Metaphysics of Voice, Distance and Digestion, The Portal @ Wake
The Portal: Thought for March 2025
Philosophy Portal for March 2025:
Conversation time stamps:
Metaphysics of Voice w/
Crooijmans (0:22)Distance and Digestion w/ Daniel Coughlan (
) (1:07:55)The Portal @ Wake w/ Dylan Voisard (
), Esban Topland, (2:17:12)
Throughout the first conversation Dimitri Crooijmans and I are reflecting on the first two sessions of the Slovenian School Reading Group currently focusing on Mladen Dolar’s A Voice and Nothing More (specifically, the chapters: “The Linguistics of the Voice” and “The Metaphysics of the Voice”). This conversation highlights Dolar’s idea of the “object-voice” as a disruptive locus beyond both the “aesthetic voice” (beautiful) and the voice with a message (meaning), the relationship between Dolar’s Lacanian focus on the voice, and the Derridean deconstruction of logos, and the role of voice in the history of metaphysics, philosophy, and religion.
In the second conversation, Daniel Coughlan and I are reflecting the first half of Christianity in Transition around the metaphor of the way people can generate a “distance” to Christianity or “digest” Christianity. This idea is motivated from the idea that the first half of Christianity in Transition tends towards various forms of creating a distance to Christianity (either because the “food” is poisonous or imaginary), as well as anticipating the second half of Christianity in Transition tending towards various forms of internally digesting Christianity (because of the belief that the “food” is nutritious and positively transformative for either the individual or social body).
Finally, in the third conversation with Dylan Voisard, Esban Topland, and LaVonne Chantal we explore some of the ideas that we want to further develop and expand on at The Portal @ Wake Festival with Peter Rollins at the end of April. Most of these ideas involve “Christian Atheist” tensions, for example, ideas involving the relationship between Nietzschean atheism and Orthodox interpretations of Christianity, the tension between Hegelian dialectics and Nietzschean life affirmation, as well as the role of subjective destitution beyond coping mechanism (whether religious, socialist or otherwise) for life and failure.
Other important news: this month at Philosophy Portal we will be hosting an all-weekend conference (April 12th, 13th) titled Rosy Cross 2 focused on the idea of Christian Atheism, and inspired by the Christian Atheism course. The conference is free to register and attend, and all information can be found below:
Philosophy Portal will also be hosting discussions, breakout groups and other activities at Peter Rollins Wake Festival from April 27th to May 1st in Belfast, Ireland. To get involved, see:
Philosophy Portal will also be starting a new course titled “Early Marx 101” this May. The course will be aiming to explore all of the early writings of Karl Marx, including the Critique of the Philosophy of Right, The German Ideology, and The Communist Manifesto. To learn more or to get involved, see: