Do you get excited by questions more than answers? Do you like showing off at parties with random knowledge? In this podcast, sociologists and social theorists Drs Melanie White and Na’ama Carlin take everyday ideas and explore them through different sociological and philosophical perspectives. Season 1 focuses on the notion of the 'self' as explored in common sociological texts. Join us, in our mission to make the familiar unfamiliar!
If you love reading fiction, and you LOVE closure, you're going to mildly like today's episode! In the final episode of season 1, Na'ama and Melanie conclude this season on 'the self' by talking about animals and plants. What are the limits of selfhood? Do plants have selves? How is fiction helpful in thinking about these existential questions? Spoiler: we do not have answers.
What should I read?
This week, we're reading J M Coetzee's The Lives of Animals and Han Kang's The Vegetarian.
17 Dec 2019
The cat has no clothes
One day Jacques Derrida got out of the shower and realised he was caught naked by his cat, who was staring at him. What followed (get it) was a 10 hour lecture on - among other things - the limits of the human/animal/divine, the human/self and animal/other, being naked and knowing it, and being naked and not knowing it.
In our penultimate episode, Melanie and Na'ama talk all things feline and deconstruction. Bonus: our refurbished studio has sound effects!! Melanie is pleased.
What should I read?
This week, get into Derrida's The Animal That Therefore I Am (More to Follow) (https://www.e-skop.com/images/UserFiles/Documents/Editor/derrida_cat.pdf) (2002)
10 Nov 2019
Blowing bubbles
Jakob von Uexküll (1864–1944) is a founder of the field of behavioural physiology. He explored what makes ticks... tick. But how does Uexküll's work shed light on what makes us tick? For that and more, join Melanie and Na'ama in a soap bubble and go on a stroll. Bonus: Melanie's first ever introduction to Aussie icons Kath & Kim, and a dramatic reading of a tick sniffing out blood.
21 Oct 2019
Life finds a way
Henri Bergson (1859 - 1941) was an influential philosopher, nobel prize winner, and international celebrity. He is the epitome of philosophy in action: his commitment to a life of social justice, ethics, and equity saw him lead in the League of Nations (1920 - 1925). In this episode, we take on Bergson's project and his attempt to describe the indescribable: life itself. What sense of self does Bergson theorise? What does Jurassic Park have to do with it all?
What should I read?
Henri Bergson Creative Evolution (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26163/26163-h/26163-h.htm). Take your time.
7 Oct 2019
Bad to the core - a moral (r)evolution
This week we consider the work of Frans de Waal, a primatologist exploring empathy in primates. Are humans bad to the core? What do we have in common with primates, and why does that matter? This episode is monkey business and then some! Plus: the never before revealed 'Ikea theory of morality', Na'ama shares her Hobbesian tinder bio, and we learn about the social universe of Melanie's pets!
What should I read?
Frans de Waal's Tanner Lectures on Human Values lecture, Morality and the Social Instincts: Continuity with the Other Primate (https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/d/deWaal_2005.pdf) (2003) is a treat!
24 Sept 2019
Who's hungry?
Monkey sounds safe words and breast milk, oh my! This week, we look at the French philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930 - 2004), and things get wild. Derrida is most well-known for the method ("it's not a method!") of deconstruction. We explore Derrida's deconstruction of the Cartesian legacy that defines much of how we see, understand, and treat the world we live in.
Join us this week as we discuss what is 'the animal'? What are the ethical and lived consequences of human privilege? Was Derrida popular in school? What should we eat???
Forget what should I eat! What should I read?
We have a couple of things you might be interested in this week!
Rene Descartes Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting one’s Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences (https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/descartes1637.pdf) (originally published 1637)
Jacques Derrida ‘Violence Against Animals’ in For What Tomorrow: A Dialogue (2004)
11 Sept 2019
Labour pains
This episode we look at the man, the myth, the beard, the Comrade to end all Comrades: Karl Marx. Other than developing the foremost critique of capitalism, Marx's (1818 - 1883) theory of labour gives us insight into how he perceived humans, and for us - the self. This week, we look at Marx's theory of labour, ask - what is species being? and think about the implications of producing under capitalist conditions. We also have some hot Marx and Hegel gossip!
What should I read?
Good question! You can focus on the section 'Estranged Labour (https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm)' in Marx's Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts (1844).
26 Aug 2019
Are you feeling discontent?
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) changed how we think about ourselves and our relation to others. He set out to understand the nature of human psychic life in all its complexity. So, what the relationship between guilt and pleasure? And will Na'ama ever pronounce 'discontents' not as 'disco tents'? All this and more!
What should I read?
Freud's Civilisation and its Discontents (https://www.stephenhicks.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/FreudS-CIVILIZATION-AND-ITS-DISCONTENTS-text-final.pdf) (1930) accompanies today's episode.
13 Aug 2019
I am, I exist so long as I am...
Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) was the founder of the French tradition of Sociology and as sociologists we are contractually obligated to talk about him. But he also had a profound impact on the discipline! What is the relationship between the individual and society? What is the nature of the ‘individual’? Was Durkheim a bossypants? All this and more, in episode 3 of You Kant Say That!
What should I read?
We're reading The Dualism of Human Nature and its Social Conditions (https://www.academia.edu/3648469/The_Dualism_of_Human_Nature_and_its_Social_Conditions_by_%C3%89mile_Durkheim_with_a_translators_note).
30 Jul 2019
Ah ha! At last, I have discovered it
René Descartes (1596-1650) was a French philosopher and mathematician. Descartes shaped modern philosophy, but what did he have to say about the self? How do we know what is true, and how can I know that I am real? What does a fireplace have to do with the famous cogito? What is Melanie's favourite drink?
What should I read?
This week, we look at Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy (http://selfpace.uconn.edu/class/percep/DescartesMeditations.pdf) (1641).
16 Jul 2019
Who are we?
What is the self, and why is it interesting? How can sociology help us think about who we are in the world? This episode, get to know Melanie and Na'ama and find out what's in store for the series!
What should I read?
Our discussion this week is general, but we really love:
Game, A, and Metcalfe, A.W. (1996), 'Knowing', in Passionate Sociology, SAGE Publications, London
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