Slavoj Žižek: The Sublime Object of Ideology
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- čas přidán 15. 05. 2024
- Slavoj Žižek is the modern incarnation of an absolute ton of prior theory. Just mixed with some weird mad scientist aesthetic. He is widely known by many, but, is often either misunderstood or people just don't really know much of his theoretical backdrop. His work includes everything from Hegel, Marx, Althusser, Lacan, Kant, etc. And undeniably, Žižek's magnum opus and baseline for all future work is The Sublime Object of Ideology. This book is so densely packed with theory, that it often needs some external context and further explanation. This is what I have hoped to achieve for some.
The Sublime Object of Ideology concerns itself with the question surrounding ideology, our interactions in the context of psychoanalysis and the like. The book is at the heart and core of Žižek. Thus, undeniably deserves our attention.
Check out PlasticPills:
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Time:
Intro: 0:00
The Symptom: 3:57
Symbolic Orders/Structures: 6:36
Sublime Objects and Ideology: 8:37
Cynicism as Ideology: 20:07
Lacanian Interaction: 25:24
Split Subjectivity and the Subject: 28:58
A Message: 34:22
I read Lacan just to understand Zizek's jokes
Lmao
after reading lacan for the past 2 weeks i now have a whole new interpretation to all zizek jokes i have seen before.
Can you guys recommend me a book of lacan?
@@404infinity No. I have never read "Lacan." I even pronounce "Lacan" like "Bacon" but with an L.
Good first draft of a video. The script and/or your reading of it in places needs an edit.
I feel like I never understand philosophy when it is explained "directly", but as soon as someone gives an analogy I'm like "oh that I totally understand"
You and me alike.
Thus it has ever been.
that's because the human mind works through metaphors and you shouldn't be expected to know concepts that are novel before the are explained through various means
That's how everybody, including philosophers, come to understand philosophy. When the analogies become really familiar and build on each other, it gives the appearance of "direct" engagement.
I’ve almost finished Sublime Object and each paragraph starts with me waiting for a Žižek analogy that makes sense of the preceding 3-4 lines.
No one:
Zizek: "Want Some Faking orange juice"
"yuhhh yuhhh yuhh yuhh. So here its included the cancer u get bc its zero which means instead of sugar u get all those sweeteners."
Notice, that he only has coke and ice tea
@@epochphilosophy Did mah men just found pure ideology on some faking juice.
My ideology is just really really liking orange juice.
@@epochphilosophy 3:33 - 3:34 theres a skip that may be unwanted and unnoticed. also 15:43 - 15:44
Yogacara Buddhism explained a lot of this 1000 years ago... The self is a tool for interfacing with the world, formed by conditioning, but the point is not to extinguish or kill that self, it is to realize the nature of it as a useful conceptual tool for living in the world as we find ourselves. The alternative is to be embedded in the self as a reified, real, permanent thing, in which case we are prey to thinking the conditioning and concepts that make up the self IS the true reality. The idea that one must "kill the self" would be to chase just another idea.
I wanted to read Zizek, but it's better when the embodiment of the Lacanian Other relieves me of my responsibility to do so
I don't know what that means, but I wish I did. I feel relieved now, thanks mate!
As in, this CZcams video did the reading for you so you can drink some fucking fruit juice instead lmao
interpassivity brother, youtube channels digest the theory so you never have to
I like to think it's like when you watch a Veritasium video about general relativity. Will you be able to solve Einstein's equations or read technical papers about the subject? Of course no, not even close. But at least now we, the layperson, have a better idea of what it is and the impact it has in the universe.
commenting to seek validation in this decision?
The sublime object(s) of ideology, seem like Foucault's idea of the episteme, concepts so deeply rooted in society, that they govern the very creation of concepts within people of that society itself.
\You and Pills both deserve so much more recognition. Fantastic video and thank you for creating content on these topics
Thank you so much. I second that with Pills. The dude is the final dark souls boss of theory-tube.
Are you talking about plastic pills?
Sadly CZcams is not about to let that happen
Yo, everyone! This was hands down the densest video I have done. But, It seems to have turned out alright if I say so myself. Little acknowledgment (before theory Chads go in on me): there was some bits and pieces of nuance surrounding Lacan and Hegel in the book that was left out. But, at 35 minutes, I wanted to get to the total essence of the book. Lacan and Hegel via Zizek is a possible future video.
