Peter Rollins - The Archive

Here I take a look at Capitalism. In particular, I reflect on whether Capitalism is rooted in our natural tendencies, whether it is the final system, and what, if anything, might lie beyond it.

From a philosophical point of view, Advent can be seen as a time when we might open ourselves up to the thought of the Infinite erupting in the heart of Finite. Beyond its narrowly religious meaning, we can say that the word 'Incarnation' articulates the idea of Truth being enfleshed in the world. This provides the perfect opportunity for me to offer an Advent course on one of my favorite books by Paul Tillich. The book is based on a series of lectures that Tillich gave shortly before his death, and it represents his last important work. It also happens to be his most personal work, and one of the clearest overviews of his life project. The lectures explore Tillich’s lifelong search for the Absolute, and draw out how he viewed this passionate search as itself the evidence that the Absolute he sought had already been found. During this course we’ll confront a powerful argument, beautifully articulated, that explores how ‘seeking’ and ‘finding’ are intimately intertwined. An argument that provides a way to avoid both fundamentalism on one hand and relativism on the other. By doing this course, you will gain a powerful way of understanding the relationship between faith and doubt, grasp what Tillich means by ‘the God beyond God’, and gain an appreciation of how we might already be grounded in the truth that we seek. If you'd like to join me for this advent course, just jump onto my website or click peterrollins.com/advent

In this short reflection I outline one of the central differences between Jung's Analytical Psychology and Freud's Psychoanalysis. This is a reflection that is based on a talk I recently gave on a critical assessment of Jordan Peterson's work.

In this pyro-seminar I look at why oppressive systems work and what we might get out of their failure. To get access to all the pyro-seminars (and lots of other stuff) join my patreon.

This is the introductory talk from Wake 2018. In it I talk about how Pyrotheology relates to the notion of Lack.

Confronting the Holy: Whole or Hole by Peter Rollins

How does ideology prevent us from touching antagonism, how does it function in religion, and is there a religionless way of articulating faith. Click here to get the course I talk about in the video: https://peterrollins.com/beyond-belief

In this reflection I look at the structure of the Möbius strip, and what it can teach us about the structure of the Real, the Unconscious and the Holy.

This is part of an interview I did with the writer, performer and cult leader Maggie Rowe originally done for my Patreon page. Maggie is an actress, writer and performer. Maggie has written screenplays for films including Bright Day! and Out West, for TV shows such as Flaked and Arrested Development, and created the stage productions for Hollywood Hell House, Hollywood Purity Ball, Lawyer Cop Doctors, and Pretty Good Show). She has also edited a book of personal essays called Dirty Laundry, and even founded a satirical religion called Pyrasphere. In addition to all this she has produced and regularly performed in the spoken word show sitnspin (created by Jill Soloway) at the Comedy Central stage. Her latest book is called Sin Bravely: A Memoir of Spiritual Disobedience.

This is a recording from my Pints and Parables event in Santa Barbara, May 2017

One of C.S. Lewis’ most interesting and intriguing works is a short story entitled ‘Light’. A huge amount of controversy and mythology surrounds the text itself, and it was never published in his lifetime. Indeed, its final form wasn’t published until two decades after his death. This is a dark story that reads like something penned by Jean-Paul Sartre or Camus. In this seminar I offer a close reading of the story and use it to unpack the nature of desire, the madness that comes from certainty and the nature of the Sublime. I’ll employ the story as a means of shedding light on Lacan’s enigmatic statement, “do not give way on your desire” and draw out the difference between fundamentalist fanaticism and a healthy celebration of the Sublime.

Power and Resistance are often thought of as antagonistic opposites that confront each other. However Power often covers the entire field of Power and Resistance. Here I explore how.

Often we attempt to minimize our discontent rather than mobilize it. In this short reflection, I outline the difference and talk about some events that I run which aim at the latter.

What is ideology? Here I look at five features that can help us understand this term

In this reflection I explore the how we might come to glimpse what we believe through our symptoms rather than our conscious beliefs and actions.