Public Lecture: Realism and Psychosis, Simon Morgan Wortham

A lecture in the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy's 20th Anniversary Public Lecture Series, in association with the London Graduate School.

Thursday 18th December 2014

Time: 6.00pm - 8.00pm
Venue: E003, Granary Building, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London
Price: free
Speaker: Simon Morgan Wortham (the London Graduate School - Kingston University)

In ‘Judiciousness in Dispute' Lyotard gives us an image of the seventy-four year old Kant beset by a near-permanent head cold. Here, while the mind, through a sheer effort of will, has the capacity to overcome a variety of ailments, thought nevertheless causes it severe pain, a pain to which it is not just opposed, but which indeed accompanies its very operation. To the extent that this ambivalent relationship to pain is insurmountable, the ageing philosopher's inflammation of the head is linked to what Kant himself describes as an involuntary spasmodic state in the brain, that is, a certain inability to maintain concepts, or to secure the unified consciousness of related representations, which Lyotard wants to suggest is fundamental or necessary, rather than merely contingent upon an ailment contracted late in life. To what extent is post-Kantian thought in pain? In what ways is such ‘pain' prolonged in philosophies that seek a radical departure from Kant? For instance, in seeking an exit from the subjective representation of objects (for Lyotard, the source of Kant's ‘pain')? Does speculative materialism risk a certain lapse into a psychotic state that—as both Lacan and Kristeva suggest—may be arrested only through the onset of phobia?

Followed by a reception to launch Simon Morgan Wortham, Modern Thought in Pain: Philosophy, Politics, Psychoanalysis (Edinburgh University Press).

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The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness lectures series presents: Talking with the spirits: Mediumship and possession

The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness salon presents:

TALKING WITH THE SPIRITS: MEDIUMSHIP AND POSSESSION

Jack Hunter & Dr David Luke with special guest Don Santos

Tuesday, 29th, July, 2014. Entry £7 /£5 Concessions (on the door) Wine available October Gallery Theatre

Anthropologist Jack Hunter and psychologist David Luke will be discussing some of the material from their new edited book, Talking with the Spirits: Ethnographies from Between the Worlds – a collection of a dozen ethnographic studies of trance possession cults and mediums from around the world.

Talking With The Spirits: A Brief Introduction To The Anthropology Of Spirit Possession - Jack Hunter

Jack will give a brief overview of the historical development, and contemporary state, of the anthropology of spirit possession, exploring the many theoretical paradigms that have been applied (not always satisfactorily), to this perplexing human phenomenon.

Psychedelic Possession: The Growing Incorporation of Incorporation Into Ayahuasca Use – Dr David Luke

Shamans the world over use mediumistic techniques and commune with the spirits of the dead, and many use psychedelic plants, but strangely rare is it that anyone ever uses psychedelics and spirit possession together. David will explore why that may be, and why this unique practice is now growing in parts of the world.

Huichol Cosmology: A Mara'akame Shares The Wirraritari Cosmovision And Mythology - Mara’akame Paritemai (Don Santos)

In Wirraritari society the Mara’akames are medicine-men and leaders. There are different types of Mara’akame; those who simply sing and communicate with the spirits, those who do treatments with energy, extracting disease and materialising it as it is sucked out by the mouth, and those who sing and heal as Mara’akame Santos does.

Please RSVP on Facebook (afraid so) so that we can anticipate numbers:
https://www.facebook.com/events/241539126052207/

Free entry for anyone buying a copy of the Talking with the Spirits book (at reduced price of £15) at the door!

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