If you guys enjoyed this, if this makes some of the theory surrounding Zizek easier to understand, please consider pledging on Patreon. Making these videos require quite a bit of resources. Resources that my broke college self struggle to garner. If you have it in your heart to help this project moving forward, any tier helps so much. Here is the link: www.patreon.com/epochphilosophy
this was reallllly dense for a layman like me.
I apologize if some stuff was more obscure than expected. If there is anything you need help understanding, pop in our discord and message me. I would love to help out if needed.
More than happy to help!
This was really well done. Bravo.
I made some videos that explain this phenomenon within the context of the alt-right. It's basically almost Baudrillardian, how these people act.
@@epochphilosophy i did join the discord. But I don't even know what to ask. It's not like not understanding, but more like some unfamiliar terms got me confused. that's the same i guess, idk lol?
That was excellent. I’m reminded of this quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein - ‘The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.’
Falling on this video at random at 1am after a very boring afternoon is just the most crazy rollercoster I've ever experienced.
Welcome to Zizek, friend.
Ultimately, I must say that this ultimate video is ultimately a good attempt at ultimately deciphering Zizek. I ultimately enjoyed the analysis, and the ultimate recommendation, the ultimate video essay channel, Plastic Pills
and so on and so forth
This is an impressive summary of a very complex work that draws from so many different places
holy shit, can't believe i haven't come across you yet. good shit
Thanks so much, friend. Comments like these mean the world.
The algorithm knows me too well, I had just finished the first chapter of this book last week but felt like I needed a secondary source. Thanks!
Such an amazing video!
your fan from Taiwan :)
野生super y 🙋🏻♂️🙋🏻♂️oh you want to know more about slavoj zizek too
甚麼時候講齊澤克啊！！！
RETURN TO BEIJING 🇨🇳
Lmao an unexpected encounter
Your fan from Hong Kong :)
I feel like a changed man after this video, great work.
How do you not have millions of subs?
Comments like this warm my heart. That is the whole goal, to change our subjectivity, yeah?
Thanks so much for the kind words.
Nobody wants to hear their lives suck, unless they really suck.
I blame capitalism
I just got introduced to your channel and this is the first content I saw. It just blew mind how you have managed to take a such a theoretically dense text as The Sublime Object of Ideology and break it down to its most basic form possible and do an in-depth analysis of it in the format of a video. Attempting to do such a mammoth task requires some serious levels of guts which you surely have.
Eagerly waiting for your further text based analysis videos.
I am sharing your content to my fellow earthlings who are into similar discourses.
Goodluck man.
I truly wish I could reply to every comment on my videos, but comments like these I have to.
Thank you so much. It truly takes my heart, soul and wallet to make these videos. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. Truly, these comments make it more than worth it.
Terrific video. I need to re-watch again (and probably again) to get a little more 'sink in' going on. I highly appreciate you making these type of complex philosophical concepts more accessible to the layman.
Great video. Your editing skills are top tier, this is a pleasure not only to to listen to but also to watch. Hope you get big!
I'm trying to understand the book at the moment as part of my PhD thesis and I must say it has been quite tough but your video really helped me distill certain concepts and unpack them effectively. Thank you.
On the other hand I am curious to understand what are the key differences between subjectivity as explained by Zizek and subjectivity as explained by Foucault.
it’s been a while since i’ve studied his philosophy and the surrounding field, so i’m gonna shoot from the memory of what i think i learned lol; just dont shoot me.
for Žižek, “subject” is a concept for a specific-i’m not sure what else to call it otherwise-place: “subject”, the concept, points to a certain place, that is, a “gap” (Žižek’s preferred term) in an only-seemingly-smooth system (ideological systems, economic configurations, social and political fields). “gap”, which i believe is intimately tied with the (Hegelian) notion of “negativity”, maybe difficult to understand, and i may be missing the mark here, but the way it makes sense to me atm is that it refers to the incompleteness and imperfection of various systematic fields, such as the ones i’ve mentioned. i’m understanding this as explaining, or rather, also being explained by, the common sense use of the word “subjective”: heterogeneity of position, variety of viewpoints, differences in opinion, so called freedom of individual thought, the reality that we are not totally robots nor totally governed by “animal nature”, all of that is made possible by a faulty and imperfect “system”, and subject is the name for that place where a taken-for-granted system fails to complete its own circle. put another way, subject, or maybe rather what is “our” subject(ivity), appears at that self-reflexive point where we are not simply guided by a system as a puppet is, where we are not and when we realize we are not simply being commanded by a smoothly operating natural force. by this same logic, subject describes this out of jointness that appears in the fragmentations of our social, ideational space: there isn’t some perfect force nor a perfect field of ideas (ie our moral fabric) dictating our interactions and guiding our behavior. there is disparity, and subject is the name that marks this disparity or gap. i think this notion of subject as a gap can also be illustrated as a moment of pure self-awareness, a moment when we see ourselves, or better yet, when we pause and break from the uninterrupted unthought feeling of living and become aware of our surroundings (and think “wait a minute...”)
