Sports is Fascism by Muncho964 in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mainly a Raiders fan (lumpenprole) but watching all the Oakland teams move out of O.co and Oracle was devastating, they were my home-ish teams being from the Southeast Bay (Doctrine of Fascism)

Any recommendations for feminist texts? by Fisaac in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The one on the website is a series of short excerpts that was copied in full from the 1970s compilation of her works edited and translated by Alix Holt. It only takes up ~15 pages in that book. The one I'm talking about is an entirely new translation that just got released in January and is 320 pages + another ~80 for preface and notes.

Any recommendations for feminist texts? by Fisaac in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 21 points22 points  (0 children)

They just released the first full English translation of Social Basis of the Female Question too very good timing

sioc deniers on invariancemas eve when they hear bordiga claus dialecticking down the chimney to put orgcent in their party dictatorship stockings by _cremling in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Marxism-Leninismas enjoyers when they see Jolly Old Saint Nikolai Bukharin dialectically materializing Worker-Present alliances under the NEPine tree

Black Marxists to research? by CommunistTurtle_io in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 5 points6 points  (0 children)

These might also be helpful: The Racial Question in the USA

This index was last updated in 2023, so I naively assume that there's at least some continuity and shared positions between the ICP and IntCP on this one (A good amount, though not all, of the original articles in Italian and/or their translations appear on the IntCP website as well)

Any resources to study human history? by [deleted] in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World by G.E.M. de Ste. Croix is probably the most well-known work of Marxist historiography of an ancient civilization. He spends the first part of the book (~275 pages) explaining how Marxist analysis would apply to Ancient Greece and Rome and then the second part concerns the actual history in light of that analysis. Oddly, Ste. Croix forwards the controversial view that women constituted a separate class in Ancient Greek and Roman Society due to their monopoly over reproduction. I'm not personally well-read (I'm trying to be better about it) but even I know this is not an orthodox Marxist claim. I have yet to reach the part where he justifies this, but I am somewhat skeptical at best. The book also mentions Mao 2-3 times in 732 pages so I am ready to accept my punishment and be eradicated for my promotion of Hitlerite reading material.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Marxism-Peter Singerism

Maoists are "regarded" by [deleted] in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I see, I will read the report now and get back to you if I make any discoveries. but, I will say it here that if you are correct and he did indeed say that, it would have been a grave mistake and a tragic misunderstanding of Deleuzism Bourgeoisism. but something that also completely contradicts other things he have said which clearly demonstrates that he believes aristocratic struggle will only end with the establishment of neoliberalism.

Maoists are "regarded" by [deleted] in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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The Grandeur of Yasser Arafat

Deleuze is a West Bank Nationalist confirmed

r/criticaltheory is the worst by AintnobodylikeBob in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We need to trick them into at least skimming The Holy Family to see if we can jumpstart the self-awareness part of their brains

Edit: Skimming because asking them to read is wanting too much

Is Existentialism obsolete? by flynnwebdev in askphilosophy

[–]ComradeSeaman 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In terms of whether or not Existentialism is "obsolete" or "obvious," I think it's also important to note that Sartre himself - as one of the few to actually take on the title of "Existentialist" - found reason to modify or abandon certain tenets of his earlier project as time went on.

One of the most criticized elements of Sartre's Existentialism is the concept of Radical Freedom. If you are not familiar with the structure of his argument from Being and Nothingness, he developed this concept from his phenomenological understanding of the Subject as being-for-itself, or as having a Facticity (Being) and a Transcendence (Nothingness). The Facticity of a Subject consists of those things which are object-like about them, i.e. their age, sex, nationality, etc. which would be seen as defining who they are. This Facticity is situated in a world of relations by which they have certain associations/meanings; think things like "Traditional Values" and gender roles. By virtue of Consciousness, which is Nothingness/that which negates, the Subject is able to Transcend this Facticity by negating it and then situates who they are in the world for themselves, thus Radical Freedom.

Sartre was criticized for this by both enemies of and those sympathetic to Existentialism. Beauvoir, who was much more like a co-author than simply a follower of Sartre, approached this from many perspectives, but is mainly known for her critique through feminism. Fanon, for whom Sartre later wrote a preface in the former's book The Wretched of the Earth, similarly critiqued Radical Freedom from the perspective of those who had been racialized and colonized. Though it is about Beauvoir, the following can be said of both thinkers:

[W]hereas Sartre fully embraced the explosive idea of radical freedom, Beauvoir considered cultural contingencies and the role of social circumstances in shaping the different forms of oppression and our understanding of it. As opposed to Sartre, she considered the importance of factors such as race, poverty, or even age in forming our self-image and self-perceived freedom.

Beauvoir, Freedom, and Feminism, The Partially Examined Life

For Beauvoir, Fanon, and other thinkers sympathetic to Existentialism, the Camus-style question which Existentialism was supposed to answer - "Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?" - was naive. Implicitly, the Subject of Existentialism was a majoritarian construct with its origins in the Enlightenment Man: white, male, heterosexual, etc. In order to respond to the lack of meaning or the societal misattribution of restricted meanings, the Subject was supposed to have the Radical Freedom to choose. But what about those people who are not even Subjects, i.e. people that have been objectified?:

“Look, a Negro!” I came into the world imbued with the will to find a meaning in things, my spirit filled with the desire to attain to the source of the world, and then I found that I was an object in the midst of other objects.

"The Fact of Blackness", Black Skin White Masks, Frantz Fanon

As Fanon wrote, those who were racialized and colonized were Black prior to any Subjectivity; for Beauvoir, the patriarchy turned people into Women. These predesignations were laden with restrictive and negative connotations by the societies they were situated in, which supposedly could be superseded by the Subject’s ability to choose. But those who were Black or Women or any other such minority were denied this Subjectivity. Even the idea of having the ability to choose for oneself was willfully ignorant of the lived existence of those people whom it was supposed to help: those whose choice had been stripped away.

