Thinking @ Lightspeed: Paul Virilio

"We are no longer in the Enlightenment, we are in the century of lightspeed." -Paul Virilio

A French architect, urbanist & critical theorist of technology, Paul Virilio's oeuvre is enigmatic, original and even explosive in its unrelenting drive to subvert the contemporary technical system...an impulse that Virilio pushes to its absolute limits.

This introduction to Virilio Studies explores six key themes found across his massive literary catalog: Speed, Territory, Synchronization, Accidents, Aesthetics, and Grey Ecology. Over six video lectures, as well as in group discussion, essential Virilio texts are laid out and deciphered, including: "Speed and Politics," "The Information Bomb," and "The Administration of Fear." Beyond imparting insights to Virilio's world picture, the course aims to render apparent the power, relevance and vitality of his thought today—an epoch increasingly dominated by Virilian themes such as interconnectivity, ubiquity, and instantaneity.

Lectures and course materials are available on their own. The first seminar cohort will start November 4, 2023 and includes six 2-hour seminar sessions on Saturdays at 2pm EST (11/4, 11/11, 11/18, 12/2, 12/9, 12/16).

If you have an interest in this thinker, technoculture in general, or are just looking to explore novel intellectual territory, we welcome you to pick up our free study guide, the course materials, or to join the seminar sessions. The reading of Virilio repays tremendously and there's arguably no 20th century thinker that more prescient and accurate in his overall predictions, a radical claim that's critical evaluated throughout the course. Thinking @ Lightspeed is a concise intro to Virilio's overall worldview, and represents some of the very best theory has to offer.

"[...] [H]istory progresses at the speed of its weapons systems." - Paul Virilio

Instructors

Owain Leyshon (Raymond K Hessel) is a philosopher and writer based in Ireland. He focuses primarily on the phenomenology of technology and political philosophy, with a special interest in the ancient Greeks. Owain blogs regularly on Substack and a number of his essays have been published in the collection called Notes from the Pod.

Joshua Hansen is a US-based cultural theorist focused on hypermodernity and the rise of digital religion. His work aims to demystify contemporary technoculture and operates at the intersection of Academia, Science & the Internet. Hansen published his first book, Tractatus Anti-Academicus, in 2023.