Episode 610 – Simon Critchley

Virtual Memories Show

Virtual Memories Show 610:
Simon Critchley

“The history of philosophy is largely a bunch of blokes with their treatises, and there’ll be one or two women here and there, but in mysticism there’s a tradition where women have a central function: they’re the agents of it, the messengers on it, the commentators on it, too. That allows you to form a counter-tradition to the dominant philosophical and theological tradition.”

With his fantastic new book, MYSTICISM (NYRB), philosopher Simon Critchley explores mystic traditions from medieval Christianity to the present. We talk about the evolving definition of mysticism, its female-centric history, how it’s not just the moment of revelation but the adoption of a form practice (like Julian of Norwich’s half-day of revelations and ~40 years of theological examination of them), and whether today’s aesthetic experiences can truly be a substitute for the religious transcendence of the past. We get into attention as a form of mysticism and close reading as a form of attention, how we can try to overcome this age of distraction upon distraction, what it means to de-create our creaturely self and ‘get out of our own way’, how philosophy treated religion as bonkers, and why he’s drawn to the weirdness of Christianity. We also discuss how he’s made a publishing career out of death, how we each faced our theoretical deaths and found liberation in their wake, the music he makes with his oldest friend, John Simmons, how Brian Eno’s concept of a Scenius is hard to create virtually, how his life and his teaching have changed since the pandemic began, The Time He Got To Meet Nick Cave (grr!), and a lot more. Give it a listen! And go read MYSTICISM!

“Mysticism addresses something deep and personal in people, and that interested me. It allows them to scratch an itch they didn’t know they had.”

“It’s impossible to be an atheist when you’re listening to the music that you love.”

“You can’t understand history without religion: the three Abrahamic faiths and much else besides. The idea that we’re living in a post-religious world is ridiculous. We’re living in a transposed religious world.”

“Initially, lockdown was great! I’d been trying to be alone in a room my whole life, and there I was, alone in a room.”

Enjoy the conversation! Then check out the archives for more great episodes!

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About our Guest

Simon Critchley has written over twenty books, including works of philosophy and books on Greek tragedy, dead philosophers, David Bowie, football, suicide, and many other subjects. He is the Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York and a Director of the Onassis Foundation.

Follow Simon on Instagram and Facebook, and follow Critchley And Simmons on Instagram and go listen to our 2019 conversation.

Credits: This episode’s music is Fella by Hal Mayforth, used with permission from the artist. The conversation was recorded at Simon’s office on a pair of Blue enCORE 200 microphones feeding into a Zoom PodTrak P4 digital recorder & interface. I recorded the intro and outro on a Heil PR-40 Dynamic Studio Recording Microphone feeding into a Zoom PodTrak P4. All processing and editing done in Adobe Audition CC. Photos of Simon by me. It’s on my instagram.