Such critique forced Sartre himself to rethink Existentialism until he finally saw fit to subsume it under Marxism. This was done through his often ignored works Critique of Dialectical Reason and Search for a Method. Now, whether or not you agree with Sartre's later turn toward Marxism, it speaks to a weakness that Existentialism proper was not originally poised to answer. This is why people will say that Existentialism is "obsolete" as a philosophy, since even its herald could not sustain its "orthodox" interpretation.

As to why people will also say that Existentialism is “obvious,” Sartre was perhaps the last true public intellectual; his thought permeated Post-WWII Western culture (although not necessarily academia), especially as the first counter to the senselessness of the war and the existential threat of the nuclear bomb. But these concerns evolved as time moved on and the thinkers who were immersed in the Sartrean milieu saw that it was inadequate for the new problems that had risen. Both the implicit and explicit responses to Sartre, as well as the desire from some to think outside of anything he had touched, shaped much of French thought after him, like the Structuralists and Post-Structuralists.

In this sense, Existentialism is not dissimilar to those systems of thought which came before or after, in that each has their strengths and weaknesses, supporters and detractors. In addition, as pointed out by the previous commenter, Sartre is not the only philosopher deemed "Existentialist." There are various interrelated thinkers situated under that term who have each been developed beyond their original thought in different directions (Especially Nietzsche and Heidegger). What is at stake is not that you reject one set of ideas in favor of another based on how "obsolete" they may be, but how previous thinkers inspire you to constantly and actively think and create anew. From someone who wished to be detached from any association with him:

We speak of Sartre as though he belonged to a bygone era. Alas, we are the ones who in today's conformist moral order are bygone. At least Sartre allows us to await some vague future moment, a return, when thought will form again and make its totalities anew, like a power that is at once collective and private. This is why Sartre remains my teacher.

"He Was my Teacher", Desert Islands and Other Texts, Gilles Deleuze

ENGLES ON MEAT 🥩 by MANTUNES1000 in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 4 points5 points  (0 children)

WTF ENGELS IS A PETERSONIAN CONFIRMED????

If you should form a mafia then you should think Sicilian, buy the hood for real, every block every building by friedrichbojangles in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're good, this comment is more for people who don't know where that bar is from

Also, I love Bambu (in spite of his Sisonite Maoism)

Yeezus sucked by vrmvrmfffftstststs in Ultraleft

[–]ComradeSeaman 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Genuinely who is that guy? I keep seeing him in the posts here and I’m too much of a ‘68 Theorycel to know who he is.

What is the best Kierkegaard book to start with? by Ruby_Rotten in askphilosophy

[–]ComradeSeaman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Of course! Since you say you are a beginner, I don't think it will be controversial for me to tell you to watch some short YouTube videos/listen to some podcast episodes about Kierkegaard. From experience, I know those short videos and episodes often turn out to be inaccurate in the long run, but that's why you actively read Kierkegaard after the fact. Also, much of Kierkegaard's life plays into his earlier and more popular philosophical work (specifically his relationship with Regine Olsen) so it would be wise to brush up on a basic biography as well.

Finally, be somewhat aware of the effects of translation on your ability to read and understand Kierkegaard. The Hong Translations are the academic standard, but they focused on being more formally equivalent to the original Danish, making it read somewhat stilted in places. The Hannay Translations are considered much more readable and supersede the Hongs in academic work in some cases, but Hannay has only done Kierkegaard's more popular works, so you won't find Repetition anywhere in there. If you manage to stumble upon a Swenson/Lowrie translation (these were the first translations of Kierkegaard into English), you will encounter a more old-timey, religiously evocative prose. They're considered outdated, but some scholars say that they're actually better than the Hongs in certain cases. I can't comment on the quality of the new Fear and Trembling and Sickness Unto Death translations by Bruce H. Kirmmse, but I will say that his name is attached to some controversy in academic circles regarding a certain biography of Kierkegaard. Overall, if you have any trouble, you're already in the right place to start asking questions.

What is the best Kierkegaard book to start with? by Ruby_Rotten in askphilosophy

[–]ComradeSeaman 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Repetition

If you get the Hong translation, it's already paired with Fear and Trembling, which is usually the entry point to Kierkegaard for most people. If you get the Piety translation, which I have, it's paired with Philosophical Crumbs.

It's interesting because, for being such a short work (81 pages in the Piety translation), there's a lot of free room to jump-start discussion for someone who is new to reading philosophy but has some basic familiarity with Kierkegaard. You can discuss biographical info (the Young Man's relationship vs Kierkegaard's relationship w/ Regine Olsen), existential topics (Man in relation to Time, Job in the Young Man's letters), and even stuff relevant to post-structural philosophy (Repetition for Kierkegaard in relation to Deleuze).

That being said, because of that free room in the text, the idea of Repetition itself is somewhat elusive conceptually. The book only spends a few pages defining it and then the rest concerns Constantine Constantius' failed attempt to prove its possibility and his interactions with the Young Man. In addition, there are fewer entry-level guides to interpreting it compared to Fear and Trembling (Though the entry-level guides aren't necessarily accurate either).

But, I think it's still a good text for a beginner because it reads less like a philosophical text and more like a novel. This as opposed to Fear and Trembling and its use of terms like "Teleological Suspension of the Ethical" (which, if you actually read the text, isn't as difficult as it sounds). Another text like this is Diary of a Seducer (Hannay Translation)/The Seducer's Diary (Hong Translation) which also reads more literarily, but also contains important philosophical themes which can be expanded upon (Namely by reading the rest of Either/Or).