Mark, Seth, Wes, and Dylan continue to delve into philosophical issues raised by our interview with Fukuyama. Chiefly, he recommends a "creedal national identity" as a solution for tribalism. Does this work? More abstractly, Fukuyama takes this "demand for recognition" issue as coming from Hegel (or rather Kojeve's interpretation of Hegel, which is much easier to understand Continue Reading …
Ep. 209: Guest Francis Fukuyama on Identity Politics (Citizen Edition)
We interview Francis Fukuyama about his 2018 book Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment and then continue the discussion on our own. What motivates people? Economists point to desire, and to rationality as a way of efficiently getting what we desire. Frank says this misses out on the third aspect of the soul that Plato identified in the Republic: Continue Reading …
Feeling Good About Oppression
In the Nietzsche episode, I made a point relating Nietzsche's "bright side" of slave morality with Hegel's account of the master-slave encounter. To refresh: Nietzsche's story in the Genealogy of Morals involves the oppressed turning in on themselves for satisfaction, because they can't get satisfaction in the usual brutish, masterful way. Nietzsche is often taken in telling Continue Reading …
Episode 11: Nietzsche’s Immoralism: What Is Ethics, Anyway?
Discussing The Genealogy of Morals (mostly the first two essays) and Beyond Good and Evil Ch. 1 (The Prejudices of Philosophers), 5 (Natural History of Morals), and 9 (What is Noble?). We go through Nietzsche's convoluted and historically improbable stories about about the transition from master to slave morality and the origin of bad conscience. Why does he diss Continue Reading …
Episode 11: Nietzsche’s Immoralism: What Is Ethics, Anyway?
Discussing The Genealogy of Morals (mostly the first two essays) and Beyond Good and Evil Ch. 1 (The Prejudices of Philosophers), 5 (Natural History of Morals), and 9 (What is Noble?). We go through Nietzsche's convoluted and historically improbable stories about about the transition from master to slave morality and the origin of bad conscience. Why does he diss Continue Reading …