i may be inaccurate about this, and maybe made things more confusing, but at this moment late at night and far from having refreshed my memory, i think “subject” is tied with “gap” and “negativity” for Žižek, and my thoughts on that is what i’ve just illustrated (i hope i get schooled on this sometime haha). hope this helps. i think we should re-read the third part of Sublime Object again though...
@@totenrique I've just started in on a deep dive into Marcus Gabriel's theory of new ontological realism and your comment got me thinking. Your use of the term field of ideas, field of economy, etc., made me think of Gabriel's concept of fields of sense just due to plain word association. I wonder if your explanation of the Zizekian Subject as a gap in particular fields could translate at all into a subject for Gabriel as a gap in a field of sense, or if there could be any relations between either theories. I know they have both written a book on German Idealism together so maybe a proper Zizekian reading of Gabriel or vice-versa is possible. I don't know enough yet about what constitutes a Subject for Gabriel yet to know of this could be plausible or not. This is off topic but I couldn't help to wonder about this when you started on about gaps in fields.
This is one of his easier books 🙄
What PhD are you doing that you get to study this kind of thing? Philosophy? Sociology? Political Sci? Cheers...
@@Caaaaspeeer this is the kind of research i'd do in my dream life, which i'm unable to reach atm, but someday ... peace
Been waiting for an understandable explainer , this is good
Plastic pill videos brought me here and I just want you to know, you too produce very accessible videos. Thank you!
Zizek's ideas on ideology reminds me of Jean Baudrillard's post-structural ideas on simulacra, simulation and hyperrealities (Simulacra and Simulation, 1980). A hyperreality is the simulation of the original: it has all the superficial traits of the authentic (event, object, etc.) but it has completely lost it's base in the original. The original is completely forgotten and the simulation is the new reality in whole form.
yes, they are both constructions, subject to revisions
this video is like canned laughter, in that I would really wish to comprehend Zizek, but instead I partake of this video so the speaker can do the task for me.
Just found this channel, but you now have my full attention. This was one of the best explanations of Zizek I’ve come across (and I’ve seen a LOT of them). Looking forward to future analyses!
Cheers 🍻
Dude, just discovered your channel and loving it so far! Keep it up like that!!!
Dude I've just found your channel this is an absolute gem!
If I understand anything from this video, it is mostly from partially understood a priori knowledge, I have gleaned from other Western philosophers. The easiest concept for me to understand, was the one you seemed to indicate was the hardest to understand, "The Real". The Real seems to be identical to the type of mindful perception of reality, (this reality being the thing that lies below/grounding the constant conceptualizing of reality into discrete objects by the mind) which Buddhists usually associate with the Bodhi/Awakeful mind. I wish there was some type of movement within philosophy, to clarify the type of jargon which has built up in philosophy over the centuries, it might be helpful to philosophers themselves to engage in a period of clearing away the type of verbal debris that seemed to have built up, and it would definitely communicate this very important field called philosophy, to the non-expert audience in the general public. I am not a philosopher, just a non-expert interested in the subject, keep up the good work.
God what a great video, I'm reading The
Puppet and The Dwarf and this is the book I plan to read after. I know it's going to be a challenge because I haven't read anything about Lacan or psychoanalysis and when he talked about the real in the puppet I lost my way hahaha crazy guy Zizek. Watching youTube videos like these (your quality is incredible) has actually helped me to understand some of his work and has inspired me to read during this quarantine. I'm an engineer and reading his work it's not an easy task, keep the good work!!
I’m glad this video was recommended to me by the algorithm. Superb quality video, subscribed!
Man oh man, this IS a good Zizek breakdown. Congrats!
Great work! Hope to see this channel getting bigger. This was really helpful to someone like me (theory is hard).
I have been avoiding it since I read it a couple years back, but I think I will tackle The Sublime Object once again. Great video, subscribed! 🦦
That first read is something else, yeah? TSOOI deserves a couple reads.
