A Rosy Cross of a Book

My First Thoughts on Cadell Last's Real Speculations

My conversation with

Cadell Last

in September 2023 was a pivotal moment, one that definitively cemented his standing, in my mind, as one of Canada's most compelling emerging intellectuals. Our extensive discussion, provocatively titled "Towards New Philosophical Horizons," was specifically conducted to illuminate his extraordinary aptitude for speculative thought and his almost innate ability to venture into and explore novel philosophical frontiers. Cadell, alongside the equally impressive

Matthew McManus

, stands out prominently among a burgeoning new generation of Canadian thinkers whose intellectual output consistently impresses me, not only with its sheer volume but also with its remarkable quality and depth.

What has consistently intrigued me about Cadell’s intellectual contributions is his remarkable ability to draw together disparate intellectual camps into an expansive orbit—a talent that, in its own distinct way, strikingly mirrors the unifying magnetism Michael Brooks wielded. As I've explored in my previous post, "Towards a New Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere," Brooks's own ability to unify these camps and forge a new kind of intellectual commons was a remarkable feat; I now see Cadell accomplishing many of the same things through his online community, the Philosophy Portal. He possesses an almost alchemical gift for synthesizing divergent traditions, bringing together followers of the American integral movement, the philosophy of Slavoj Žižek, and Canadian Idealism through a unique Hegelian lens. This distinctive ability to synthesize ideas and foster community has been creating a vital new space for the advancement of philosophical discourse.

For a time, demanding family and work commitments prevented me from following his recent work or participating in his online seminars as closely as I'd wanted. The timely arrival of his book, Real Speculations, was a fortunate development. It was an interesting and captivating read, offering a cohesive and comprehensive overview of his latest intellectual developments. This challenging and engaging text didn't just help me get up to speed; it also served as an entertaining and enlightening entry point into his developing body of work and original analytical framework.

In this essay, I aim to trace the unorthodox intellectual lineage that led me from the late Michael Brooks to the work of Cadell Last, and in doing so, provide a preliminary commentary on Cadell's new book, Real Speculations: Thought Foundations, Drive Myths, Social Analysis. I will argue that Cadell's work represents a crucial and ongoing development within contemporary left-wing discourse and philosophical thought since the tragic passing of Michael Brooks. His contributions offer a vital way to understand current philosophical and cultural shifts, continuing the critical discourse that Brooks so profoundly shaped. Ultimately, this essay serves as a bridge, connecting the intellectual ecosystem of Brooks to the profound ideas in Cadell’s new book, which I highly recommend reading in combination with these other illuminating works:

• Flowers for Marx - featuring authors such as

  Ben Burgis
  , Conrad Hamilton, Matt McManus, Ernesto Vargas, and
  Daniel Tutt

• Michael Brooks's Against the Web: A Cosmopolitan Answer to the New Right

• Matt McManus's A How To Guide to Cosmopolitan Socialism: A Tribute to Michael Brooks

• Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson by Ben Burgis, Conrad Bongard Hamilton, Matthew McManus, and Marion Trejo

From Brooks to Cadell Last: An Unorthodox Intellectual Lineage

The path from Michael Brooks to Cadell Last was no straight line, but a series of unforeseen intellectual connections. This wasn't a direct introduction, a recommendation from a colleague, or a chance encounter in an academic setting. Instead, my discovery of Cadell emerged organically, almost as an intellectual offshoot, from my initial and more focused foray into the works of Michael Brooks.

My primary objective at the time was to delve into the intricate intellectual connections between Brooks's widely recognized political activism and his less publicized, though equally compelling, engagement with the Integral movement. My initial fascination was ignited by a pivotal conversation Brooks conducted with Jeremy Johnson in August 2019. Broadcast on his acclaimed program, The Michael Brooks Show, this discussion was the primary catalyst, profoundly stimulating my interest in his sophisticated and often understated approach to integral political praxis. This fascination coincided with my sustained fascination at the time with various online intellectual communities, particularly Rebel Wisdom (which has since been rebranded as Kainos). My attention had been particularly drawn to their interview with Ken Wilber in March 2019, an episode that delved into Wilber's reflections on the Intellectual Dark Web and the pervasive cultural phenomenon surrounding Jordan Peterson.

