describes. Rather, it is a matter of re-learning our perspective of nature -- undermining the binary opposition nature/artificial.

[Harpakhrad11]

I can't hear a thing Schirmachers is saying.

[honeybee41]

oh my god... what is the deal with this other guy in the video... I hope he's not affiliated with egs, lol

[egsvideo]

thank you for the comment. you have just experienced a minor debate between slavoj zizek and wolfgang schirmacher, the program director at media and communications department. the european graduate school believes in and promotes intellectual exchanges and heated discussions between students and faculty members. you should experience the class sessions and the disputes in the school lobby and lunch halls. ;) thank you.

[honeybee41]

hey, don't get me wrong. I'm working on a Dr-Ing in Mechanical Engineering in ilmenau Germany... ... but I'd waaaaaay rather be taking classes with Zizek at egs...

[egsvideo]

smile. both systems have advantages and disadvantages. the german system (pisa hin oder her) is providing a good and affordable general education while programs like egs focus on particular areas and strenghts. considering the quality of the program and tuition respective semestergebühren egs is certainly much more appealing than american universities, but it is nevertheless a private university-requiring contributions from the students to finance the program and faculty.thank you.

[cckaarshe]

Is this guy called Schirmachers? What an absolute tosser. I hate that quintessential wanker attitude. Please send him to the gulags..

[SuburbanAlien]

give me more Slavoj Zizek,please

[jannisc]

thanx to mr. zizek! at least it had to be said: YES, mr.schirmachers comments actually are nothing but torture and somebody might be stalinist enough to stop him. so, mr.zizek, you mind putting the wolf right next to sam harris at your list for the guillotine?