Mladen Dolar - On Rumors (more or less)

Mladen Dolar (University of Ljubljana)

Mladen Dolar, one of today’s most important and intriguing philosophers and one of the founders of what has become known as the ‘Ljubljana Lacanian School’, together with Alenka Zupancic and Slavoj Zizek is finally back in Antwerp!

He will talk about his new book “On Rumors”, a follow-up of his pioneering book on the voice (A Voice and Nothing More).

Rumors are not usually an object of philosophical enquiry. What can philosophy say about such trivial, frivolous and undignified phenomena as rumors, gossip, hearsay, slander, calumny? 

one can recall the career of Socrates, the model philosopher who at the outset of philosophy courageously promoted the proper knowledge based on logos and aiming at truth, and who was subsequently ruined by rumors which led to his trial, sentence and death

What is the mysterious power of rumors that can defeat the resources of logos?

the point is not to dwell on the history, picturesque as it is, but to address the present predicament. With the advent of mass media, culminating in the internet and the recent surge of social media, the propagation of rumors got a new swing, incomparable to anything in history by the extent, the speed and the global reach.

The consequence of this rumorization is the paradoxical upshot that the more there is information, the less knowledge can assert itself; the more there is communication, the more the social fabric threatens to fall apart. 

The talk will be followed by a conversation with Björn Schmelzer linking rumors to the history and politics of voice, art and polyphony.

Free entrance with optional donation