|
When
I started this website in 2006 the content on this page served as self-introduction for the promotion of my current book (Our Faith in Evil)
and to note my background as having not been the path of a career
academic. I update it now (February 2012) to further credit those who
helped shape the course of the writings on this site and to add further context for my opinions.
Calling
myself a "cultural critic," I'm tempted to say I'm nothing but a critic. But
that
description goes too far toward suggesting the absence of a program of
positive
philosophy. Beyond being a critic, I advocate a particular
philosophical approach
and would describe that as deconstruction. Though this approach
is viewed with suspicion by some and held to be entirely
discredited by others, I acknowledge many in the media and
in academic professions regard deconstruction to be
postmodernism writ large
and
begrudgingly view postmodernism as having sufficiently won the day to
count as the current
orthodoxy. But deconstruction in particular and postmodernism in
general have been so widely misunderstood it would be misleading at best for anyone to claim
these terms describe views belonging to a
general
consensus.
The critic/advocate serves, to borrow phrasing from Eliot, as "an attendant lord,
one that will do/To swell a progress, start a scene or two." Still “attendant lords” may be
useful, especially
commentators on deconstructive theory and practice, since
deconstruction is
difficult, easily botched, and sometimes not even adequately understood
by its
own adherents. On this last point I aspire to be an
exception, though
there is still sufficient disagreement even among scholars (recently, for
example,
between John Caputo and Martin Hagglund) to suggest caution when
reading commentaries on deconstruction, including my own.
Despite the difficulty of deconstruction, I find it to be an
extraordinarily
beneficial orientation and recommend everyone at least give it a test
drive (be alert, though, because it's not your basic sedan).
Philosophy, to the extent it qualifies as good
philosophy, is for everyone, not just a few, and this is where
“attendant lords”
have a cultural role to play.
Getting
to the credits, I've been inspired by the
works of Kenneth Burke
and Jacques Derrida, especially in my first book project Cult of the
Kill (2002, revised 2006), which features Burke and Derrida, among other theorists, and highlights the relationships between
language, interpretation, conflict, and violence. As an undergraduate, I studied Plato, Nietzsche, and Heidegger under W.
B. Macomber at the University of
California at Santa Barbara. With the publication in 1967 of Anatomy of
Disillusion: Martin Heidegger’s Notion of Truth,
Macomber became one of America's most highly regarded Heidegger
scholars. During this period I helped compile and edit a volume of
Macomber's lectures entitled Love and Culture
(1972) which was subsequently self-published by Macomber and used as a text for his Introduction to Philosophy course.
I did additional minor editing and republished this work on this site
in 2010. Click on the title above for contents and links to all the
chapters. Macomber retired and ultimately resided in Redlands,
California, until his
death in June of 2009. Follow this link for a series of
recollections on the
life and work of Macomber.
While
at UCSB, I was also influenced by the work of John Macksoud, a prominent Kenneth
Burke scholar. After Burke read
Macksoud’s
dissertation, which focussed on Burke, the two men had a chance to meet in Santa Barbara. Burke is reported to have said to
Macksoud: “You are the
only one who has understood me.” Although doubtless an exaggeration, this exceptional compliment directly from Burke
indicates the unusual admiration Burke had for Macksoud. Macksoud's
work is discussed in Chapter Five of Cult of the Kill.
Due to premature retirement from university life (after
several years at the State University of New York at Binghamton), only
a few in academic circles are acquainted with Macksoud's original and
provocative work. John died of heart failure on January 7th of 2005.
Follow this link for a
recollection of
the life and work of Macksoud. See also the homepage for a listing of Other Illusions.
This was his only book, self-published in 1973. In
acknowledgment of its unusual style and groundbreaking edge, Purdue
University Press republished the book in 2009 with an introduction by Craig R.
Smith and an afterward by myself.
While
doing graduate work at the University of Colorado, I studied
argumentation and rhetorical theory under Wayne Brockreide. I wrote a
thesis on Burke under Brockreide’s direction entitled Kenneth
Burke’s Dramatism in Perspective
(1979). I was
fortunate to have the opportunity to meet Burke during a seminar at the
University of
Washington in the 1970s. Also at the University of Colorado, I furthered my writing and research
on Burke with the help of prominent Burke scholar Phillip K. Tompkins.
In
the 1980s the work of Jacques Derrida drew my attention. In the
early 1990s I was able to meet with Derrida on two trips to the
University of California at
Irvine where we talked about his work
relevant to an
essay I was working on comparing Derrida and Heidegger (a version
of which is published as
Chapter Two in Cult of the Kill). Derrida died on
October 7th of 2004. A great deal of misunderstanding plagues
commentary and interpretation of Derrida’s work (and life).
What I have written about Derrida
under the Eulogies link attempts to clarify
the significance and value of his views. For further discussion and
analysis of the misunderstandings of Derrida's work see my commentary Demonizing Derrida and Deconstruction (part of which was published in a letter to Skeptic Magazine in
the summer issue of 2006). Also, in the context of Ken Wilber's writings, see two 2007 discussions of Derrida's
work listed under the Essays link above. The essays relating to Ken Wilber eventually led to an eBook on spirituality entitled Radical Atheism and New Spirituality
(2011) which explores Derrida's work in relation to God, transcendence,
atheism, and related spiritual themes
alongside the work of Ken Wilber, Karen Armstrong, and the new atheists
(Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and Sam Harris). A more
thorough comparison of the views of Wilber and Derrida is to be
published in the summer of 2012 as a chapter in the book Dancing with Sophia: Integral Philosophy on the Verge. The chapter is titled "Wilber and Derrida at the Crossroads of Metaphysics."
As an
undergraduate at UCSB I had hoped to transfer to UCLA to become a film
major. Unfortunately, due to the great demand at the time, there was a
three year waiting list to get into this program. But I continued to
have an interest in film and the book Our Faith in Evil combines this interest with my background in communication and
media studies. This book offers a comprehensive examination of entertainment
violence—featuring especially film—and
potential
cultural and psychological effects. For a table of contents and detailed chapter information follow the link above.
After the publication of Our Faith in Evil, I turned to a different genre. Burning Banks and Roasting Marshmallows: The Education of Daniel Marleau (2009) is
a docu/drama story set
during
the Vietnam War protest era at the University of California at Santa
Barbara. The tension between violent and nonviolent protest
emerges as a major issue and the ground for much of the action in this
work. For a book description and a chapter excerpt from this chronicle,
click
on the title above.
My
preoccupation with film also included an interest in photography.
The pictures at the top of the website were taken by me in various
travels around the United States, with the exception of the one on the
mountain at the Winter Park ski area. This shot was taken by long-time
friend Don Firestone on his visit to Colorado in the
1990s. For several years in the 1980s my photography hobby expanded to
include electrophotography—also called Kirlian photography.
Click
on this link (or “Outré” at the top of the
page) for more
on this unusual and controversial photographic process.
If all the above is TMI. Reduce it to a sentence:
"Thinking is the best way to travel." (Do you know who said this?)
Mark this site as a travel agency. Bon voyage.
Top of
Page ↑
Copyright © Gregory Desilet 2005
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Digital photography and website designed by
WebNet Solutions
|
