Theory Underground

Leon Brenner on The History of Autism Theories

Announcement: Dr. Leon Brenner joins Theory Underground to teach The Clinical Structures and The Autistic Subject! Enroll here: https://theory-underground.com/courses/brenner-1/ Theory Underground turned one year old on Dec. 6th, 2023. This video was recorded during the anniversary livestream and is being republished as a stand alone video. ABOUT / CREDITS / LINKS Welcome to Theory Underground. Theory Underground is a theory lecture course-centered platform and publishing house with an app on the IoS and Android stores. If you want to better understand yourself and the world by asking the hardest questions, wrestling with the most complex problems, and reading the greatest thinkers in the history of philosophy and theory, then welcome. Theory Underground is for and by working class intellectuals, renegade academics, and adults who don’t belong or see a future in anything on offer. Think of Theory Underground like a Jiu Jitsu gym for your brain. Or like a post left theory church. It doesn’t matter. None of the analogies will do it justice. Just see if the vibe is right for you and then stick around. Become a monthly TU Tier Subscriber to access past, ongoing, and upcoming courses, special events, office hours, clubs, and critical feedback that will help you evolve your comprehension capacities and critical faculties, either via the app (available on Apple and Google Play app stores) or through the website here: https://theory-underground.com/product/tu-subscription-tiers/ Get the books at a discount: https://theory-underground.com/publications If you want to help me get setup sooner/faster in a totally gratuitous way, or support me but you don’t care about the subscription or want to bother with the monthly stuff, here is a way to buy me something concrete and immediately useful, then you can buy me important equipment for my office on this list (these items will be automatically shipped to my address if you use the list here) https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58? Buy me some food or coffee: https://www.venmo.com/u/Theorypleeb https://paypal.me/theorypleeb Or become a monthly subscriber at https://theory-underground.com/donate/ OR become a monthly subscriber on the Apple or Android Theory Underground APP! Download today! Each subscriber tier unlocks special access to weekly events, ongoing or past courses, and so much more. Help beta trial this at https://theory-underground.com/ Check out the courses, patron tiers and books, as well as events listed at these links: https://theory-underground.com/support If Theory Underground has helped you see that text to speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the below link and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI See Theory Underground memes here: https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground/ https://tiktok.com/@theory_underground Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand. https://theory-underground.com/courses MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk

THE THEORY SCENE | Logic for the Global Brain PP Conference presentation

From a talk Dave gave at the Philosophy Portal conference called Logic for the Global Brain, which took place June 24th and 25th, 2023. You can see all the presentations and full schedule here: https://philosophyportal.online/science-of-logic-conferenceFor an article by Dave on this topic of comparing music scenes to the theory scene, affinity groups, and the conditions for a genuine intellectual milieu, check this out:ABOUT / CREDITS / LINKSIf you want to better understand yourself and the world by asking the hardest questions, wrestling with the most complex problems, and reading the greatest thinkers in the history of philosophy and theory, then welcome. Theory Underground is for and by working class intellectuals, renegade PMCs, and adults who don’t belong or see a future in anything on offer. Buy us some food or coffee:https://www.venmo.com/u/Theorypleebhttps://paypal.me/theorypleebOr become a monthly subscriber at https://theory-underground.com/donate/ Interested in getting involved? Join the Theory Underground open forum today. Most of the forums are closed until certain readings or courses have been completed, but this is the one that is open! Welcome. https://theory-underground.com/forums/forum/MAIN Help beta trial this at https://theory-underground.com/ Check out the courses, patron tiers and books, as well as events listed at these links: https://theory-underground.com/support https://theory-underground.com/eventsFollow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEISee Theory Underground memes here: https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground/ https://tiktok.com/@theory_underground Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand.https://theory-underground.com/coursesDave’s first book, Waypoint, is available for free at Theory Underground in blog and audio formats. https://theory-underground.com/waypoint/ ^There you can also purchase the text for significantly cheaper than it is on Amazon.MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Song: Bust Down Artist: 808 DEATH CLUB License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 - http://bit.ly/RFP_CClicense Also used in many videos: 🎵 Album: Rear View 🎧 Artist: EVA Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 http://bit.ly/RFP_CClicense

Intro to Nick Land LECTURE 1 - Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Bataille, Deleuze & Guattari etc.

