SUNDAYS\, weekly for 5 weeks\, beginning July 6\, 2025.
11 AM-1 PM \;Eastern US Time. See \;time zone converter.
A \;Zoom \;link will be provided on registration.
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION
\nPlato&rsquo\;s \;Timaeus \;is one of the most influential texts of all times\, perhaps the first to present a strictly philosophical account of the creation of the world. Since Ideas are eternal\, creation implies a sort of &ldquo\;bastard reasoning&rdquo\; according to which a demiurge gives shape to \;chô\;ra/khô\;ra \; (&chi\;ώ&rho\;&alpha\;)\, translated as &ldquo\;receptacle\,&rdquo\; &ldquo\;matter\,&rdquo\; or &ldquo\;place.&rdquo\;
\nIn Plato&rsquo\;s dialogue\, \;chô\;ra \;is compared to a &ldquo\;midwife&rdquo\; and presented as the &ldquo\;womb of all becoming&rdquo\; which gave rise to a feminist interpretation and critique (Irigaray\, Kristeva). In Derrida&rsquo\;s late essay &ldquo\;Khô\;ra&rdquo\; (1993)\, it even goes beyond the gender binary\, conflating the &ldquo\;third type&rdquo\; of Plato with a &ldquo\;third gender.&rdquo\; As John Caputo concludes: &ldquo\;khô\;ra is not even a receptacle. Khô\;ra has no meaning or essence\, no identity to fall back upon. [&hellip\;] In short\, \;khô\;ra \;is \;tout autre \;[wholly other]\, very.&rdquo\;
\nIn \;chô\;ra \;we are\, thus\, to uncover a blind spot at the very center of Western discourse: the key to overturning Platonism is already hidden in the work of Plato himself. In contrast to a widespread opinion\, Plato not only \;transcends \;Aristotle&rsquo\;s hylomorphism by pointing at Ideas beyond matter (the so-called universals)\; he also \;subscends \;it\, by pointing at the stuff preceding any form (chô\;ra). Put in contemporary terms\, Plato&rsquo\;s \;chô\;ra \;(and that of Derrida) not only goes beyond&mdash\;or rather down below&mdash\;post-Kantian correlationism (Meillassoux)\; perhaps it even challenges the plane of immanence (Deleuze &\; Guattari) by subscending the dichotomy of atheism and religion.
\nFacilitator: Having lived and studied all around the world\, \;Hannes Schumacher \;works at the threshold between philosophy and art. He completed his MA in Berlin with a thesis on Hegel and Deleuze\, and he has also published widely on Nishida\, \;Nāgārjuna\, chaos theory\, global mysticism\, and contemporary art. Hannes is the founder of the Berlin-based publisher \;Freigeist Verlag \;and co-founder of the grassroots art space \;Chaosmos &infin\; \;in Athens\, Greece. Recently\, he has facilitated the following courses and groups at Incite Seminars: &ldquo\;Nishida Kitarō: The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview&rdquo\;\; &ldquo\;Who&rsquo\;s Afraid of Hegel: Introduction to G. W. F. Hegel&rsquo\;s Science of Logic&rdquo\;\; &ldquo\;Chaos Research Group&rdquo\; (current)\; and \;&ldquo\;Reading \;After Finitude \;by Quentin Meillassoux&rdquo\;\; &ldquo\;Deleuze &\; Guattari: What is Philosophy?&ldquo\;
\nCourse MaterialsIn this seminar\, we&rsquo\;ll delve into Plato&rsquo\;s original formulations in the \;Timaeus \;and then discuss one groundbreaking interpretation: that of Derrida. PDFs of both texts will be provided on registration.
\nSessions
1) Introduction: Plato&rsquo\;s chô\;ra in contemporary thought
2) Plato&rsquo\;s chô\;ra in the \;Timaeus \;(48e &ndash\; 53b)
3) Derrida&rsquo\;s &ldquo\;Khô\;ra&rdquo\; 0 &ndash\; I: \;Mise en abyme
4) Derrida&rsquo\;s &ldquo\;Khô\;ra&rdquo\; II &ndash\; IV: \;triton genos
5) Richard Kearney: &ldquo\;God or Khora?&rdquo\;