I join J.G. Michael of Parallax Views for an Interview on Alexander Dugin's Foundations of Geopolitics. We discuss Dugin's core ideas in the light of Russian invasion of Ukraine, aggressive Russian messianic politics, the role of space in Dugin's geopolitical eschatology as constant in Russian history of foreign conquest, the notion of Russian universalism, Martin Heidegger and much more.
The idea that Russia is now being ruled by cost/benefit rationality could be a terminal mistake. In this podcast we elaborate upon messianic impetus behind Russian drive to expansion and why the Third Rome can be a great, empty space - a wasteland, even - without losing its appeal to Russians. Also it seems that Alexander Dugin should've been taken more seriously. On KT we've written extensively about him but always with tongue in cheek. In this podcast we remedy that injustice.
In this podcast we talk about the traditional notion of Being and its unwarranted "deconstruction" by modern philosophers, premier among them being Martin Heidegger. As a starting point we take a passage from Boethius' De Trinitate on how Being can never be a subject or substrate and juxtapose it to Heidegger's "phenomenological destruction of traditional ontology" which claims that Tradition does precisely the opposite. From there on we point out the importance of spacial metaphors in metaphysics, where what is "groundless" can mean both something below and something above. It is our contention that thinkers in the vein of Heidegger confuse this metaphysical above and below, and seek abyss where traditional thought sought heaven.
A long winded discussion between yours truly and Deirdre of Luminar Podcast initiated by academic advocacy of infanticide or, as authors of 2012 article "After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?" we use as the starting point call it: after-birth abortion.
However, and not surprisingly, this podcast covers much more than this peculiar form of high brow nihilism.
Discussion touches upon, among other things:
problem of person and the reality of soul, Christianity and paganism, Hegel and the philosophy of absolute subject, posthumanism, euthanasia, abortion and vulnerability of women, reaction from the Right, impossibility of traditionalist revolution and dangers stemming thereof, Thomas Aquinas, Plato, Aristotle, Anaxagoras, science and science fiction, Alexander Dugin, resurgence of history after its supposed end in liberal utopia, forgiveness, Down syndrome
and much, much more.
There's a lot of talk on the political Right about the loss of "collective identity". In this video we'll use few passages from Rene Guenon's "Reign of the Quantity and Signs of the Times" to demonstrate that this loss, if understood properly, is hardly something to be mourned. The exposition concerns metaphysical notions of "form", "matter", "quality", "quantity" and dichotomy betwenn Uniqueness (unity) and uniformity that bear wide ranging implications and practically beg to be misunderstood by political radicals of the Right.
In this podcast we provide an exposition of one of the often used, but not always fully explained, metaphysical concepts - that of 'individuum'. We point out the difference between using this notion as fundamentally a political one as opposed to its, we would argue: proper, use as fundamentally metaphysical concept.
And, we throw some Alexander Dugin in the mix, just for the right flavor ...
In this podcast we focus on some notable qualities of our contemporary politico-philosophical prophets and their misconceptions. We argue that there indeed are few notable, yet quite unsavory, thinkers who correctly read the signs of the times, which gives them a significant edge over their opponents. However, their philosophical notions are based on - radically wrong - understanding of metaphysics as metapolitics.
Alexander Dugin's 4th political theory is a convenient cover for quite prosaic - albeit apocalyptic - political project, outlined to the best of his abilities in the Foundations of Geopolitics. However, there's much more to it than that, even as an afterthought. In this video we'll demonstrate how Dugin imagines that postmodernity should be beaten by postmodernity and consequences thereof. The most notable one is the subversion and further dissolution of those pre-modern principles he supposedly cherishes. As always, we'll take a maximum advantage of his own words to demonstrate just what inherent destructive potential his ideas conceal.
Also, we point out the persistent mistake on behalf of Dugin's mainstream critics of not getting him seriously and affirming that he builds his destructive project on quite correct assessment of our historical situation. Something they do at their own peril.
Is there a substantial difference between revolutionaries of the Left and Right? Or, conversely, is there an even deeper identity between nihilists of traditional and progressive bent? What does it mean to be "against the modern world"? KT offers some answers.
