Papers by Alex Casper Cline
Baudrillard Studies, 2011
Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the fu... more Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future… (Marcus Aurelius).
This paper follows Theodore Wertime, twentieth century historian of metallurgy, spy turned surviv... more This paper follows Theodore Wertime, twentieth century historian of metallurgy, spy turned survivalist. Wertime's fascination with metallurgy is related to the Smith in Deleuze and Guattari and the mythical Alchemist of Mircea Eliade's work; also explored are notions of the Cyborg and of Geotrauma. Wertime's work presages a conception of the anthropocene and presumes fatal entanglement between humans and the tools they use.
Misc Philosophy by Alex Casper Cline
After discussing the nature of the Radical Enlightenment for several hundred pages, Jonathan Isra... more After discussing the nature of the Radical Enlightenment for several hundred pages, Jonathan Israel ends with a question. This question revolves around the nature of Rousseau's 'General Will' -the 'volonté générale'. On the one hand, Rousseau appears to be continuing in the tradition of Spinoza and other proponents of radical metaphysics, in that his philosophy promotes an egalitarianism, a vision of a socially-constructed political order. On the other, however, Rousseau introduces an absolute morality and certain other antithetical philosophical principles that seem to put him at odds with this undercurrent. For Israel, >>what is especially remarkable
The Common Notions originate in the middle of the Second Book of Spinoza's Ethics. The opening bo... more The Common Notions originate in the middle of the Second Book of Spinoza's Ethics. The opening book, titled On God, lays out in a striking manner the unique nature of Spinoza's project. One understands that he is proposing a unique form of Monism, one that confounds not only Descartes' separation of mind and body, but also the Scholastic separation of the finite from the infinite. The universe is to be viewed as one unified substance, not created by but rather contained within an immortal being. "Whatever is, is in God..."; Spinoza has established that the deity he will be working towards is immanent and inclusive, as opposed to the transcendental and withdrawn God of his contemporaries.
The flâneur on tumblr modes of spectatorship and participation alex casper cline photo: aryob zaz... more The flâneur on tumblr modes of spectatorship and participation alex casper cline photo: aryob zazai (cc)
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Papers by Alex Casper Cline
Misc Philosophy by Alex Casper Cline