Introduction to philosophy, from the standpoint of one trying to figure out what the hell Nick Land is doing. This is a crash course (speed run) of some of the most difficult thinkers from the history of philosophy—Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, Bataille, D&G etc—not dumbed down, but made accessible.Taught by Michael Downs. Recorded Oct. 28th. Enroll today at https://theory-underground.com/courses/Land-introSupport Mikey directly at his https://patreon.com/thedangerousmaybeWelcome to Theory Underground. Theory Underground is a theory lecture course centered platform and publishing house with an app on the IoS and Android stores. If you want to better understand yourself and the world by asking the hardest questions, wrestling with the most complex problems, and reading the greatest thinkers in the history of philosophy and theory, then welcome. Theory Underground is for and by working class intellectuals, renegade academics, and adults who don’t belong or see a future in anything on offer. Think of Theory Underground like a gym for your brain. Or like a post left theory church. It doesn’t matter. None of the analogies will do it justice. Just see if the vibe is right for you and then stick around.Get the books at a discount: https://theory-underground.com/publicationsIf you want to help me get setup sooner/faster in a totally gratuitous way, or support me but you don’t care about the subscription or want to bother with the monthly stuff, here is a way to buy me something concrete and immediately useful, then you can buy me important equipment for my office on this list (these items will be automatically shipped to my address if you use the list here) https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?Buy me some food or coffee: https://www.venmo.com/u/Theorypleeb https://paypal.me/theorypleeb Or become a monthly subscriber at https://theory-underground.com/donate/ OR become a monthly subscriber on the Apple or Android Theory Underground APP! Download today! Each subscriber tier unlocks special access to weekly events, ongoing or past courses, and so much more.Help beta trial this at https://theory-underground.com/ Check out the courses, patron tiers and books, as well as events listed at these links: https://theory-underground.com/support If Theory Underground has helped you see that text to speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the below link and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI See Theory Underground memes here: https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground/ https://tiktok.com/@theory_undergroundMissed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand. https://theory-underground.com/courses

Everything is Broken / I need a Break (WEBSITE DOWN!)

P.S. If you want to help me get setup sooner/faster in a totally gratuitous way, or support me but you don’t care about the subscription or want to bother with the monthly stuff, here is a way to buy me something concrete and immediately useful, then you can buy me important equipment for my office on this list (these items will be automatically shipped to my address if you use the list here) https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode

Theory Underground at The McLuhan Institute with Andrew McLuhan - on Critical Media Theory

