Philosophy Portal is a 2 Year Old!
Philosophy Portal is celebrating its 2nd birthday, some reflections on what has been achieved, and hopes for the future from the new present.
In November of 2021 I launched Philosophy Portal in an announcement for an online course focused on Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. Since then I have been hard at work building out what to my mind would represent an ideal philosophical curriculum. So far we have focused our efforts on teaching Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Hegel's Science of Logic, Zupančič's What Is Sex? and Lacan's Écrits (on-going). The result looks something like this!:
My hope in this effort has been to help the next generation of thinkers approach key contradictions and civilisational paradoxes from a more informed philosophical perspective. To be more specific, from a perspective informed by dialectical logic, the nature of speculative cognition, unconscious thought/mind, and libidinal energies. But along the way, Philosophy Portal grew into much more than just a teaching service, or a place to take an online course.
Philosophy Portal became a space for the creation of new philosophical thought, inspired by the courses, but directed towards conferences and anthologies that could have an extended impact on the larger culture.
Perhaps most importantly, these activities have all contributed to the emergence of new philosophical minds, friendships, collaborations, and even an extended loosely-connected network whose potential is becoming more intriguing (if still incredibly uncertain) every passing month. We have even (informally) dipped our toes in the water of physical retreats, and experimented with more free-form/free-associative spaces for philosophical exploration.
There are many new ideas on the horizon for Philosophy Portal's future. I would like to continue teaching online courses, but I would also like to (dramatically) expand the services that Philosophy Portal can offer. And at the same time, Philosophy Portal still feels like a baby learning to walk and talk (and perhaps also defecate). Every attempt at a next step feels delicate and fragile, and yet promising and exciting.
Big news in 2024 to come and hopefully many new ways to get involved.
For now, consider this a birthday note from Philosophy Portal. Year 2 is not over but it is approaching its end. Thanks especially to those who have been so helpful along the way, and lent a hand to direct this creation to where it is now. To name a few names, special thanks to:
- Peter Limberg for providing for an especially important original inspiration for the Phenomenology of Spirit course, as well as hosting me at The Stoa (now Less Foolish), to promote the Phenomenology of Spirit course and the Thus Spoke Zarathustra course.
- Alex Ebert for sponsoring course positions on several occasions for new students and always proving to be an inspiring and encouraging spark for new ideas and projects.
- Daniel Garner and Michelle Garner for also sponsoring course positions on several occasions, offering an outlet to promote courses on the O.G. Rose channel, and Daniel Garner specifically for help editing the first two anthologies.
- David McKerracher of Theory Underground for being the first creator of another online educational platform to raise the bar for what collaborations are possible, even to the point of co-leading a course with me (What Is Sex?)
- Thomas Hamelryck for helping me lead and make difficult decisions, being there for me in some of the more confusing moments, as well as an always valuable conflictual/combative partner at the intersection of philosophy and anthropology.
- Joris de Kelver for seeing the vision way back in the cracks of my institutional engagements, and becoming a strong collaborator willing to think outside the box, and lay a foundation beyond what current exists.
- Owen Cox for not only being a great mind and spirit but a great friend along the way, for helping launch new ideas/projects, and for always being willing to take risks even if every risk does not always work out. Thanks also to Daniel Fraga and Raven Connolly for helping experiment in this direction.
- Thanks to all the guest instructors at Philosophy Portal in 2023, including those whom I have yet to mention: William Rupush, Thomas Winn, Layman Pascal, Peter Rollins, Todd McGowan, Richard Boothby and Isabel Millar. Your contributions have been an invaluable enrichment of the creative teaching space.
- Thanks to Slavoj Žižek for agreeing to endorse Philosophy Portal as a platform and for offering an endorsement to our first anthology, Enter the Alien; as well as Alenka Zupančič for agreeing to be a guest for our course with Theory Underground focused on her book What Is Sex?
- Last but not least, some core student contributors: Dimitri Crooijmans for your work as a teaching assistant, Max Macken for your advice behind the scenes, and Jason Bernstein for your fantastic artistic contributions to the anthologies.
There are of course too many others to name who have helped along the way, either by offering a platform to promote a course (Andrew Sweeny, Tim Adalin), anthology (Layman Pascal) or book (Davood Gozli). All such efforts are massively appreciated. Or just simply being blown away by all the students and contributors in the Philosophy Portal courses to our shared projects in the anthologies and conferences. I have learned so much from so many of you, and I am a richer spirit because of it. I hope this is just the seed of something much bigger that still needs to "grow up".
As I said, there is bigger news coming for 2024. But if you do feel called to learn the foundations of philosophy, please consider Philosophy Portal a home for your studies, and hopefully in the future, a home for a much more extended investigation of what it means to be a thinking being. At the moment, Philosophy Portal is a home to what are to my mind first class courses on the foundations of modern philosophy. You can find them here:
Philosophy Portal
But don't take my word for it, just check our reviews on the home page or on our TrustPilot!
We are also home to two anthologies (see below) which I could not be more proud of (with a third on the way!), as well as three conferences, all of which showcase what is possible when you dedicate an extended period of time to deep philosophical reflection.
Here is looking forward to what is possible in the next two years!