Branding Democracy: Barack Obama and the American Void | The New School

Branding Democracy: Barack Obama and the American Void
THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH | http://www.newschool.edu/nssr

Each year an inaugural lecture launches the Vera List Center's annual theme, defining the intellectual territory that the center will explore in public programs. This year's theme is Branding Democracy. The lecturer introduces the theme in the broadest sense, serving as a guide to the range and richness of the topic at hand and rooting the concept within The New School's intellectual tradition.

In keeping with this political moment, this year's inaugural lecturer, Simon Critchley, will now approach the subject of democracy through the current presidential elections and focus on one of the candidates. The lecture entitled "Barack Obama and the American Void, will examine Obama's subjectivity, the existential detachment that seems to haunt him, and its relation to democracy.

Critchley is a professor of philosophy, at The New School for Social Research and at University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom. His research focuses on the history of philosophy, literature, ethics, and politics. Sponsored by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics.

THE NEW SCHOOL | http://www.newschool.edu

* Location: Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall. 09/18/2008 6:30 p.m.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• The New School
• Simon Critchley
• Social Research
• New School University
• New School
• Vera List Center
• Barack Obama
• Philosophy
• Branding Democracy
• America The American Void
• ethics
• politics
• political process
• election
• 2008 election

[JKF8592]

politics is suck.. Always take advantage to others people. 

[ThewildRageofGordon]

prolly logos is the third , those listed being bios and thymus.

[ThewildRageofGordon]

We might wonder whether the two, at least two, kinds of charisma are explained by Evolutionary biologists. One is based on wanting a mate that will produce attractive offspring the other in seeking a mate capable of providing by means of wealth or dominance. Thinking of the cinema, Alec Guinness or Robert de Nero come to mind in the latter category (military will and domination) the former, the category of the sex symbol, suggests examples obvious to all.

[ThewildRageofGordon]

We call it opinion and politics, and language and authority...why?

[ThewildRageofGordon]

Humes' reflection is not so surprising if you notice the same thing holds in nature among hierarchical animal groups.

[ThewildRageofGordon]

Does he mean a Machiavellian lie that oozes out from its epicenter over the centuries? Why does it take so long to remove the natural order of beastly domination? Is the occupation a movement in the direction of non-fiction? No more justification-opinion apparatus and politics, not for the mechanistic reason of Comte Marx Hume, but for organic reasons that are not problematized by personal differences. By way of highly deceptive fiction, a good talk. Obama prolly watched this...

[blainewiak123]

i like your video..it's awesome :)

[mamafanfan]

less than 2K views? everyone who has ever used or heard the word "democracy" should watch this. Indispensible!

[emotionalinvalid]

Thumbs up. I did listen to the lecture and thought it was pretty good. I'll just point out one thing out of very many positives in the lecture and the give and take after it. The one audience member who posits If we don't really believe in something but say or think we do is A. hypocritical or B. irrational. This is a perfect example of this guy from the audience breaking a reaction or action down to a dichotomy, either/or, it is always false. There is a C, like honest ambivalence, D etc

[emotionalinvalid]

the woman opening the debate is sort of "hot", like middle aged unwitting beauties for example, French socialist party power mp Segolen Royale ....so what did you expect from an emotional invalid? perhaps i'll watch, more so listen, to the lecture in total. oh yeah, here is the dude appearing right now. didn't he use to play bass for Motorhead?