As a part of its international book tour, Theory Underground joined Andrew McLuhan at The McLuhan Institute for an afternoon of theorizing media, exploring the McLuhan library, and talking about the work they are doing with the Critical Media Theory research cohort at Theory Underground!About the TU Tour Crew:David McKerracher (M.A. in critical theory and B.A. in philosophy) is the sole founder and organizer of Theory Underground, an independent philosophy lecture course platform, publishing house, and social media APP. He is the author of Waypoint and TIMENERGY: Why You Have No Time or Energy, and one of the co-editors of Underground Theory. Born in the city but raised on a homestead in the woods, McKerracher has always been an outsider looking in, trying to understand himself and the world. Loves cats, coffee, and timenergy!Ann Snelgrove-McKerracher received a BS in Social Science (emphasis in sociology and political philosophy) from Boise State University in 2021 where she was part of a research cohort that studied the neoliberalization of higher education. At Theory Underground, she has helped develop and teach two courses: The Idea of the University and Digital Literacy and CMT (Critical Media Theory). When not doing theory or social science related research and writing, Ann can be found traveling the world with Dave, learning Spanish, cooking and baking, or participating in local theater.Bryce Nance - A random skateboarder we picked up along the way. Just kidding! Nance is one of the most involved students at Theory Underground, a huge supporter, and our number 1 roadie. He likes to skateboard, listen to books, and study philosophy. He is a malcontent who believes study as a way of life helps him become less sucky.About the Publications:TIMENERGY*: Why You Have No Time or Energy: We normally don’t have any time, but when we finally do, we lack energy. On those rare occasions when we have energy outside of work, it is restless and difficult to harness towards meaningful goals. Starting from the realization that meaningful time is worthless without energy, the concept of “timenergy” points to something we all lack: large energy-infused blocks of repeatable time throughout the week. TIMENERGY: Why You Have No Time or Energy is a critique of our job-centric society and the schooling system that assumes we are nothing more than workers, professionals, or managers. This book challenges all political representatives, professors, and media figures to think deeper about the daily lives and needs of working people.Underground Theory: A collection of timely and cutting edge essays by working class nobodies who are just trying to think, plus some big-named renegade academics who see the value in McKerracher’s timenergy theory, Mikey (of The Dangerous Maybe blog)’s working class education work, or the general idea of radical grass roots experiments that have institutional support. THEORY UNDERGROUND IS A critical media theory and alternative adult education experiment founded, organized, and run by David McKerracher. So what is TU? Theory Underground is a lecture course-centered social media and publishing site/APP with ongoing lecture courses, seminars, and research cohorts. Get involved by downloading the app off either the IoS or Android stores, or sign up through the website at https://theory-underground.com! Consider taking a course, or purchase TU books at https://theory-underground.com/store

Dave and Mikey interview Slavoj Žižek! for the Theory Underground book launch + Elton and Bryan

Dave and Mikey interview Slavoj Žižek for the Theory Underground book TOUR launch in Boise, Idaho. They asked him questions about drive vs. desire and the ethics of psychoanalysis in relation to addiction and serial killers; Nick Land, Baudrillard, and Compact Mag / Nina Power. We get into the politics of universality, our critique of working class identity politics, and underground theory itself!After the interview the Theory Underground 2023 Tour Crew talks about the two publications, which you can order from Amazon, or for a reduced price, at theory-underground.com/store The video closes with presentations from two of the Underground Theory contributors presenting on their chapters: Elton L.K. on The Vampire Castle is PMC (Mark Fisher meets Barbara Ehrenreich), and Bryan Weeks on his more poetic work that deals with the Idea of the University, the state's need for legibility (James Scott), and in-operability (Giorgio Agamben).Purchase Underground Theory and TIMENERGY: Why You Have No Time or Energy on Amazon, or if you're local to the U.S. you can order it at a discount from https://theory-underground.com/store/More about the presenters:Bryan Weeks earned a B.A. in English & Creative Writing from the University of Washington in 2013 and M.A. in Education from Boise State University in 2022 where his research focused on the intersection of critical discourses in the Philosophy of education, particularly deschooling and democratization in public education. He teaches English at an alternative high school and leads reading and writing groups in philosophy, literature, and poetry for adults in Boise, ID where he lives with his wife and son. In 2023 he co-taught a course at Theory Underground based on Karl Jaspers' work The Idea of the University. Elton LK was introduced to Kierkegaard and Nietzsche by a friend at age 21 after graduating from a trade school. Eight years later he graduated from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon with a philosophy degree. In 2012 Elton formed the Dead Parrot Philosophical Society, a book club outside of the academy that discusses everything from Plato to Žižek. The Dead Parrots meet monthly to this day. Since high school Elton has been politically engaged, but Occupy was a major turning point. He did not join his first political organization until 2018: the Democratic Socialists of America. In January 2020 he started an in-person Socialist Night School as a part of his local DSA chapter. In 2023 he co-taught a course at Theory Underground called Professional Managerial Class Consciousness and Ideology.Michael Downs is an independent researcher and author of the philosophy and critical theory blog The Dangerous Maybe. He has earned a graduate certificate from The New Centre for Research and Practice and was the recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Essay at the 2018 International Žižek Conference in Athens, Georgia. Michael is currently studying with Todd McGowan with a special focus on the work of Slavoj Žižek. In 2023 Michael taught a course at Theory Underground on Žižek’s For They Know Not What They Do, and in October he teaches an introductory course to the philosophy of Nick Land.If Theory Underground has helped you see that text to speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended.Use the below link and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEBFollow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5C...See Theory Underground memes here: https://www.instagram.com/theory_unde... https://tiktok.com/@theory_undergroundMissed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand. https://theory-underground.com/coursesDave’s first book, Waypoint, is available for free at Theory Underground in blog and audio formats. https://theory-underground.com/waypoint/ ^There you can also purchase the text for significantly cheaper than it is on Amazon.

