Excess in modern life leads to dissatisfaction, challenging the pursuit of happiness.
Zizek questions the impact of permissive attitudes on pleasure, exploring repression in desire.
Deep dives
Happiness and Its Implications in Modern Life
Acknowledging Slavoj Zizek's exploration of happiness in modern life, the podcast delves into the concept of surplus enjoyment, questioning the individual's pursuit of happiness and its relationship to meaning. Zizek's analysis of how happiness can be perceived as a symptom of discontent, drawing parallels to Dr. House's skepticism towards happiness, challenges the conventional notions of well-being.
The Complexity of Sexual Pleasure and Power Dynamics
The podcast highlights Zizek's discussion on the connection between sexual pleasure and power dynamics, emphasizing how permissive attitudes towards sexual pleasure may lead to impotence and frigidity. Zizek delves into the complex interplay of enjoyment and repression within desires, questioning why individuals may find pleasure in renunciation and oppression, echoing Freudian and Lacanian theories on surplus enjoyment.
Love, Desire, and Ethical Choices
Exploring the intricate nature of love and desire, the podcast presents Zizek's view on the pathological aspects of love and desire, contrasting Buddhist teachings on relieving oneself from suffering. Zizek emphasizes how love presents a disruptive force in life, challenging the concept of universal ethics and advocating for the ethics of exception, where deeply personal choices redefine ethical frameworks.
Contemporary life is defined by excess. There must always be more, but there is never enough...
Is the pursuit of happiness a terrible mistake?
Join firebrand philosopher, Slavoj Žižek, as he argues the joys of excess are flimsy and futile and asks whether we can ever find a way out. Slavoj Žižek is a world-renowned philosopher, cultural critic and public intellectual. He is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana's Department of Philosophy.
Minor content warning: mentions of violence
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