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Intelligence-Love-Revolution
Sepideh Majidi
Presentation at Kherson National Technical University in Ukraine
May 9th, 2024
Inspired by the “European Future: Philosophical and Educational Studies” conference, at the Kherson National Technical University in Ukraine, Intelligence-Love-Revolution is an upcoming educational program in Foreign Objekt that consists of:
1. Selection of Case Studies:
• Publication: Blog in Posthuman School.
• Process: Participants write a creative/critical/experimental analysis of a case study through the lens of the triadic problem titled Intelligence-Love-Revolution.
2. Extraction of Conceptual Framework:
• Exhibition: Diagrams and sketches from the Posthuman Art Network.
• Process: Diagram and sketch of your theoretical framework, for your proposed model within the modeling unit.
3. Modeling:
• Modeling: Foreign Objekt.
• Process: Use the derived parameters to construct or refine models, testing different scenarios and interactions influenced by the triad of Intelligence-Love-Revolution. By virtue of a number of interpretive parameters, such as scale, scope, and dynamic properties, an accurate description of phenomena endows a target with a theoretical structure.
Intelligence-Love-Revolution draws on extensive research in Collectivity and Ethics, Methodological Collectives & Transformative Formations. This framework serves as the foundation for creating the collective educational program, emphasizing the dynamic between theoretical inquiry and practical application.
The initial idea is based on the collective methodologies of local political/social formations that allow transformations or alterations at the level of global structures. There are two main questions: What are the transformative powers of local formations? Moreover, what are Transformative Formations?
The transformative power of local formations, in tandem with global transformations, requires a construct of methodological collectivism, as opposed to methodological individualism, which presupposes a local modality of dialectics in which each local transformation accompanies the other but with no opportunity for integration or synthesis. In a sense, today's models lack the integration between methodological collectivism, hegemony-building, and personal liberty.
Global structures are not capitalistic by nature. Rather, we are dealing with processes of totalization in progress which, if taken as complete or achieved, become metaphysical ideas. In the local/global dialectic, from the magnitudes of monstrous global constructs, comes the rigid correlation between the functions of capitalism and its structural bases (mediation of the States). On another level, however, the correlation that determines the founding gesture for interrogation of the general or universal structure, pertains to the conditions of possibility otherwise manifested as transcendental limits for historical realizations, with concrete realization of collectivities.
In general, if we can fix such a problem and resolution, then we should not take the divide or discontinuity between the levels and scales needed to construct or constitute philosophical systems for granted. And in the same vein, in biological, computational, and evolutionary theories as well. Indeed, there are continuities and discontinuities between the levels of phenomena under study, whether such levels are considered at explanatory, descriptive or normative levels.
The condition of possibility serves as a limit, in both Kantian and Aristotelian senses, delineating the boundaries between physics and mathematics, or between mathematics and logic. This philosophical boundary enables a critical distinction: the abstract, inherently lacking true mobility, versus the determined—also known as the concrete. Importantly, in philosophical terms, ‘determined’ refers to ‘determinacy,’ indicating defined characteristics or conditions, rather than being causally determined in a traditional sense. Unlike the abstract, this local exhibits mobility because it exists in a state of suspension or sublation. This dynamic state allows it to integrate and express the complexities of reality, that which has come together and integrated as an outgrowth of reality–whose mobility belongs to thought and nature and reality. Thus, the determinate is continually evolving, reflecting a fluid yet structured reality where mobility and stability coexist.
Revolution is the question of this mobility. The movements of local(e)s, collective's waves, pushing out of joint, rupture the limits and horizons of historical time, the rigid mediations of the states, that is to say, entrenched conditions of possibility seeming immutable, from Leviathans to states of transcendental conditions of being human.
We can call strivings at such ruptures, testing the limits of transcendental conditions, as hypotheses of history, and renegotiations of such conditions and limits as revolutions, all understood as adequate computations, or computational constraints, both enabling and disabling, without which the possibilities of new conditions for other paradigms of intelligence and love remain distant human dreams. Such computations are fundamentally understood as collective movements and history, and conversely such movements are ultimately paradigms of computations, which are yet to be recognized and theorized about.
Intelligence-Love-Revolution, as an educational program, is a collective task of ongoing research, facilitated through an interactive network of philosophers, artists, scientists, and activists. This initiative thrives on propositions and explanations that stem from deep engagements with our practical case studies and theoretical frameworks, actively renegotiating and re-axiomatizing our understanding of the world. Participants in this dynamic platform contribute to, and expand upon, conceptual groundwork, continuously modifying and amplifying existing philosophical and theoretical models and their interrelations. This process not only looks at the trajectories and ramifications of these models but also ensures that philosophy—as a discipline dedicated to love and intelligence— evolves. Through this collaborative and transformative endeavor, we extend an invitation to engage in a shared repository. This communal pool, or open-source toolkit, is designed to navigate and respond to the increasingly complex behaviors and attitudes among interacting agents, challenging entrenched systems and stimulating transformative changes, reflecting the dynamic interplay between philosophical thought and the world.
Intelligence - Love - Revolution
Case Study: Death of Socrates - Symposium
Sepideh Majidi
Diagrams and Notes
Descend into the underworld with a dying Socrates to meet Diotima, Outside View.
Socrates:
The philosopher, a seeker of death, dwells within the flocks of the gods. To flee from the gods or to align oneself with someone, love - these paths may both lead to death. Yet, if I doubted my companionship with the best, I would scarcely entertain the offer of death. After death, a new life awaits.
I will utter but three cups of poison, for the poison of words linger long in a warm body. When shall I, then, welcome death with open arms? Those true to the philosophical path harbor the desire for death, as they do not shy away from its approach. Philosophers, indeed, are meant to die. What form of death truly constitutes the death of something? Is it merely the soul's departure from the body, or is there more to this separation? The philosopher liberates the soul (Slave) from its chains - between him and death lies no distance, and there is no distance between her (Diotima) and love. Away from the body in search of truth, the soul is forever released from the corporeal tether. The alien us, the true essence of who I am, always seeks liberation. Should one fear this journey if it leads to a domain where she who has departed from our current topos awaits me in a wondrous assembly--to free us from God's tribulations?
Indeed, if these are the possibilities that death holds, according to the legomena of old, then perhaps the philosopher does not merely seek death, but rather, an entry into a more profound dialogue- a communion with the death itself, where the soul might revel in the unending joy of philosophical corruption of the mortal and immortal coil. This, indeed, could be the greatest gain, the true Agathon, embracing the end of life as we ever know.
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Important links and exhibition spaces:
Foreign Objekt: https://www.foreignobjekt.com/
Posthuman Art Laboratory: https://www.posthumanart.com/
The Space. Gallery: https://www.thespace.gallery/
Posthuman School: https://www.posthumanschool.com/
If you have any questions, email: sepideh@foreignobjekt.com
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Sepideh Majidi is a philosopher. In 2019, she established Foreign Objekt, a collective research platform for philosophy and art, offering freely available resources. She also founded the Posthuman School, Posthuman art network, and the Posthuman Lab, dedicated to exploring the intersections of posthuman theories and philosophical anthropology.
Her current focus is a reformulation of the history of philosophy as a system for hypothesizing and inquiring into the possibility of different forms of life and their corresponding worlds, working out this central thesis that the concrete explication of the perennial concerns of philosophy introduce an impersonal conception of intelligence distinguished by its ability to not only imagine but also think through different forms of life.
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