Intentionality in Brentano, Freud, Husserl, Heidegger, and Lacan | Ft. Brian Becker

Dr. Brian Becker of Singularity As Sublimity visits the channel to talk about intentionality in Brentano, Freud, Husserl, Heidegger, and Lacan. What is it, why does it matter, and how does it impact these different thinkers? What does each of them do differently with the concept? Find out all this and more!If you get a lot out of this, then you might be interested in the Being and Time course beginning this June. Enroll today: https://theory-underground.com/courses/B&T/Subscribe to Brian Becker's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@UCaPoOtj4zgZtWC5HunMQEnAABOUT / CREDITS / LINKSIf you want to better understand yourself and the world by asking the hardest questions, wrestling with the most complex problems, and reading the greatest thinkers in the history of philosophy and theory, then welcome. Theory Underground is for and by working class intellectuals, renegade PMCs, and adults who don’t belong or see a future in anything on offer. Buy us some food or coffee:https://www.venmo.com/u/Theorypleebhttps://paypal.me/theorypleebOr become a monthly subscriber at https://theory-underground.com/donate/ Interested in getting involved? Join the Theory Underground open forum today. Most of the forums are closed until certain readings or courses have been completed, but this is the one that is open! Welcome. https://theory-underground.com/forums/forum/MAIN Help beta trial this at https://theory-underground.com/ Check out the courses, patron tiers and books, as well as events listed at these links: https://theory-underground.com/support https://theory-underground.com/eventsFollow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEISee Theory Underground memes here: https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground/ https://tiktok.com/@theory_underground Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand.https://theory-underground.com/coursesDave’s first book, Waypoint, is available for free at Theory Underground in blog and audio formats. https://theory-underground.com/waypoint/ ^There you can also purchase the text for significantly cheaper than it is on Amazon.MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Song: Bust Down Artist: 808 DEATH CLUB License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 - http://bit.ly/RFP_CClicense Also used in many videos: 🎵 Album: Rear View 🎧 Artist: EVA Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 http://bit.ly/RFP_CClicense

KILLING OURSELVES WITH TEXTS | Ft. Cadell Last of Philosophy Portal

Cadell Last from Philosophy Portal and David McKerracher of Theory Underground, talking about "killing ourselves with texts." This is about death drive, i.e. the unconscious need for excessive self overcoming. Make sure to subscribe to Philosophy Portal: https://www.youtube.com/@PhilosophyPortal And check out the website! This September they are taking on ECRITS!!! https://philosophyportal.online/ecritsABOUT / CREDITS / LINKSIf you want to better understand yourself and the world by asking the hardest questions, wrestling with the most complex problems, and reading the greatest thinkers in the history of philosophy and theory, then welcome. Theory Underground is for and by working class intellectuals, renegade PMCs, and adults who don’t belong or see a future in anything on offer. Buy us some food or coffee:https://www.venmo.com/u/Theorypleebhttps://paypal.me/theorypleebOr become a monthly subscriber at https://theory-underground.com/donate/ Interested in getting involved? Join the Theory Underground open forum today. Most of the forums are closed until certain readings or courses have been completed, but this is the one that is open! Welcome. https://theory-underground.com/forums/forum/MAIN Help beta trial this at https://theory-underground.com/ Check out the courses, patron tiers and books, as well as events listed at these links: https://theory-underground.com/support https://theory-underground.com/eventsFollow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEISee Theory Underground memes here: https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground/ https://tiktok.com/@theory_underground Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand.https://theory-underground.com/coursesDave’s first book, Waypoint, is available for free at Theory Underground in blog and audio formats. https://theory-underground.com/waypoint/ ^There you can also purchase the text for significantly cheaper than it is on Amazon.MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Song: Bust Down Artist: 808 DEATH CLUB License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 - http://bit.ly/RFP_CClicense Also used in many videos: 🎵 Album: Rear View 🎧 Artist: EVA Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 http://bit.ly/RFP_CClicense