As Michael Brooks diligently began the promotion of his seminal work, Against the Web, I also found myself increasingly drawn to The Stoa, an adjacent community deeply intertwined with Rebel Wisdom due to the close friendships and working relations of figures like

Peter Limberger

,

David Fuller

, and

Alexander Beiner

. It was during Brooks's appearance at The Stoa in May 2020 that I started noticing the distinctive intellectual contributions of Cadell. At that nascent stage, his work, which was predominantly centered on his talks on Hegel and his book, Sex, Masculinity, God, did not deeply resonate with my prevailing intellectual predispositions. My focus at the time was much more acutely directed towards the compelling works of Matt McManus and Brooks himself, particularly their incisive analyses concerning the emergent new right and the intricate nuances of postmodern conservatism, or what some people are now calling the new woke right. Their collective contributions aligned seamlessly with my own developing theoretical frameworks and provided a robust lens through which to understand contemporary political shifts. This concentrated intellectual focus subsequently led me to follow McManus's work with heightened attention, especially after the publication of his book, Myth and Mayhem, which was notably distinguished by a compelling and captivating introduction penned by the renowned and influential philosopher, Slavoj Žižek.

It is a curious and often overlooked aspect of Brooks's legacy that his profound and genuine interest in integral theory, particularly the complex and expansive works of Ken Wilber, was largely overshadowed and often neglected in favor of his more widely recognized and celebrated focus on Marxist theory, socialism, and cosmopolitan thought. To ensure that this significant, yet often neglected, aspect of his intellectual life remained apparent and received due recognition, I embarked upon the creation of my own podcast series. This series officially debuted in March 2022, with an insightful and engaging interview with Matt McManus. The fundamental purpose of the podcast was to feature guests who could authentically speak to Brooks's multifaceted life and enduring legacy, with a particular emphasis on those individuals who possessed a clear awareness of his foundational background in integral theory. Through this endeavor, I quickly discovered that among the select few individuals who were genuinely aware of his deeper and more nuanced involvement with the integral movement were

Josh Summers

and

Jeremy D Johnson

. I was fortunate enough to conduct insightful interviews with both of them, further enriching my understanding of Brooks's life and earlier years before his rise to fame and shedding light on this less-explored dimension of his thought.

My research pivoted in June 2023 when I interviewed Matt Flisfeder. I had initially become aware of his work as a regular listener of the PlasticPill podcast, where I learned he had brokered the renowned Peterson-Žižek debate. This key revelation was the primary motivation for me to pursue an interview with him. I was also drawn to his compelling book, Algorithmic Desire: Toward a New Structuralist Theory of Social Media, as a work that offered a fresh and incisive perspective on contemporary digital culture and the future of humanism. His intellectual gifts, especially his ability to synthesize structuralist theory with social media analysis, captivated me and formed the basis for our conversation, "Towards a New Structuralism & Humanism."

My path next led to Daniel Tutt, a Žižek and Alain Badiou scholar whose interview with Flisfeder on "In Defense of Žižek?" caught my attention. Coming from an academic background in religious studies, I was curious to hear him talk about his work on Islam, a topic he had not discussed in previous interviews. His unique perspectives on religion and his evident concern for family well-being created a meaningful point of connection for our discussion. Building on my conversation with Matt Flisfeder, we explored not only these themes but also his critique of post-Marxism and the historical influence of pragmatism on American leftist thought. He argued that the abandonment of a materialist and class-based analysis in favor of a purely cultural based-approach has been harmful, leaving the Left ill-equipped to counter the rise of irrationalist thinkers. Our wide-ranging conversation became a space for exploring how the Left must re-engage with political economy to effectively combat the cultural politics of the New Right, an ongoing theme that has profoundly shaped my perspective on the current intellectual landscape.

