Cadell Last
Cadell Last is a philosopher interested in the greatest intellectual works with the aim of bringing the mysteries of these works into a personal engagement for the life of the mind.
About: I was originally motivated to investigate science (evolutionary anthropology and biology). This helped me cultivate a deep knowledge of the world, but this understanding lacked the capacity to approach the most challenging aspects of life: sex, money, power, violence, heartbreak, family, community. This is when the Philosophies of phenomenology and psychoanalysis opened me to new perspectives. Not only did they change my relationship to knowledge, but also my relationship to anxiety, self-definition, love, death and creative drive. I absorbed the greatest philosophers of the modern world, however, understanding their deep-thinking was a difficult task. During that process, I would have loved recourse to elder guides with philosophical knowledge, and honest spaces that opened up exploration for the more difficult aspects of self reflection. But even in intellectual spaces at university, the teachings were often too dry and disconnected from daily practical reality and personal truth.
After completing my Doctorate in philosophy I decided to create my own online space dedicated to my own perspective on philosophy. I planted the seed that has become Philosophy Portal. What really motivated me was to turn philosophical readings into something serving practical reality and personal truth. Today, Philosophy Portal shares with others how philosophy from the greatest thinkers can inspire deep insights about our self-journey. The community here has become a unique space, intellectually, creatively, and interpersonally, open to life-long learning, creativity and friendship. My logic for creating the course material reflects my own intellectual quest: I only teach the thinkers who triggered in me an inner thirst for developing reflections, discourses, and studies that could be important cultural foundations for the future of our society. This question is always connected to my personal truth so I can share my interpretation with a passion to spark that quest in the other. I believe that as our world becomes more complex existentially, there will be a necessity for everyone to cultivate a new logic derived from a deeper philosophical perspective on life.
My focus for 2023 is to continue extending Philosophy Portal’s journey and offer. We are now focused on publishing an anthology on Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, teaching courses on Hegel’s Science of Logic, Zupančič’s What Is Sex? (in collaboration with Theory Underground), as well as Lacan’s É__crits. In my personal writing I am focused on the roll out for my latest book, Systems and Subjects, which attempts to put systems science into closer conversation with continental philosophy. I will also be attempting the second official Philosophy Portal physical retreat for those who have been building the virtual community.
Links: Philosophy Portal: www.philosophyportal.online Patreon: www.patreon.com/cadelllast Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/Cadell-Last/e/B0BC8P437X/
Social: Twitter: www.twitter.com/cadellnlast Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/2274920922769588 Instagram: www.instagram.com/lastcadell YouTube: www.youtube.com/@PhilosophyPortal Substack: [1]https://philosophyportal.substack.com