Deadbeat Philosophy

Lucy Schultz is associate lecturer of philosophy and co-director of the environmental studies minor at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Lucy is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on, among other topics, environmental philosophy, modern Japanese philosophy, Hegel, aesthetics, phenomenology, climate change, and is the co-editor of the “Tetsugaku Companion to Nishida Kitaro” (2022).Lucy and Dave chat about place and spatiality, modern Japanese philosophy, the notion of “eastern vs. western” philosophy, Tetsuro Watsuji’s work on the intersection between nature, climate, and culture, Martin Heidegger, René Descartes, G.W.F. Hegel’s philosophies of nature and history, the unhealthy relationship to death prevalent in mainstream culture today, the sixth mass extinction, climate grief, our responsibility towards future generations, and more.Lucy’s WebpageLucy’s recommendations:“Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Water Garden,” Part 1 and Part 2 (Documentary)Andreas Malm, “How to Blow Up at Pipeline” (Book)Daniel Goldhaber, “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” (Film)The War on Drugs, “A Deeper Understanding” (Album) Get full access to Deadbeat Philosophy at deadbeatphilosophy.substack.com/subscribe

Aidan Beatty is a historian at Carnegie Mellon University and the current president of the American Conference for Irish Studies. Aidan is author of the books Masculinity and Power in Irish Nationalism, 1884-1938 (2016), Private Property and the Fear of Social Chaos (2023), and, most recently, The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism (2024).Aidan and Dave chat about Irishness, ideology, whiteness, stereotypes, the history of private property, Marx & Engels, the Russian Revolution, Jewish history and identity, martyrdom, disciplinary divergences and overlaps between history and philosophy, and much else besides.Aidan’s WebpageAidan’s recommendations:Black Ox Orkestar, “Nisht Azoy” (Album)R.I. Moore, “The Formation of a Persecuting Society” (Book)Angela Bourke, “The Burning of Bridget Cleary” (Book) Get full access to Deadbeat Philosophy at deadbeatphilosophy.substack.com/subscribe

Dave sits down with Eva Hoffmann for a chat about teaching philosophy at the high school level (something virtually non-existent in the US, but relatively common in Germany), post-academic cross-continental life, and the perils of navigating the death of a furry mammalian family companion. Eva holds a PhD in German Studies and teaches philosophy, among other subjects, at a high school (Gymnasium) in Bayreuth, Bavaria.Eva’s recommendations:Trampled by Turtles, “Wild Animals” (Album)Anything by Margaret AtwoodArundhati Roy, “The God of Small Things” (Novel)Barbara Kingsolver, “Demon Copperhead” (Novel)Justine Triet, “Anatomy of a Fall” (Film) Get full access to Deadbeat Philosophy at deadbeatphilosophy.substack.com/subscribe

Can philosophy produce unique insight into art and aesthetic experience? Dave takes up this question, and a number of others, in conversation with Russell Duvernoy, Associate Professor of Philosophy at King’s University College in London, Ontario. Russell and Dave discuss stuffed childhood companions, the great lakes region, their respective journeys in academic philosophy, prehistoric cave art, the relationship between philosophy and visual art, aesthetic feeling, Kantian universalism, trans-species sensation, Zen Buddhism, the art of dying well, and more.Russell’s recommendations:Tren Brothers, “Blue Trees”Shinmon Aoki, “Coffinman: Journal of a Buddhist Mortician”David Lynch, “Lost Highway”Russell’s Profile Get full access to Deadbeat Philosophy at deadbeatphilosophy.substack.com/subscribe

Are philosophy and literature really so different? Dave takes on this question, and a number of others, with the help of German literature scholar and visiting assistant professor of German studies at Whitman College, Rob Mottram. Rob and Dave cover the possibility of tossing out the philosophy/literature distinction altogether, the history and magical power of the novel, the relationship between philosophy and religion, the art of wearing the same clothing for many years, and Rob’s approach to reading as a way of thinking other people’s thoughts.Rob’s recommendations:Gustav Mahler’s 9th SymphonyApocalypse NowAdalbert Stifter’s Limestone Get full access to Deadbeat Philosophy at deadbeatphilosophy.substack.com/subscribe

