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8 episodes with Richard Rorty
4 episodes with Richard Rorty
8 episodes with Richard Rorty
2 episodes with Richard Rorty
2 episodes with Richard Rorty
2 episodes with Richard Rorty
4 episodes with Richard Rorty
3 episodes with Richard Rorty
2 episodes with Richard Rorty
Today we shared 4 of our favorite quotations and discussed them on their own and in relation to each other. We quoted Dorothy Parker, Lex Luthor, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bob Dylan, Marvel Comics, Richard Rorty, Moby Dick, Ru Paul, Jacques Derrida, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Franz Kafka.
How to find hope in these times? I spoke with political scientist Loren Goldman about the principle of political hope: why we should have hope, how to have hope in dark times, and how political hope differs from naïve optimism, faith in progress, or passive reliance on a hidden logic that will save us in the end. Goldman, who is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, is the author of The Principle of Political Hope (Oxford University Press, 2023), where he reveals hope to be an indispensable aspect of much continental and American political thought, especially in the works of Immanuel Kant, John Dewey, Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, Ernst Bloch, Richard Rorty, and others. Our conversation on Goldman's study of hope ends with three concrete lessons to counter hopelessness, cynicism, and despair. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science
How to find hope in these times? I spoke with political scientist Loren Goldman about the principle of political hope: why we should have hope, how to have hope in dark times, and how political hope differs from naïve optimism, faith in progress, or passive reliance on a hidden logic that will save us in the end. Goldman, who is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, is the author of The Principle of Political Hope (Oxford University Press, 2023), where he reveals hope to be an indispensable aspect of much continental and American political thought, especially in the works of Immanuel Kant, John Dewey, Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, Ernst Bloch, Richard Rorty, and others. Our conversation on Goldman's study of hope ends with three concrete lessons to counter hopelessness, cynicism, and despair. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history
How to find hope in these times? I spoke with political scientist Loren Goldman about the principle of political hope: why we should have hope, how to have hope in dark times, and how political hope differs from naïve optimism, faith in progress, or passive reliance on a hidden logic that will save us in the end. Goldman, who is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, is the author of The Principle of Political Hope (Oxford University Press, 2023), where he reveals hope to be an indispensable aspect of much continental and American political thought, especially in the works of Immanuel Kant, John Dewey, Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, Ernst Bloch, Richard Rorty, and others. Our conversation on Goldman's study of hope ends with three concrete lessons to counter hopelessness, cynicism, and despair. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
On this May Day edition of Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael, political theorist Matt McManus joins us to unpack The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism, his groundbreaking new book. We explore: Liberal Socialism Defined: Why liberal rights and socialist economics aren't mutually exclusive—and how methodological collectivism and normative individualism unite them. Historical Roots: From Mary Wollstonecraft and Thomas Paine's radical democracy to John Stuart Mill's social liberalism, contrasted with Edmund Burke and Ludwig von Mises. Core Principles: A developmental ethic over mere inquiry, economic democracy within a liberal framework, and, for some, extending democratic values into the family. Key Influences: John Rawls's Theory of Justice, Samuel Moyn's critique of Cold War liberalism and the relationship between Samuel Moyn's book LIBERALISM AGAINST ITSELF: COLD WAR INTELLECTUALS AND THE MAKING OF OUR TIMES and Matt's book, and a speculative look at Richard Rorty's pragmatic liberalism in relation to Liberal Socialism. Global & Anti-Colonial Critiques: Addressing charges of Eurocentrism and imperialist bias by anti-colonial and Global South critiques of Liberal Socialism. Critiques from the Left & Right: Responses to neoliberal, libertarian, and Marxist-Leninist objections, and why caricaturing Marx misses his nuanced view of liberal institutions. If you're interested in the crossroads of political philosophy, the future of democratic socialism, and reclaiming a tradition of freedom and equality, tune in to this deep dive with Matt McManus.