Cellphone addiction, McLuhan, and more! Cadell Last interviews us on CMT [Philosophy Portal Mirror]

Cadell Last interviewed Dave McKerracher and Ann Snelgrove on the course they are co-instructing called Digital Literacy and Critical Media Theory. Chances are that, even though it was shared on the TU community tab, you didn't see it, so it is being mirrored here! Make sure to subscribe to Philosophy Portal HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@UCCtCqYQFPhnU1OnHPveEnYwABOUT / CREDITS / LINKSIf you want to better understand yourself and the world by asking the hardest questions, wrestling with the most complex problems, and reading the greatest thinkers in the history of philosophy and theory, then welcome. Theory Underground is for and by working class intellectuals, renegade PMCs, and adults who don’t belong or see a future in anything on offer. Buy us some food or coffee:https://www.venmo.com/u/Theorypleebhttps://paypal.me/theorypleebOr become a monthly subscriber at https://theory-underground.com/donate/ Interested in getting involved? Join the Theory Underground open forum today. Most of the forums are closed until certain readings or courses have been completed, but this is the one that is open! Welcome. https://theory-underground.com/forums/forum/MAIN Help beta trial this at https://theory-underground.com/ Check out the courses, patron tiers and books, as well as events listed at these links: https://theory-underground.com/support https://theory-underground.com/eventsFollow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEISee Theory Underground memes here: https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground/ https://tiktok.com/@theory_underground Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand.https://theory-underground.com/coursesDave’s first book, Waypoint, is available for free at Theory Underground in blog and audio formats. https://theory-underground.com/waypoint/ ^There you can also purchase the text for significantly cheaper than it is on Amazon.MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Song: Bust Down Artist: 808 DEATH CLUB License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 - http://bit.ly/RFP_CClicense Also used in many videos: 🎵 Album: Rear View 🎧 Artist: EVA Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 http://bit.ly/RFP_CClicense

The Cultural Revolution and The Left | Tony of 1Dime

Tony from the video essay channel 1Dime surprises us all with an impromptu lecture on the complexities and historical importance of The Cultural Revolution in Mao's China! Subscribe to @1Dimee here: / @1dimee ABOUT / CREDITS / LINKSIf you want to better understand yourself and the world by asking the hardest questions, wrestling with the most complex problems, and reading the greatest thinkers in the history of philosophy and theory, then welcome. Theory Underground is for and by working class intellectuals, renegade PMCs, and adults who don’t belong or see a future in anything on offer. Buy us some food or coffee:https://www.venmo.com/u/Theorypleebhttps://paypal.me/theorypleebOr become a monthly subscriber at https://theory-underground.com/donate/ Interested in getting involved? Join the Theory Underground open forum today. Most of the forums are closed until certain readings or courses have been completed, but this is the one that is open! Welcome. https://theory-underground.com/forums/forum/MAIN Help beta trial this at https://theory-underground.com/ Check out the courses, patron tiers and books, as well as events listed at these links: https://theory-underground.com/support https://theory-underground.com/eventsFollow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEISee Theory Underground memes here: https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground/ https://tiktok.com/@theory_underground Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand.https://theory-underground.com/coursesDave’s first book, Waypoint, is available for free at Theory Underground in blog and audio formats. https://theory-underground.com/waypoint/ ^There you can also purchase the text for significantly cheaper than it is on Amazon.MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Song: Bust Down Artist: 808 DEATH CLUB License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 - http://bit.ly/RFP_CClicense Also used in many videos: 🎵 Album: Rear View 🎧 Artist: EVA Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 http://bit.ly/RFP_CClicense