Infinity Now! Speculative Philosophy and Addiction
This essay is an attempt to look at the existential phenomenon of being addicted from the perspective of speculative philosophy. The starting point is the description of Walter Benjamin’s narcotic experiences. Further in my considerations I am guided by the Kantian categories of the dialectics of pu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Warsaw
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture |
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| Online Access: | https://eidos.uw.edu.pl/infinity-now-speculative-philosophy-and-addiction/ |
| _version_ | 1798035452360392704 |
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| author | Maciej A. Sosnowski |
| author_facet | Maciej A. Sosnowski |
| author_sort | Maciej A. Sosnowski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This essay is an attempt to look at the existential phenomenon of being addicted from the perspective of speculative philosophy. The starting point is the description of Walter Benjamin’s narcotic experiences. Further in my considerations I am guided by the Kantian categories of the dialectics of pure reason, with particular emphasis on transcendental ideas. However, only the philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel along with the concepts of desire and habit allows us to comprehend addiction as a wild and unbridled desire for life, taken over by a dead scheme, by a mechanism, automatism. It is in this behavior, and only in it, that we constantly become aware of ourselves, lose ourselves to the specified objectification, obtain finite satisfaction, and repeat that deadness – this what addiction precisely is according to the Phenomenology of Spirit and the Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences. Hegel links it with an attitude of “stubborn subjectivity” that clings to the limits of its solipsistic finiteness, to the “bad infinity” and seeks satisfaction within its borders. In this way, the German philosopher links addictive behavior with the structure of dialectics itself. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:58:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-91404f897b5644c8bdab0b0b361b86b4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2544-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:58:29Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | University of Warsaw |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture |
| spelling | doaj.art-91404f897b5644c8bdab0b0b361b86b42022-12-22T04:03:36ZengUniversity of WarsawEidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture2544-302X2022-08-0161183510.14394/eidos.jpc.2022.0003Infinity Now! Speculative Philosophy and AddictionMaciej A. Sosnowski 0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1198-6541Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of SciencesThis essay is an attempt to look at the existential phenomenon of being addicted from the perspective of speculative philosophy. The starting point is the description of Walter Benjamin’s narcotic experiences. Further in my considerations I am guided by the Kantian categories of the dialectics of pure reason, with particular emphasis on transcendental ideas. However, only the philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel along with the concepts of desire and habit allows us to comprehend addiction as a wild and unbridled desire for life, taken over by a dead scheme, by a mechanism, automatism. It is in this behavior, and only in it, that we constantly become aware of ourselves, lose ourselves to the specified objectification, obtain finite satisfaction, and repeat that deadness – this what addiction precisely is according to the Phenomenology of Spirit and the Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences. Hegel links it with an attitude of “stubborn subjectivity” that clings to the limits of its solipsistic finiteness, to the “bad infinity” and seeks satisfaction within its borders. In this way, the German philosopher links addictive behavior with the structure of dialectics itself.https://eidos.uw.edu.pl/infinity-now-speculative-philosophy-and-addiction/addictiondialecticspeculative philosophyfinitudebad infinityhappinessbenjaminkanthegel |
| spellingShingle | Maciej A. Sosnowski Infinity Now! Speculative Philosophy and Addiction Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture addiction dialectic speculative philosophy finitude bad infinity happiness benjamin kant hegel |
| title | Infinity Now! Speculative Philosophy and Addiction |
| title_full | Infinity Now! Speculative Philosophy and Addiction |
| title_fullStr | Infinity Now! Speculative Philosophy and Addiction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Infinity Now! Speculative Philosophy and Addiction |
| title_short | Infinity Now! Speculative Philosophy and Addiction |
| title_sort | infinity now speculative philosophy and addiction |
| topic | addiction dialectic speculative philosophy finitude bad infinity happiness benjamin kant hegel |
| url | https://eidos.uw.edu.pl/infinity-now-speculative-philosophy-and-addiction/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maciejasosnowski infinitynowspeculativephilosophyandaddiction |