Technic and Magic: Politics, Neoplatonism, and the Limits of Language with Federico Campagna

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May 6, 2024

Philosopher and author Federico Campagna discusses the concepts of reality, Technic, and Magic in his book 'Technic and Magic'. He explores the idea of a reality that varies with each era, the limitations of Technic, and the potential of Magic as an alternative system. The podcast delves into the interplay between neoplatonic emanationism and linguistic realities, the intersection of technique and salvation, and the exploration of reality and magic. Federico also discusses the concepts of beauty in Technic and magic, contrasting commercial scalability with transformative emotional experiences.

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Introduction

00:00 • 4min

Technic and Magic: A Philosophical Exploration

03:46 • 6min

Exploring Neoplatonic Emanationism and Linguistic Realities

09:28 • 7min

The Intersection of Technique and Salvation

16:15 • 9min

Exploring Reality and Magic

25:03 • 19min

Exploration of Harlan Ellison's Short Story and the Concept of Beauty

43:42 • 2min

Exploring Beauty: Technic vs. Magic

45:27 • 15min

Federico's 'The Last Night' on Zer0 Books: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/zer0-books/our-books/last-night

Technic and Magic: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/technic-and-magic-9781350044036/

We take for granted that only certain kind of things exist – electrons but not angels, passports but not nymphs. This is what we understand as 'reality'. But in fact, 'reality' varies with each era of the world, in turn shaping the field of what is possible to do, think and imagine. Our contemporary age has embraced a troubling and painful form of reality: Technic.

Under Technic, the foundations of reality begin to crumble, shrinking the field of the possible and freezing our lives in an anguished state of paralysis. Technic and Magic shows that the way out of the present deadlock lies much deeper than debates on politics or economics. By drawing from an array of Northern and Southern sources – spanning from Heidegger, Junger and Stirner's philosophies, through Pessoa's poetry, to Advaita Vedanta, Bhartrhari, Ibn Arabi, Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra's theosophies – Magic is presented as an alternative system of reality to Technic. While Technic attempts to capture the world through an 'absolute language', Magic centres its reconstruction of the world around the notion of the 'ineffable' that lies at the heart of existence.

Technic and Magic is an original philosophical work, and a timely cultural intervention. It disturbs our understanding of the structure of reality, while restoring it in a new form. This is possibly the most radical act: if we wish to change our world, first we have to change the idea of 'reality' that defines it.

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