General von Moltke and the Prussian king

As told 4

“May I be the first to congratulate Your Majesty for a brilliant victory?”
35:05 The Limits of Hegel: Rabble, War, Sex and Marriage2011-05-12 · 1:23:07

“General Moltke... turned to the King and told him, 'May I be the first to congratulate Your Majesty for a brilliant victory,'... The King formally won but he was a total idiot he didn’t know.”
Slavoj Žižek — On G.W.F. Hegel, Lecture 4 [Remaster]2009-08 · 1:17:36

“May I be the first to congratulate your Majesty for a brilliant victory?”
25:58 Vote: For Hegel2011-11-24 · 1:26:05

What it carries

one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)

contents · one story, 3 jobsuses

decentered subject ×2 constitutive stupidity of the king ×1 symbolic castration ×1

Its cast and sources

populated by

Markus Gabriel2 Helmuth von Moltke (the Elder)2 Jack London2 Napoleon III1 John Malkovich1 opera: Parsifal1 film: They Live1 personal/autobiographical1

alongside works

Tales of Hoffmann2 Martin Eden2 The Double Life of Véronique2 Black Swan2 Sibelius's Fourth Symphony1 Seminar on Identification1 Philosophy of Religion1 Mahler's Adagietto1

Told together with

50% Black Swan and the female-mission death myth 2 shared talks 40% Martin Eden and symbolic success 2 shared talks 33% The King's Speech as training in royal stupidity 2 shared talks

Every retelling 4

35:05 The Limits of Hegel: Rabble, War, Sex and Marriage2011-05-12 · 1:23:07

During the Austro-Prussian war, the Prussian king watched what seemed like defeat from a hill while General von Moltke actually commanded. Moltke turned to the king and said 'May I be the first to congratulate Your Majesty for a brilliant victory?' The king is the embodiment of symbolic authority who does nothing, his 'constitutive stupidity' is the condition of sovereign legitimacy., illustrating constitutive stupidity of the king,symbolic castration,Hegelian monarchy

Slavoj Žižek — On G.W.F. Hegel, Lecture 4 [Remaster]2009-08 · 1:17:36

In the Prussian-Austrian war, the King observes chaos and fears defeat, but General Moltke congratulates him on a 'brilliant victory' because the King was actually winning. The King is a 'total idiot' but formally the victor, illustrating the 'decentered subject.', illustrating decentered subject,monarchy

25:58 Vote: For Hegel2011-11-24 · 1:26:05

During the Austro-Prussian War, the Prussian king watched the battle in worried confusion while General von Moltke, who had already controlled everything, turned to the king at the moment of victory and said 'May I congratulate your Majesty for a brilliant victory?', illustrating Hegel's point that the sovereign need not know, only formally decide., illustrating Hegel's theory of monarchy,symbolic identity,contingency in authority

4:37 Populism and Democracy2009-06-18 · 1:32:07

During a Prussian battle, the king (formal commander, ignorant of what is happening) watches in confusion while General von Moltke, the true strategic mind, turns to him and says 'may I be the first to congratulate Your Majesty for a brilliant victory.' The king won without knowing it., illustrating master signifier,gap between knowledge and authority,democracy as informed sovereignty