To gain a deeper understanding of the intellectual ecosystem that gave rise to many of the thinkers who shaped this particular path, I interviewed Douglas Lain, the former publisher of Zero Books—a publishing house deeply intertwined with the intellectual lineage and enduring legacy of Michael Brooks. Lain's insights from our conversation on "Michael Brooks, the Next Left & The Future of Left Media" provided invaluable context for this inquiry.

A new avenue of inquiry opened up in August 2023 after I discovered that Cadell had also interviewed

Daniel Tutt

. This prompted me to revisit Cadell's work. I found his book, Systems and Subjects: Foundations of Philosophy and Science, to be much more expansive than I had initially assumed. My subsequent podcast conversation with Cadell was a truly revelatory experience. He generously shared details of his rigorous academic trajectory, recounting how he pursued an MSc in evolutionary anthropology before relocating to Brussels to complete his PhD in philosophy. There, he was fortunate enough to be mentored by a leading systems theorist and cybernetics expert, an influence that profoundly shaped his philosophical outlook. This extensive and remarkably interdisciplinary academic journey, spanning disparate fields, helped him develop his unique and profoundly interdisciplinary approach to knowledge.

Cadell's intellectual contributions are distinguished by a profound and compelling theoretical rigor. His work echoes the meta-thinking of Michael Brooks—a mode of inquiry that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries to synthesize disparate fields of knowledge. This is powerfully demonstrated in his seminal book, Systems and Subjects. Rather than simply mirroring Ken Wilber's Four-Quadrant model, Cadell's framework is equally robust and granular, offering a sophisticated and comprehensive critique of materialist or objective-only approaches to science, and systems theory approaches. These approaches, Cadell argues, fundamentally neglect the crucial dimension of subjective experience.

These insights resonate deeply with my existing comprehension of Jürgen Habermas’s theory of communicative action, which is premised on the foundation of three distinct validity claims. Habermas's project is a profound attempt to move beyond the limitations of earlier critical theories by synthesizing their core insights into a new framework for emancipatory thought. He extends Hegel's dialectical unfolding of spirit, but instead of focusing on a totalizing historical process, Habermas grounds his theory in the intersubjective communication of individuals. From Marx, he inherits the critique of ideology and the understanding that social systems can distort human relations, but he broadens the focus from purely economic domination to the colonization of the "lifeworld" by instrumental reason. The influence of Freudian psychoanalysis is also evident in Habermas's idea of a "discourse ethics" that aims to uncover and correct systematic distortions in communication, much like a therapist helps a patient overcome repressed or distorted truths. Finally, drawing on the work of developmental psychology from figures like Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, Habermas establishes a universal, non-relativistic foundation for his validity claims, arguing that the capacity for rational moral and social judgment is a trans-historical human capacity that develops in stages. Cadell's work, in its effort to integrate these same dimensions—objective, social, and subjective—offers a powerful and robust model for intersubjective understanding that moves beyond mere deconstruction, much like Habermas's framework. This conceptual alignment affirmed for me that Cadell was not just a fellow traveler but a thinker with the theoretical rigor of others I admire.

This enhanced understanding, forged through engagement with Cadell's foundational work, ignited a keen anticipation to delve into his newest book, Real Speculations.

A First Look at Real Speculations

Real Speculations: Thought Foundations, Drive Myths, Social Analysis is a major new work from Cadell, offering a dense but rewarding reading experience. Spanning 36 chapters that synthesize his work from the Philosophy Portal, the book is structured around the legacies of Hegel, Nietzsche, and Lacan and is bookended by a profound introduction that dialectically mediates New Atheism and a conclusion that explores the potential of Christian Atheism. In this commentary, I will focus on three sections that had the biggest impact on me: "Introduction: Dialecticising New Atheism," "Chapter 2: Phenomenology of Spirit Is Not a Theory of Everything," and "Chapter 36: The Revenge of Philosophy." My explicit aim is not to provide an exhaustive analysis but a preliminary one designed to propel online discussions and expand the philosophical discourse around Cadell's work.