Send us a textBob Ewing is the founder of the Ewing School and hosts a Substack called Talking Big Ideas (go check it out). He has also gifted me most of the great books that I've read. Today, we talk about how he got started and how many of the great lessons in life are learned. We talk about counter-intuitive ideas, how to find the answers to them, and how to effectively communicate them. He talks to us about kettle bells and quotes (almost) every great author under the sun. Support the showNever miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Today I talked to Chris Voparil about What Can We Hope For?: Essays on Politics (Princeton UP, 2023), a book of Richard Rorty's writings he co-edited with W. P. Malecki. Richard Rorty, one of the most influential intellectuals of recent decades, is perhaps best known today as the philosopher who, almost two decades before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, warned of the rise of a Trumpian strongman in America. What Can We Hope For? Essays on Politics (Princeton University Press, 2023) gathers nineteen of Rorty's essays on American and global politics, including four previously unpublished and many lesser-known and hard-to-find pieces. In these provocative and compelling essays, Rorty confronts the critical challenges democracies face at home and abroad, including populism, growing economic inequality, and overpopulation and environmental devastation. In response, he offers optimistic and realistic ideas about how to address these crises. He outlines strategies for fostering social hope and building an inclusive global community of trust, and urges us to put our faith in trade unions, universities, bottom-up social campaigns, and bold political visions that thwart ideological pieties. Driven by Rorty's sense of emergency about our collective future, What Can We Hope For? is filled with striking diagnoses of today's political crises and creative proposals for solving them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Today I talked to Chris Voparil about What Can We Hope For?: Essays on Politics (Princeton UP, 2023), a book of Richard Rorty's writings he co-edited with W. P. Malecki. Richard Rorty, one of the most influential intellectuals of recent decades, is perhaps best known today as the philosopher who, almost two decades before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, warned of the rise of a Trumpian strongman in America. What Can We Hope For? Essays on Politics (Princeton University Press, 2023) gathers nineteen of Rorty's essays on American and global politics, including four previously unpublished and many lesser-known and hard-to-find pieces. In these provocative and compelling essays, Rorty confronts the critical challenges democracies face at home and abroad, including populism, growing economic inequality, and overpopulation and environmental devastation. In response, he offers optimistic and realistic ideas about how to address these crises. He outlines strategies for fostering social hope and building an inclusive global community of trust, and urges us to put our faith in trade unions, universities, bottom-up social campaigns, and bold political visions that thwart ideological pieties. Driven by Rorty's sense of emergency about our collective future, What Can We Hope For? is filled with striking diagnoses of today's political crises and creative proposals for solving them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science
Today I talked to Chris Voparil about What Can We Hope For?: Essays on Politics (Princeton UP, 2023), a book of Richard Rorty's writings he co-edited with W. P. Malecki. Richard Rorty, one of the most influential intellectuals of recent decades, is perhaps best known today as the philosopher who, almost two decades before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, warned of the rise of a Trumpian strongman in America. What Can We Hope For? Essays on Politics (Princeton University Press, 2023) gathers nineteen of Rorty's essays on American and global politics, including four previously unpublished and many lesser-known and hard-to-find pieces. In these provocative and compelling essays, Rorty confronts the critical challenges democracies face at home and abroad, including populism, growing economic inequality, and overpopulation and environmental devastation. In response, he offers optimistic and realistic ideas about how to address these crises. He outlines strategies for fostering social hope and building an inclusive global community of trust, and urges us to put our faith in trade unions, universities, bottom-up social campaigns, and bold political visions that thwart ideological pieties. Driven by Rorty's sense of emergency about our collective future, What Can We Hope For? is filled with striking diagnoses of today's political crises and creative proposals for solving them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory
