From Superstition to Mythocracy with Yves Citton

In this seminar we will talk with Yves Citton about his books Mythocracy: How Stories Shape Our World, Mediarchy, and Spinoza et les Social Sciences: De la Puissance de la multitude à l’économie des affects (co-edited with Frédéric Lordon), and about the myths that dominate contemporary thought, how they are disseminated, and how and understanding of the intersection of affects, attention, and imagination might help us combat the right wing myths of individuality, nation, and race that dominate modern thought.

Among many other things, Spinoza was a critic of the superstitions of his time such as the idea of an anthropomorphic god, miracles, and the divine providence of states, revealing where these ideas came from and how they reinforce existing power structures. As astute as his criticisms were, they often seem relegated to a different time in which scripture was the primary source of intellectual authority, and the written word was the means of transmission of superstition. What does Spinoza’s understanding of superstition, imagination, and the affects mean in an age of digital video and social media?

This seminar is part of our dedicated sub-series, From Marx to Spinoza: Affect, Ideology, Materiality.

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