Dialecticising New Atheism

The Introduction: Dialecticising New Atheism traces the historical trajectory of New Atheism, beginning with Richard Dawkins's rationalistic critique of religion and moving through Sam Harris's turn to "spirituality without religion." It presents Jordan Peterson as a crucial figure in this lineage, who re-engages with religion's psychological and mythological dimensions. The Introduction positions Cadell's own project as a necessary next step to transcend these figures and develop a dialectical materialism capable of integrating both religious and atheistic thought.

Cadell's insightful analysis, particularly his dialectical approach to New Atheism and his engagement with figures like Jordan Peterson, represents a significant and welcome contribution. While I may not concur with every detail or conclusion, his work is deeply generative—a much-needed step in the right direction. His nuanced perspective, which skillfully reintroduces religion in a serious way into public discourse from a left-wing perspective, is crucial for fostering an emancipatory project that grapples with these fundamental human desires for meaning and community. This strategic positioning of the Left vis-à-vis religion is what makes this section particularly impactful for me, mirroring the intellectual project of Michael Brooks in his book Against the Web. Brooks, too, recognized that a purely dismissive approach to religion left a vacuum that was easily exploited by the political right and its brand of postmodern conservatism. By engaging with religion on its own terms, but from a dialectical, left-wing perspective, Cadell’s work provides a new, more effective way for the Left to understand and counter the cultural shifts being driven by figures like Peterson. It moves beyond a simplistic culture war to a deeper, more sophisticated engagement with the underlying drives and myths that shape our society.

Phenomenology of Spirit Is Not a Theory of Everything

In Chapter 2: Phenomenology of Spirit Is Not a Theory of Everything, this section challenges the contemporary impulse to create a "Theory of Everything" (TOE). It argues that Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit is not a unified theory of being, but rather a guide for the knower's own process of "coming-to-be." It critiques both reductionist scientific and emergentist philosophical TOEs for skipping this crucial step, arguing that the knower must first understand their own consciousness and its historical becoming before they can meaningfully address questions of absolute being. The desire for a grand unified theory often comes from a naive, pre-Hegelian standpoint that assumes a stable, external reality waiting to be discovered. From Hegel's perspective, this desire itself is a symptom of a deeper philosophical problem: the separation of the knower from the known. In failing to account for the subjective dimension—the "in-and-for-itself" of consciousness—these theories risk being nothing more than elaborate, unreflective systems of thought.

While it is tempting to view all attempts at a TOE as philosophically naive, the conversation is more complex. Indeed, a central point of my own reflection on Cadell's work is that he and integral theorist Ken Wilber seem to have more in common than Cadell's critique initially suggests. While Cadell critiques Wilber's work as a TOE, Wilber, much like Habermas, is also actively engaged in pushing back against a purely technological and materialist theory of reality. Wilber's project, framed by his famous Four-Quadrant model, is a comprehensive approach to "spirit science" that aims to integrate multiple, seemingly disparate dimensions of existence. These quadrants—the Interior Individual (e.g., subjectivity), the Exterior Individual (e.g., biology), the Interior Collective (e.g., culture), and the Exterior Collective (e.g., social systems)—are not meant to provide a deterministic, final answer to "everything." Instead, they are a framework for mediating different modes of knowledge, including those of art, morals, science, philosophy, and theology/religion. In a similar vein, the work of Jürgen Habermas, with his three universal validity claims (truth, normative rightness, and sincerity) also seeks to provide a model for intersubjective understanding that moves beyond a purely objective, and reductionist scientific worldview.

