Philosophy for Plebs, Session 11 - The Gift

A gift has many phases. The thought, the preparation, the anticipation (the best part for the giver), the reveal, the response, and, some might very well argue, a required reciprocation. Gifts, it seems, call out for two things: acceptance and more gifts. Can there be such a thing as an unreciprocated gift, ugly sweaters notwithstanding? Or a gift for which there is no possibility of reciprocation? Or rather is the nature of the gift purely economical, a peculiar holdover from a pre-capitalist mode of social organisation? Join us for the last episode of Philosophy for Pleb in 2025 where we discuss the nature of gifts and gift-giving.

Reading: Marcel Hénaff and Marcel Mauss (Introduction and Conclusion)
Recommended “reading” : Anne Carson’s lecture on the concept of the sellout in Homer, Moravia, and Godard

Link to Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1dYFRMexww4pvHFMJ9Tb7i-yYfbVsWWl6

You may also like the following events from ark books:

• This Sunday, 7th December, 04:00 pm, Bad Women Book Club - Sociopath: A Memoir in Copenhagen