Dave sits down for an extended conversation with Berlin-based American-Hungarian filmmaker and critic Miranda Siegel. Miranda and Dave discuss Miranda’s autobiographical documentary film (“Ignore Your True Feelings at Your Own Peril”), their common experiences with bipolar disorder, and, among other topics, the psycho-sexual power of stockings, illustrated by a curious anecdote from Miranda’s life.—Miranda’s recommandations:Zack McDermott, Gorilla and the BirdTodd Solondz, PalindromesDoe Paoro, Divine SurrenderingMiranda’s Film Get full access to Deadbeat Philosophy at deadbeatphilosophy.substack.com/subscribe

Dave sits down with Australian environmental activist and social organizer Andrew George. Andrew recounts his experience preparing for the cyclone then on his doorstep, and he and Dave use this as a jumping off point to examine questions about the human/nature relationship, the global climate and extinction crises, settler-colonialist land-use paradigms, the future of democratic organizing, and the masturbatory destructiveness of mother earth.—Andrew’s recommandations:KneecapNew Experiences—Become a deadbeat philosopher, and read Dave’s deadbeat philosophical scribblings, at https://deadbeatphilosophy.substack.comDeadbeat philosophy = sideways investigations into philosophy, politics, and the contradictions of modern life—from a former professor, future skeleton.Podcast. Books in progress. Weird stop-motion. Modern life dissected.New podcast episodes drop every Thursday. New writing posted all the time.Historical philosophers on the table include, among others: Lao Tzu, Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Augustine, Boethius, Hildegard von Bingen, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Voltaire, Franklin, Rousseau, Kant, Jefferson, Wollstonecraft, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Darwin, Kierkegaard, Thoreau, Douglass, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Husserl, Kafka, Leopold, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Benjamin, Adorno, Sartre, Arendt, Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty, Camus, Sellars, Fanon, Foucault, Derrida, Rorty, and many more.Topics on the table include, among others: the meaning of life, ethical dilemmas, theoretical frameworks, domestic and international politics, institutional analysis, education, religion, mental health, arts and literature, environment, nature, animals, climate, and extinction, race, gender, and the politics of race and gender, racism, colonialism, sexism, fascism, capitalism, socialism, nationalism, stoicism, daoism, confucianism, buddhism, pragmatism, feminism, rationalism, German idealism, romanticism, transcendentalism, environmentalism, modernism, postmodernism, phenomenology, critical theory, deconstruction, German culture, history, and politics, expat life, and much more.A co-production with the Museum Hegel-Haus, StuttgartDeadbeat headquarters Get full access to Deadbeat Philosophy at deadbeatphilosophy.substack.com/subscribe

Dave sits down with mycologist, microbial biologist, and soil ecologist Dan Thomas. Dave and Dan chat about their experiences as expatriate Americans stranded in Germany, Dan’s research in the Fichtelgebirge woodlands outside of Bayreuth, the fungal microbiomes we live with and as everyday, Dan’s experiences working in and advocating for the Los Cedros Forest Reserve in Ecuador, the concept of non-human personhood, and, last but not least, the ecological importance of cycles of death and life.—Dan’s recommandations:The Dawn of EverythingEarl ScruggsEntangled LifeDan’s webpage—Become a deadbeat philosopher, and read Dave’s deadbeat philosophical scribblings, at https://deadbeatphilosophy.substack.comDeadbeat philosophy = sideways investigations into philosophy, politics, and the contradictions of modern life—from a former professor, future skeleton.Podcast. Books in progress. Weird stop-motion. Modern life dissected.New podcast episodes drop every Thursday. New writing posted all the time.Historical philosophers on the table include, among others: Lao Tzu, Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Augustine, Boethius, Hildegard von Bingen, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Voltaire, Franklin, Rousseau, Kant, Jefferson, Wollstonecraft, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Darwin, Kierkegaard, Thoreau, Douglass, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Husserl, Kafka, Leopold, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Benjamin, Adorno, Sartre, Arendt, Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty, Camus, Sellars, Fanon, Foucault, Derrida, Rorty, and many more.Topics on the table include, among others: the meaning of life, ethical dilemmas, theoretical frameworks, domestic and international politics, institutional analysis, education, religion, mental health, arts and literature, environment, nature, animals, climate, and extinction, race, gender, and the politics of race and gender, racism, colonialism, sexism, fascism, capitalism, socialism, nationalism, stoicism, daoism, confucianism, buddhism, pragmatism, feminism, rationalism, German idealism, romanticism, transcendentalism, environmentalism, modernism, postmodernism, phenomenology, critical theory, deconstruction, German culture, history, and politics, expat life, and much more.A co-production with the Museum Hegel-Haus, StuttgartDeadbeat headquarters Get full access to Deadbeat Philosophy at deadbeatphilosophy.substack.com/subscribe

