Taught online via Zoom by professor of philosophy James D. Madden

Wednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 2024
7 – 9 pm ET
$160 Patreon Members / $175 General Admission

PLEASE NOTE: All classes will be recorded for those who cannot attend live

“This is the book I wish I read before I had ever considered learning about UFOs . . . .”  — Diana Walsh Pasulka

Join Prof. James D. Madden for a deep dive into his best-selling book Unidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the World, in which he constructs a plausible model for understanding the UFO that is unique among standard theories, and that also makes sense of much other “paranormal” phenomenon. To do so, he turns to the great thinkers from the Western philosophical tradition, including Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, James, and Heidegger. He also draws on relevant cutting-edge research in the fields of cognitive science and philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of technology, such as the extended mind thesis, embodied cognition, Object Oriented Ontology, and Super Nature. Madden also engages with some of the most prominent thinkers in Ufology, including Whitely Streiber and Jacques Vallee.

Throughout the discussion, Prof. Madden emphasizes the limitations of human thought and perception, which is essential to both our understanding of what the UFO might be and what it may have to teach us. This course will serve as both an emersion in a particular approach to anomalous phenomenon and an introduction to a number of important philosophical methodologies and theories. 

The course does not presuppose that the students have read Unidentified Flying Hyperobject, though the text is recommended. Those who have read the book will also find the course rewarding, as there will be ample occasions to ask questions, discuss the material with peers in the class, and see where this inquiry is heading in Prof. Madden’s ongoing thinking and research. There may also be some very special guests in the course!

The course will be conducted in a conversational and informal style. The material will be accessible and interesting to anyone, even those without prior exposure to academic philosophy. Prof. Madden is an award-winning teacher with over twenty years of experience in making philosophical ideas available to his students.

Week 1: Plato, Aristotle, and Our Contact with the World Beyond
We will begin by discussing how classical Western philosophy (Plato and Aristotle) and recent cognitive science and the philosophy of mind (embodied cognition and cognitive extension) show how human perception and cognition are enabled by limitation. This should lead us to expect that there is much left out of our ordinary, everyday understandings and expectations. Thus, we should not be surprised when we are surprised. In this discussion we will relate these philosophical resources to some of the experiences that Whitely Streiber recounts in his recent book, Them.

 Week 2: Super Nature and Ontology Beyond the Cave: The Metaphysics of the UFO
Drawing on the resources we developed in the previous week’s class, we continue by considering the notion (well-founded in behavioral biology, phenomenology, and cognitive science) of the Umwelt or “around-world” of an organism, along with its corollary notion Uber-Umwelt. Coupling these notions with the insights of Object Oriented Ontology, we can begin to see that the UFO may be an expression of a grand hyperobject operating on a scale that is beyond the human ken, even if it may be have been initiated by human actions. These ideas will put us into deep contact with some of Vallee’s most important ideas, e.g., Magonia and the Control Hypothesis, while beginning to see the phenomenon in an ecological context.

Week 3: The UFO and the End of the World: Thinking After American Cosmic
This week we take a Nietzschean and Heideggarian turn, especially as those themes are suggested by Diana Pasulka’s work in American Cosmic. In particular, we will encounter Nietzschean genealogy and its power to subvert religious and moral narratives, and the UFO is not immune to Nietzsche’s universal acid. We will also consider Heidegger’s critique of technology and how this sheds light on some of the apocalyptic undertones of Vallee’s most recent writings on the UFO question.

Week 4: Going Forward
In the final class meeting, Prof. Madden will discuss the research he has developed since publishing Unidentified Flying Hyperobject. In particular, he will introduce his notion of “dark knowledge” regarding the consequences of the UFO for epistemology and his considered views on the “Are UFOs demons?” question.  

James D. Madden is a professor of philosophy at Benedictine College. He is the author of Unidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the World (Ontocalypse Press, 2023), Thinking about Thinking: Mind and Meaning in the Era of Technological Nihilism (Cascade – Veritas Series, 2023), and Mind, Matter, and Nature(CUA, 2013), along with numerous articles on the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of religion. He is a frequent guest on podcasts and has given lectures at dozens of universities. Prof. Madden is also an award-winning teacher.