This shared commitment to finding a comprehensive framework that includes subjective experience and social norms demonstrates a deep underlying resonance between these thinkers. The true challenge, then, is not simply to dismiss these projects, but to inquire into the very nature of the knower who would attempt such a synthesis. It suggests that a true "spirit science" would be more concerned with the conditions of possibility for a productive dialogue between these traditions—Žižekian, Wilberian, Habermasian. Rather than seeking to establish a monolithic, unifying theory that subsumes all perspectives, such a science would instead focus on the epistemological and methodological frameworks necessary for these distinct yet often overlapping intellectual currents to engage in meaningful conversation. This approach would recognize the inherent strengths and limitations of each tradition—Žižek's critical psychoanalytic lens, Wilber's integral meta-theory, and Habermas's theory of communicative action—and explore how they might complement or challenge each other in the pursuit of a deeper understanding of consciousness, culture, and social transformation. The goal would be to foster a space where diverse forms of knowledge and inquiry can interact constructively, leading to new insights that are not reducible to any single paradigm, but emerge from the dynamic interplay between them. This would entail examining the underlying assumptions, conceptual vocabularies, and practical implications of each tradition, identifying points of convergence and divergence, and ultimately seeking to articulate a shared horizon of understanding that allows for ongoing cross-pollination and mutual learning. This is an area that I believe will be a fruitful subject for future posts and essays.

The Revenge of Philosophy

In “Chapter 36: The Revenge of Philosophy”, Cadell's work reflects on the philosophical void of the postmodern era, which has been filled by the ontological commitments of scientific materialism and the technological singularity. This section argues that philosophy is now having its "revenge" by providing the necessary conceptual tools to navigate these new frontiers. It highlights the work of thinkers like Hegel to demonstrate that technology and science don't replace philosophical questions about death and immortality; instead, they make them more urgent and central to our existence. For decades, the "great questions" of philosophy—the nature of the self, the possibility of immortality, and the origin of the universe—were largely considered relics of a bygone era. They were seen as problems to be solved by science or, in the case of continental philosophy, deconstructed as culturally relative narratives. Cadell argues that this has created a dangerous vacuum. As technologies like bio-genetics and artificial intelligence begin to offer concrete, if terrifying, answers to these questions, the "revenge of philosophy" becomes necessary. The role of philosophy is to provide the conceptual rigor to understand the implications of these changes, preventing us from blindly rushing into a techno-utopia or regressing into a simplistic pre-modern ontology.

Cadell’s critique, which asserts that postmodern thought’s deconstructive tendencies ultimately abandon the universal pursuit of truth, is a point I've explored extensively in my work. For example, in a podcast conversation with Daniel Tutt, we discussed how this critique illuminates a crisis of epistemic reliability and the phenomenon of postmodern fragmentation. I also took up this intellectual thread in several interviews with Matt McManus, where we explored the intellectual lineage of postmodern conservatism and the emergent new right in his books. These discussions confirmed a core consensus: a purely postmodern worldview, by its very nature, tends to deny the existence of a shared objective reality. This denial, we discussed, renders such a worldview highly vulnerable to exploitation by "irrationalist" thinkers, starkly exemplified by figures like Jordan Peterson.

Peterson, for instance, often presents capitalism not as a contingent socio-economic construct but as an immutable natural order. This move effectively insulates it from rigorous rational critique and, in doing so, impedes any collective project aimed at achieving genuine social progress. The implications of this intellectual maneuver are far-reaching, undermining the very possibility of a shared understanding necessary for social change.

Within this critical context, Cadell's work, particularly his unique synthesis of Hegelian thought and Lacanian psychoanalysis, offers a powerful way forward. By drawing on Slavoj Žižek's project, Cadell provides a robust framework for understanding the ideological drives and fundamental fantasies that shape our current moment. This approach helps to expose how thinkers like Peterson use myth and narrative to obscure underlying political and economic realities. However, I believe Žižek's work, while essential, is insufficient on its own. To fully address the crisis of fragmentation, his analysis must be supplemented and expanded in dialectical tension with other thinkers.