Great Job, that back and forth from the markets and the society remind me the Deleuzian concept of "Desiring Machines", the markets being another form of machine, or maybe some sort of repository for desire, thank you so much for the vid, I already subscribe!
Watching this and letting the CZcams ads play out in full was most interesting.
Best one was for a car brand. Toyota I think. The slogan "Just Zen".
Pacified Westerners on all-white background in red cars. Soothing yet annoying jingle.
That's ideology at work. Sublime. Object. It was all there.
Hey, man. Appreciate bearing through the ads till the end. That helps support the channel. But, funny that it also brings context to the video, yeah?
@@epochphilosophy Indeed. If I were a "stupid Jungian" (SZ) I might think it was Synchronicity.
It's not.
Congrats on the 1k subs my dude :)
writing my master's thesis on the althusserian concept of ideology and this was absolutely fantastic. huge thanks!
18:46 - Just want to forcefully jam some lyrics from one of my favorite bands Protest the Hero in their song Reverie here as it comes to mind and I think encapsulates the idea pretty succinctly:
_Freedom is incarceration by a different name_
_I'm free to walk the streets but I'm financially detained_
Dialectics baybeee. Also, this is awesome. I too hail PlasticPills as the king of youtube theory, though I have yet to see any of your other videos, so the sublime object of theory/philosophy youtube video content remains unchanged...for now.
This was dope ! Ultimate video ! Excellent quality.
Pretty good video here. Thanks for going through all of this.
But ideology, from marx's point of view, isnt only apply to lower classes: all the classes "suffers" the effect of ideology. What happens is that the dominant ideology is the ideology os the dominant class.
Great Work! Keep 'em coming!
Thank you so much for sharing this.
Man you deserve more recognition.
This was of great help in understanding the book
I usually don't comment but this video was great man! I've always wanted some of Zizek's ideas broken down and this certainly helped me understand better, thanks. I'm also glad to learn about plasticpill, I'll be sure to check out his stuff too.
Thank you so much friend! Definitely be sure to check him out! PlasticPills is great.
If you want to support this channel further, and get these ideas out in a digestible way, consider supporting here:
www.patreon.com/epochphilosophy
Every little bit counts!
Very clearly described. Thank you!
Thank you, this was incredible
Dude, congratulations! What a fine work!
Thanks so much!
Thank you, brother!
I think this is the fifth time I watch the video. Thank you for such precise examples and definitions. This video made me apply the Sublime Objet of Ideology to the Chilean state and parties and wow, everything makes sense through these new Slovenian ideological lenses! Greeting from Chile.
I have no idea why I thought zer0 books released this on their channel. This was fucking awesome it popped up on my CZcams feed as I was planning on maybe reading it tonight. Amazing job , just subscribed, you are very clear and your editing is really professional and effective.
Hey, I appreciate that so much. Zer0 Books is awesome, though. I definitely put my heart and soul into these videos. But, despite the work, I wouldn't have it any other way!
If you really enjoy this stuff, maybe consider pledging a couple bucks a month on Patreon. Keeps the lights on for a broke college student like myself: www.patreon.com/epochphilosophy
Epoch Philosophy i could tell, i was really surprised that this was not from a source as “legitimate” as zer0 books, I can’t wait to read this book. And yeah broke college student life sucks, only in America the richest country, are 52% of 18-29 year olds living with their parents. I think that sums up how difficult it is to live alone in America at a young age. But of course ideology says that we are just lazy!
I’m gunna check out more videos I’ll definitely hit up your patreon.
Also out of curiosity, what do you study? I’m assuming you’re in America, I’m also a college student and I’ve just been taking classes at a community college and really want to take classes on philosophy or Marxism. Good classes on the former are hard to find and classes on the latter are basically non existent. You might not even have a degree relating to either but I’m just curious. Anyways I appreciate the content I’m definitely Gunna watch some more and subscirbe
@@fuzzydunlop4513 Appreciate that my friend! But, I graduated from a community college before university. The way to go in the states tbh. That is true. Prospects are dismal for us. Recently lost my research job too as my state cut education hard. But, I actually am on my last year for a political science and history double major. But, I got heavy into philosophy and theory as I really started to dislike political science. (Incredibly ideological, super neo-liberal, some of the most stupid academics I have met, and just overall a really bad field.)
