• The scenarios of ecstasy

    The scenarios of ecstasy

    I. I heard the other day there were no deaths that could be reliably attributed either to merciless sea bandit Edward Teach, the Blackbeard, or to his crew. His key weapons were instead his fearsome countenance and aura, the nauseating smells and the trembling death-flag of the ship, the noise made by his screaming shipmates…

  • Kyklos/Kairos

    Kyklos/Kairos

    I. A hidden consequence of this intense focus on axiology as a prime sequentiating thread is that what theory exposition teases at is a world that is “whyness all the way down”. It leaves nothing to explain except systemic settings and proximal reasons. But note “whyness” and not “meaningness” as per current vogue: the discourse…

  • The sound of music

    The sound of music

    I. General axiology is not a get-rich-quick scheme. But it implies one. That I allude at increasing frequency to its (generically!) infinite possibilities plays a structural role not in theory but in the development of theory. The secret of theory is not that truth can’t be told (this is common wisdom to all philosophical traditions), but rather…

  • The Wave

    The Wave

    Let’s try again from the top. 1. Theory is the theory of generic structure (i.e. the theory of the theory of the theory of the … of the theory of generic structure) 2.1. A left (half) axiology is an intensional theory of what’s valuable. Left axiologies can define values but not produce them. 2.2 A…

  • The unbearable lightness of Prince Kropotkin in Hi-Z

    The unbearable lightness of Prince Kropotkin in Hi-Z

    I The recursive definition of “theory”: theory is the theory of generic structure. Just leaving this here. II A veritable constitutional crisis that has been brewing in Brazil for a while is currently reaching a boiling point. ‘Tis probably none of the things you are thinking about if you aren’t extremely current on Brazilian politics (myself,…

  • A gentle introduction to Asemic Horizon

    What is meant by “asemic horizon”? bits and pieces of theory (recursive definition: theory is the theory of generic structure); streams threatening to coalesce into rivulets; an asymptote (a horizon); as theory approaches it, the entire world becomes pure gestures. Pure gestures can be understood; in the real situation which is saturated with meanings, the world…

  • White on white translucent black capes: Lyndon LaRouche (1922-2019)

    Obituaries will make the pedestrian mistake of lumping Lyndon LaRouche’s journey together with the likes of David Duke or David Icke. Note the characterization of a “mistake”: they will present his 60-odd years of political involvement as some sort of right-wing rhubarb, but not because they find his politics abhorrent. Who knows what his politics really were?…

  • Being-in-Patropi

    I. These notes are primarily a means of stimulating thought. First and foremost in myself: although open to the web, they’re basically being disseminated in a small inner circle that’s known to cultivate (and tolerate in others) the noises made in forceful attempts to think. Furthermore these notes are not quite essays: they’re badly and…

  • Truth and love and Eichmann in Patropi

    (See Part 1 here.) I. This is a third or fourth draft. Each prior version has been discarded, deleted even. I can find many explanations for my ongoing inability to follow up to that explanation of Brazilian politics and society as immanently ironic. The natural segue would be to develop a theory of transcendental irony to generalize…

  • The myth of Epistemon and Epiphron

    (Note: this is going under some grammar and style revisions.) “I am not an immense being”, said Epistemon. Eudoxia had delicately rolled off bed, hoping that the sudden release of compressive energy wouldn’t  wake him up. The sound stopped her mid-stride from where she was going, from moving on to whatever women do after sex.…

  • Eichmann in Patropi

    (This is probably part 1 of a neverending series.) I. As you might have read (particularly if informed only by the international press), Jair Bolsonaro is a deal-breaker: incompatible with Brazilian democratic principles and popular only because of, presumably, the same reasons that have been giving power to deal-breakers everywhere. But reality is impossibly specific; …