Tautology, Infinite Judgment & Pure Form
The ontological space opened by infinite judgment, characterized by virtual existence (like the undead or ghosts) that haunts the boundary between inside and outside.
In his words 8
“If you say you are inhuman, it means non-humanity, an excess over humanity but an excess which is inherent to humanity itself.”~0:00 The Reality of the Virtual · infinite judgment — inhuman excess as the kernel of humanity
“'You are not dead' means you are alive. But 'you are undead' — this means you are alive as dead, a living dead. A third domain is opened of some obscene life which insists beyond life and death.”~1:13:28 The Return to Hegel · infinite judgment and the undead
“The monstrosity of Christ: this mere miserable individual nobody crucified between two bandits and so on — this is God himself.”7:34 Is God Dead? · the infinite judgment of Incarnation
The stories that teach it
the jokes and anecdotes he reaches for when he works in this idea, ranked by how many of its talks they turn up in; each card is one story, with every retelling on its page
Kant's infinite judgment / 'I am undead'
Žižek contrasts Kant's three judgment forms: 'I am alive' (positive), 'I am not dead' (negative, meaning alive), and 'I am undead' (infinite), the last opens a third spectral domain identified with the death drive and the living dead of horror movies.
Tarkovsky as most materialist and most spiritualist filmmaker
Žižek uses Tarkovsky to illustrate the paradox of 20th-century finitude-based spiritualism: precisely because we are stuck in our bodies and environment, this gives existence an unfathomable abyss, the most materialist filmmaker is also the most spiritual.
Einstein: curvature of space is primary, matter is its effect
Einstein's move from special to general relativity, first matter curves space, then curvature is primary and matter is an effect, is used as a philosophical parallel to the shift from Kant to Hegel and to the Lacanian Real as formal impossibility.
Nixon's trip to China as utopian act
Nixon visiting China, doing what appeared politically impossible given China's status as ultimate evil superpower, is cited as a modest example of enacting utopia: an act that changed the entire symbolic coordinates by doing the impossible.
Kant on Revolution
Kant’s paradox that a revolution is illegal, but if it succeeds and establishes a new legal order, it becomes prohibited to rebel against it, showing how outcomes retroactively validate means.
Organic apples as ideology
Žižek confesses he buys organic apples not because he is convinced they are better but because it makes him feel good, as if he is doing something for Mother Earth. The purchase functions ideologically regardless of sincere belief.
Where it comes up 34
39 moments located in the transcripts, click a timestamp to play from there