@@epochphilosophy Just saw this, thanks for your reply. I'm now reminded to subscribe to your Patreon, sorry to hear that about your job, that fucking sucks hope you're managing. I feel that about political science, I'm taking a macroeconomics class and contradictions are brought up all the time. "Is it possible to have zero unemployment" YES!!! Just not in capitalism. What has been your process for learning philosophy and theory, I'm 22 and after fucking my life and not caring about anything for the first 20-21 years of my life, I got into philosophy and marxism. I found when I wasn't going to school, that I had so much more time to read and was wondering how you've been able to balance school and your interests in philosophy
That Freedom quote blew me away 🔥
really good at breaking it down for me. Thank you.
"I am already eating from the trash can all the time. The name of this trash can is Ideology." Absolute Legend.
fantastic job unpacking a very dense text and making an often idiosyncratic thinker coherent.
i would love to see you do Wittgenstein and Philosophical Investigations.
Really love this breakdown, thank you
Great video, thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Outstanding video!! Thank you!
This is a extremely rich video, thank you.
It was outstanding, thank you. I do not understand it wholy but I get some concepts and more important now I feel curious about the topic and motivated to learn more about it.
Thank you so much, friend. That is the whole goal: to create a resource that allows people to explore these works in a easier and more efficient manor. Consider pledging a couple bucks on Patreon a month if you want to see more. This is how I keep the lights on: www.patreon.com/epochphilosophy
Learned so much from this, great video!
this video is absolutely incredible. just subbed :)
Your content makes me feel like my brain is running a marathon and I like that.
Agree with you about Plastic Pills--he's brilliant - listened to nearly all his talks at least once, twice +more.
I love this canal!!
Very nice video. Good job!
awesome video. and great the plasticpills reference
Great explanation. Also fantastic editing, choice of footage and music! Almost too interesting.
This is a really excellent piece. Well done.
Thank you so much for this. Comments like these really mean a ton. If you really do enjoy this channel. Consider pledging a couple bucks on Patreon! It keeps this alive: www.patreon.com/epochphilosophy
Love the content and the asthetic of the video
This is very well done.
I have to watch this, about 10 times.
Randomly stumbled across your account. You got my sub!
Thanks, there needs to be more videos on his books on youtube
Great video man!
Really good video and breakdown 👍
Appreciate it my dude.
Fuckin fire ass video dude, i've had some trouble fully grasping Zizek in the past because i'm a buffoon but this video made it so much easier to conceptualize some of his theories. Thank you for helping to spread knowledge in a very palatable way, i'm subbed 😊
Dry interesting, thanks for making this video!
"I already am eating [...]" that intro never gets old :)
its cool seeing some examination or breakdown of zizek's work, I read this book years ago and at the time probably absorbed 10 percent of it, Now through great effort from you, I've absorbed 15 percent of it! this isnt an indictment of your ability, but my own lol.
Lol, this comment describes my own experience nearly perfectly. I was given this book years and years ago and i read it and i feel that i learned a lot but i knew that i only understood very little. Since then ive watched and listened to a lot of Zizeks work and i still dont understand half of it. The man is just soooo cool. His debate vs jordan peterson was epic. JP was totally outed as a phony
Great review!
Man I loved your video, I am reading the book right now and this helped so much.
On a different note, it's hard listening to a 35 min video when every other sentence has the word "ultimately" in it.
Thank you! Super glad. But, completely resonate with your last critique. My scripting process has TOTALLY changed and I very seldomly repeat words like I used to.
This was a problem for me early on lol.
I'm poor friend, but when I get a job I will donate you money. I alredy subscribed and activated notifications. Thank you for explaining this book.
Great video! Thanks!
Fuark man. This is tight..!
The most important and the least appreciated. Indeed, this is the fate of the philosopher at the cutting edge of 'reality.' I love him and always will. Those who would undermine or belittle his thought are fated to obsolescence.
just in, thanks youtube for recommending me this, randomly came across it as i usually search zizek in the search bar
Lol, don't we all
Thank you.
I share that common conceit that what is contained in the books of Kant and Hegel can be better explained by a homeless man than by these aristocrats. Žižek is a homeless aristocrat.
Shouts to Plasticpills
just commenting to help the algorithm lol. great video, learned quite a bit
Damn nice vid!! I learned a lot
Really well explained !! 👏
Very good reading of Zizek! It's Belgrade in 70's in video:)
Good read recommendation: "Marx's Dreams" by Tom Rockmore - Glad to see more theory popping up to clarify this dense history of philosophy and psychoanalysis and traditions.
Great job!
Very helpful!
The big lebowski is a wonderful movie. They live also looks interestung if that is unaltered.
Edit: I agree with svivej to a certain extent.
What an amazing video.
Thanks!