Curious facts 2 – Drugs, Maoism and French Philosophy
I really liked the Funny and Curious Facts contest by @river-island and had fun doing the research for it, so I’m going to start sharing some random stuff under #curiousfacts. My first curious fact was on the brain and DMT.
Curious fact #2, there’s more to philosophers than crusty old men.
In the 60s, philosopher Michel Foucault became the head of the University of Vincennes in Paris (ParisVIII). In a short time he transformed the institution into a centre for radical Marxism, with thinkers like Badiou, Lyotard, Deleuze, and Derrida joining the ranks of staff there.
Deleuze lecturing at Vincennes
Of course, with a bunch of radical philosophers on copious amounts of drugs leading the place, everything fell to pieces. Walls and ceilings were ripped apart to see if the rooms were bugged, admin broke down, grading was stopped, classes weren’t held… Alain Badiou even created a Maoist clan of student followers and used them to disrupt and trash opponents’ lectures over philosophical disagreements.
Dave Chappelle and Rick James, Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories
French philosophers not only had crazy lives but also crazy deaths. Foucault’s life led him to be the first French philosopher to die of AIDS in 1984. Suicide is also a big theme among French philosphers (as are cigarettes while staring into the void). Deleuze died in 1995, taking his own life after his wife passed away from cancer. André Gorz, another French philosopher, and his wife committed suicide by lethal injection in 2004. Guy Debord, a French Situationist who worked with Vaneigem, took his life in 1994.
Can you guess which French philosopher got hit by a laundry van after walking out from lunch with the French president?
(no its’ not Sartre)
Read some more facts on these French philosophers at critical-theory.
http://www.critical-theory.com/13-deleuze-guattari-part-iii/
Happy Steeming!
Upped! 👍
Thanks for the vote and resteem! Getting my entry for this week ready :)
That's the kind of shit I like to read. I want more.
Yes son, love your posts too! Got a nugget I hope you don't know I'll be sharing soon :)
Always interested in Philosophers and this post is interesting. So which one did get hit by that laundry van?
Thanks @jvalentine! The mystery death is Roland Barthes. The guy was pretty unlucky with his health. He had tuberculosis when he was young, spent years in isolation in a sanitorium, then spent 10 years completing his MA while fighting for his health, then got hit by a van. Granted, he did write a bunch of books and articles in between.
If you like philosophy and philosophers have a look at my other posts, I'm trying to do a small comment on a philosophy quote a day you might find interesting (haven't succeeded on the 'every day' bit so far haha, but there's more to come!)
https://steemit.com/philosophy/@pv-p/quotable-3-minor-marxism-and-the-origins-of-capitalism
I had heard of Roland Barthes but didn't know much about him. Interesting. I will look at your posts as I am very interested in philosophy. Thank you pv-p