The Collected Jokes of Slavoj Žižek

image

In his book The Collected Jokes of Slavoj Žižek, Norwegian artist Audun Mortensen has collected every joke cited or paraphrased by the Slovenian philosopher in his English books, from The Sublime Object of Ideology (1989) to Living in the End Times (2010). In Mortensen’s Wikipedia page it states that Mortensen describes his project as “an alternative doctoral work”. The book was recommended by the Guardian.

Mortensen printed a single copy of the work in coffee-table format in April 2011. The expanded version is published by Flamme Forlag in an edition of few hunderes copies, accompanied by an afterword by Momus.

image
[In this book] we see the charming playfulness of the great masters of philosophy, and perhaps begin to recognise philosophy itself, at its highest, lightest level, as something akin to laughter and joking; ‘the smile of the gods’ … It is as if the joke has become for Žižek what algebra is for his old ally and rival Badiou: the most concise way Žižek knows to sum up a universal situational shape. – Momus
image

The soft cover edition

You can find high-res images of the book, as well as a conceptual Press Release on the The Micky Mouse Club website.

A new online game: Escape Michel Foucault by clicking Z, X and C ~ Click here to play. Via the Paris Review: One way or another, we’re all running away from Foucault. In this distressing online game, you can actually run away from Foucault with your fingertips, rather than by merely existing in society. It’s scary, all but impossible, and totally futile. Well, of course; that’s the whole point. But who, apart from some people I know back at my upstate New York small, progressive, liberal-arts college, would actually play it? Real life is punishment enough.
Pop-upView Separately

A new online game: Escape Michel Foucault by clicking Z, X and C ~ Click here to play.

Via the Paris Review:

One way or another, we’re all running away from Foucault. In this distressing online game, you can actually run away from Foucault with your fingertips, rather than by merely existing in society. It’s scary, all but impossible, and totally futile. Well, of course; that’s the whole point. But who, apart from some people I know back at my upstate New York small, progressive, liberal-arts college, would actually play it? Real life is punishment enough.

“What do I find unpleasant? I do no like things that rub. A cat spends its time rubbing itself against you. I do not like that. A dog is another matter, what I reproach a dog for is barking. Barking seems to me the most stupid cry ever. God, there are many cries in nature; there is such a variety of cries. But barking is the shame of the animal kingdom. Nevertheless, I bear it best on the condition that it doesn’t last long, the cry… how do you say, “howling at the moon”. A dog howling at the moon, I stand it better than [barking]. And since I have recently learned that dogs and cats cheated on social security, my antipathy was increased.”

Gilles Deleuze [3:30-4:45]

Physicist Lawrence Krauss wrote a book titled A Universe from Nothing. Philosopher David Albert wrote a rather scathing review. In a later interview with The Atlantic, Krauss suggested that philosophers feel threatened by science “because science progresses and philosophy doesn’t.” Philosopher Massimo Pigliucci weighed in on Krauss’ comments, and Krauss non-apologized to philosophers who may have been offended. Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne reflects on the controversy.
Jonathan Livengood via Metafilter.