About this episode

The episode explores the intersection of desire and ethics through the works of Sade, Lacan, and Bataille with insights from guests Dr Tim Themi and Bryan Counter.

Dr Tim Themi is a PhD in Philosophy & Psychoanalysis from Deakin University. He also holds Honours degrees in Philosophy from La Trobe University and in Chemical Engineering from University of Melbourne. His doctoral dissertation, supervised by leading Lacan translator Prof Russell Grigg, brought together the psychoanalysis of Lacan and the philosophy of Nietzsche on the question of desire and ethics. He is author of the books 'Eroticizing Aesthetics: In the Real with Bataille and Lacan' (Rowman/Bloomsbury 2021); 'Lacan's Ethics and Nietzsche's Critique of Platonism' (SUNY Press 2014); and has taught at Deakin University, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, Lacan Circle of Australia, and in the School of Culture & Communication at University of Melbourne.Bryan Counter is the author of Four Moments of Aesthetic Experience: Reading Huysmans, Proust, McCarthy, and Cusk (Anthem Press, 2025) and co-editor, with James Dutton, of Quiet Proust: Aesthetic Experience, Reading the Virtual, and Thinking out of Time (under contract with Bloomsbury). He co-hosts the podcast Authors Die Twice with Nathan Wainstein and is currently working on…

People in this episode

Guests: Dr Tim Themi, Bryan Counter

Topics covered

• desire
• psychoanalysis
• philosophy
• Lacan
• Bataille
• Nietzsche
• aesthetics

Keywords

• desire
• Lacan
• Bataille
• philosophy
• psychoanalysis
• ethics
• aesthetics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Deakin University, La Trobe University, University of Melbourne

Books & works: Eroticizing Aesthetics: In the Real with Bataille and Lacan, Lacan's Ethics and Nietzsche's Critique of Platonism, Four Moments of Aesthetic Experience: Reading Huysmans, Proust, McCarthy, and Cusk, Quiet Proust: Aesthetic Experience, Reading the Virtual, and Thinking out of Time

More episodes of Hermitix

• Q&A Session: 30k Subs, The Hermitage Launch, and more... · July 12, 2026 · 1h 48m
• Introducing: The Hermitage · July 11, 2026 · 19 min
• Eliphas Levi's 'The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic' with John Michael Greer · July 8, 2026 · 1h 20m
• An Introduction to the Work of Gordon White · July 4, 2026 · 50 min
• Mysticism, Philosophy, and Vegetal Life with Simone Kotva · July 1, 2026 · 60 min
• Steiner, Sex, and Spirit! with Conner Habib · June 27, 2026 · 1h 33m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Hermitix podcast page.