Dave sits down with marketing writer, air force veteran, and medieval history aficionado Ross Heintzkill. Dave and Ross talk about institutions and bureaucracy—the good and the bad, in the US and in Germany. They chat about the US founding fathers (especially Hamilton), the value of reading primary historical texts, the 4th Crusade (1202–1204), and about Ross’s relationship to death, as a veteran, a partner, a dog-papa, and a human being.--Ross’s recommendations:Jonathan Phillips, The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of ConstantinopleProject Hail MarySeveranceTerms of EnlistmentRoss’s webpage--Become a deadbeat philosopher, and read Dave’s deadbeat philosophical scribblings, at https://deadbeatphilosophy.substack.comDeadbeat philosophy = sideways investigations into philosophy, politics, and the contradictions of modern life—from a former professor, future skeleton.Podcast. Books in progress. Weird stop-motion. Modern life dissected.New podcast episodes drop every Thursday. New writing posted all the time.Historical philosophers on the table include, among others: Lao Tzu, Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Augustine, Boethius, Hildegard von Bingen, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Voltaire, Franklin, Rousseau, Kant, Jefferson, Wollstonecraft, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Darwin, Kierkegaard, Thoreau, Douglass, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Husserl, Kafka, Leopold, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Benjamin, Adorno, Sartre, Arendt, Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty, Camus, Sellars, Fanon, Foucault, Derrida, Rorty, and many more.Topics on the table include, among others: the meaning of life, ethical dilemmas, theoretical frameworks, domestic and international politics, institutional analysis, education, religion, mental health, arts and literature, environment, nature, animals, climate, and extinction, race, gender, and the politics of race and gender, racism, colonialism, sexism, fascism, capitalism, socialism, nationalism, stoicism, daoism, confucianism, buddhism, pragmatism, feminism, rationalism, German idealism, romanticism, transcendentalism, environmentalism, modernism, postmodernism, phenomenology, critical theory, deconstruction, German culture, history, and politics, expat life, and much more.A co-production with the Museum Hegel-Haus, StuttgartDeadbeat headquarters Get full access to Deadbeat Philosophy at deadbeatphilosophy.substack.com/subscribe

Dave sits down with fellow philosopher, academic adviser, and long-time friend and research-collaborator, Lauren Eichler. Dave and Lauren talk about their winding journeys majoring in philosophy and advising students potentially interested in doing the same. They also talk about Lauren’s body of research on and personal connection to genocide, dehumanization, and the holocaust. Lauren’s recommendations:The Good PlaceMaquiaAniaraLauren and Dave’s co-authored articlesLauren’s webpage—Become a deadbeat philosopher, and read Dave’s deadbeat philosophical scribblings, at https://deadbeatphilosophy.substack.comDeadbeat philosophy = sideways investigations into philosophy, politics, and the contradictions of modern life—from a former professor, future skeleton.Podcast. Books in progress. Weird stop-motion. Modern life dissected.New podcast episodes drop every Thursday. New writing posted all the time.Historical philosophers on the table include, among others: Lao Tzu, Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Augustine, Boethius, Hildegard von Bingen, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Voltaire, Franklin, Rousseau, Kant, Jefferson, Wollstonecraft, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Darwin, Kierkegaard, Thoreau, Douglass, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Husserl, Kafka, Leopold, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Benjamin, Adorno, Sartre, Arendt, Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty, Camus, Sellars, Fanon, Foucault, Derrida, Rorty, and many more.Topics on the table include, among others: the meaning of life, ethical dilemmas, theoretical frameworks, domestic and international politics, institutional analysis, education, religion, mental health, arts and literature, environment, nature, animals, climate, and extinction, race, gender, and the politics of race and gender, racism, colonialism, sexism, fascism, capitalism, socialism, nationalism, stoicism, daoism, confucianism, buddhism, pragmatism, feminism, rationalism, German idealism, romanticism, transcendentalism, environmentalism, modernism, postmodernism, phenomenology, critical theory, deconstruction, German culture, history, and politics, expat life, and much more.A co-production with the Museum Hegel-Haus, StuttgartDeadbeat headquarters Get full access to Deadbeat Philosophy at deadbeatphilosophy.substack.com/subscribe