E130| Beyond the Myths of Our Time | Cadell Last in dialogue with Tim Adalin
Philosopher Cadell Last joins Tim Adalin for a dialogue exploring the theopolitical themes from Last's new book, Real Speculations: Thought Foundations, Drive Myths, and Social Analysis. This is a comprehensive journey into core philosophy and psychoanalysis, intended for a network of networks engaging in common effort to understand and participate in the becoming of our time.
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The following shownotes are AI generated to give a rough sense of topics covered and to aid with search discovery.
Keywords
philosophy, theopolitical, Kant, Hegel, drive, myth, psychoanalysis, Christianity, modernity, desire, community, fantasy, ecology, relational dynamics, education, storytelling, social renewal, capital, labor, belonging, identity
Summary
In this Voicecraft podcast, host Tim Adalin and philosopher Cadell Last explore the theopolitical and philosophical themes of Last’s book Real Speculations: Thought Foundations, Drive Myths, and Social Analysis. They discuss the breakdown of liberal democracy, the limitations of new atheism, and Jordan Peterson’s reliance on Judeo-Christian myths, contrasting these with a Hegelian approach to absolute knowing and theopolitical transformation. Central to the conversation is the concept of “drive before myth,” where myths originate from drives but risk enclosing them if overly identified with, illustrated through the psychoanalytic triad of demand, desire, and drive, and the Christian Trinity’s father-son dynamics. They critique right-wing populism’s failure to address global capital-labor antagonism, and emphasize education and network-building (e.g., Voicecraft, Philosophy Portal) to foster transformative cultural engagement, urging new universal stories to pass a “Marxist stress test” while embracing the singularity of drive.
AI GEN CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Intro
00:03:48 CHAPTER 1 (Theopolitics and the Living Word)
00:06:00 Cadell explicates the theopolitical with reference to Dawkins, Harris, Peterson
00:29:16 CHAPTER 2 (Kant & Hegel core philosophy in relation to theopolitics)
00:50:40 Absolute knowing and the theopolitical
00:53:45 Lack in understanding vs lack in reality as such
01:00:13 Why think dialectically about the future?
01:01:20 Absolute world spirit and Marxism
01:04:03 Critique of entrepreneurialism and AI
01:09:45 CHAPTER 3 (‘Drive Myths’)
01:17:20 Psychoanalytic Triad: Demand, Desire, Drive
01:31:34 Myths as Universe of Desire
01:35:13 Father-Son Dynamics and Generational Gaps
01:43:59 Crucifixion and Resurrection
02:03:25 The Living Word and Relational Praxis
02:06:51 Myth as Catastrophic Drama
02:12:14 Education and the Social Body
02:15:32 Limitations of Psychedelic Culture and Mere Story
02:40:56 Jordan Peterson’s Limitations
02:50:17 Choosing One’s Hill and Peterson’s Struggle
02:59:06 Rejuvenating Drive Through Contribution
03:02:07 Peterson, Marxism, and Right-Wing Populism
03:05:34 The Antagonism of Capital and Labor
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Cadell Last is a philosopher and founder of Philosophy Portal, with an interdisciplinary background in fields of evolutionary anthropology, psychoanalysis, complexity science, and big history. He has spent much of his life searching for the truth of being through questions about the difference between humans and nature, and the consequences of human difference for nature. His PhD thesis, Global Brain Singularity, places biocultural evolution, mind-matter relation, and speculative futures in discussion, which produces insight that he then enhances through his expertise on thinkers like Hegel, Freud, Žižek, and Zupančič.
Access Philosophy Portal here: https://philosophyportal.online/
Purchase a copy of Real Speculations here: https://www.amazon.com/Real-Speculations-Thought-Foundations-Analysis-ebook/dp/B0F54LMFW4
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Tim is the founder of Voicecraft and a philosopher with a focus on the relation between participation and transformation. You can connect with Tim individually @ https://www.timadalin.xyz
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Voicecraft conversations expand how the world is known across themes of psyche, culture and nature.
The Voicecraft Project is comprised of a media & events platform, academy, and participatory membership network.
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