For example, the work of Ken Wilber, with his integral approach to "spirit science," and Jürgen Habermas, with his focus on communicative action and universal validity claims, offer crucial frameworks for re-establishing an epistemologically reliable foundation. These thinkers, much like Cadell, are concerned with moving beyond a purely materialist or deconstructionist worldview. By bringing the critical psychoanalytic lens of Žižek into conversation with the meta-theoretical frameworks of Wilber and Habermas, we can build a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of political and social reality. This foundational project is crucial to prevent society from blindly hurtling towards uncritical techno-utopias or, conversely, regressing into simplistic and potentially dangerous pre-modern ontologies. The contemporary task of philosophy, therefore, is not to withdraw from the complexities of the world but to re-engage with them in a profound way, offering a rigorous framework that combines intellectual courage, analytical precision, and a steadfast commitment to the pursuit of truth.

A Rosy Cross for Our Time

Cadell Last's Real Speculations is a profoundly generative philosophical event—or perhaps a "Rosy Cross for our time," as he puts it—offering a vital framework for navigating the treacherous currents of the contemporary intellectual and cultural landscape. My journey to his work, illuminated by Michael Brooks's intellectual brilliance, has been circuitous yet highly revealing and generative. I contend that Last's contributions are not merely additive but represent a crucial and ongoing development within left-wing thought, pushing its boundaries and offering new avenues for critical engagement. The book's intricate synthesis of Hegelian rigor, Nietzschean insight, and Lacanian depth provides a coherent and powerful lens for understanding the complexities of the modern world..

This intellectual project is essential for confronting the crisis of epistemic reliability that I have consistently identified in my own work and in conversations with Daniel Tutt and Matt McManus. Postmodern fragmentation has created a dangerous vacuum, which has been filled by "irrationalist" narratives from figures like Jordan Peterson. Cadell's audacious synthesis of Hegelian and Lacanian thought provides an indispensable toolkit for deconstructing these myths and understanding the drives that give them power.

While Cadell's foundational engagement with Slavoj Žižek is central, I am convinced that the most fruitful path forward lies in placing his insights in dialectical tension with other traditions. By bringing Žižek's critical psychoanalytic lens into a rigorous and constructive conversation with the expansive meta-theoretical frameworks of Ken Wilber and Jürgen Habermas, we can construct a more comprehensive and epistemologically reliable foundation for political and social reality. This robust new synthesis would resist the seductive irrationalism of the Right and the debilitating relativism of the Left, offering a path toward genuine understanding and transformative action.

In this review, I have deliberately refrained from providing a detailed commentary on Cadell's culminating chapter on "Christian Atheism." This omission is not due to a lack of interest or appreciation, but rather because I have not yet had the profound opportunity to fully engage with Žižek's most recent and developing work on this complex and provocative subject. Nevertheless, I found Cadell’s initial thoughts on the topic within Real Speculations to be incredibly compelling and intellectually stimulating. I view a deeper dive into this area as a necessary next step, one that will undoubtedly unlock a more complete and nuanced appreciation of the true scope of his entire philosophical project. The implications of "Christian Atheism," particularly in a world that is increasingly secular yet spiritually yearning, are vast and warrant dedicated exploration.

Overall, I find myself captivated by Cadell's work in a way that profoundly reminds me of my deep admiration for Michael Brooks. Both thinkers possess an extraordinary ability to synthesize disparate intellectual traditions and, in doing so, forge a new kind of intellectual community. Cadell's work, in particular, has proven to be an invaluable intellectual resource, a compass guiding me through complex theoretical terrains. Reading Real Speculations has been a tremendously generative experience for me personally, prompting me to further explore, reflect upon, and write about these profound ideas. I am genuinely eager to witness the continued evolution of his thinking and the unfolding of his intellectual journey in the years to come, anticipating with great interest the next iterations of his groundbreaking work.