Today I talked to Chris Voparil about What Can We Hope For?: Essays on Politics (Princeton UP, 2023), a book of Richard Rorty's writings he co-edited with W. P. Malecki. Richard Rorty, one of the most influential intellectuals of recent decades, is perhaps best known today as the philosopher who, almost two decades before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, warned of the rise of a Trumpian strongman in America. What Can We Hope For? Essays on Politics (Princeton University Press, 2023) gathers nineteen of Rorty's essays on American and global politics, including four previously unpublished and many lesser-known and hard-to-find pieces. In these provocative and compelling essays, Rorty confronts the critical challenges democracies face at home and abroad, including populism, growing economic inequality, and overpopulation and environmental devastation. In response, he offers optimistic and realistic ideas about how to address these crises. He outlines strategies for fostering social hope and building an inclusive global community of trust, and urges us to put our faith in trade unions, universities, bottom-up social campaigns, and bold political visions that thwart ideological pieties. Driven by Rorty's sense of emergency about our collective future, What Can We Hope For? is filled with striking diagnoses of today's political crises and creative proposals for solving them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history
Today I talked to Chris Voparil about What Can We Hope For?: Essays on Politics (Princeton UP, 2023), a book of Richard Rorty's writings he co-edited with W. P. Malecki. Richard Rorty, one of the most influential intellectuals of recent decades, is perhaps best known today as the philosopher who, almost two decades before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, warned of the rise of a Trumpian strongman in America. What Can We Hope For? Essays on Politics (Princeton University Press, 2023) gathers nineteen of Rorty's essays on American and global politics, including four previously unpublished and many lesser-known and hard-to-find pieces. In these provocative and compelling essays, Rorty confronts the critical challenges democracies face at home and abroad, including populism, growing economic inequality, and overpopulation and environmental devastation. In response, he offers optimistic and realistic ideas about how to address these crises. He outlines strategies for fostering social hope and building an inclusive global community of trust, and urges us to put our faith in trade unions, universities, bottom-up social campaigns, and bold political visions that thwart ideological pieties. Driven by Rorty's sense of emergency about our collective future, What Can We Hope For? is filled with striking diagnoses of today's political crises and creative proposals for solving them.
Today I talked to Chris Voparil about What Can We Hope For?: Essays on Politics (Princeton UP, 2023), a book of Richard Rorty's writings he co-edited with W. P. Malecki. Richard Rorty, one of the most influential intellectuals of recent decades, is perhaps best known today as the philosopher who, almost two decades before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, warned of the rise of a Trumpian strongman in America. What Can We Hope For? Essays on Politics (Princeton University Press, 2023) gathers nineteen of Rorty's essays on American and global politics, including four previously unpublished and many lesser-known and hard-to-find pieces. In these provocative and compelling essays, Rorty confronts the critical challenges democracies face at home and abroad, including populism, growing economic inequality, and overpopulation and environmental devastation. In response, he offers optimistic and realistic ideas about how to address these crises. He outlines strategies for fostering social hope and building an inclusive global community of trust, and urges us to put our faith in trade unions, universities, bottom-up social campaigns, and bold political visions that thwart ideological pieties. Driven by Rorty's sense of emergency about our collective future, What Can We Hope For? is filled with striking diagnoses of today's political crises and creative proposals for solving them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics
Have you ever listened to an amazingly smart person who has built a false construct politically or theologically, a construct that benefits them to the exclusion of others? In contrast, have you listened to an amazingly savvy person who adjusts, collaborates, and innovates for mutual betterment? And, hey, which of these two profiles do you mostly closely resemble? Join Kevin as we take a look at the foundations of pursuing and sustaining fruitful savviness! // Download this episode's Application & Action questions and PDF transcript at whitestone.org.
„Voliči seznají, že systém selhal, a začnou se rozhlížet po silném muži – po někom, kdo je ochoten je ujistit, že po jeho zvolení už nebudou rozhodovat samolibí úředníci, úskoční právníci, přeplacení prodejci dluhopisů a postmoderní profesoři,“ napsal americký filozof Richard Rorty roku 1998. Když byl poprvé zvolen Donald Trump prezidentem, mnozí měli za to, že jeho nástup předpověděl. Ale co když tradice, k níž patří Richard Rorty, Trumpa přímo vyprovokovala? Rorty je řazen mezi pragmatiky. To je filozofická tradice, která – stejně jako odpovídající světonázor – vychází z toho, že si člověk nemá příliš vymýšlet a spíše si hledět, aby se žilo. Taková filozofie není žádné teoretizování, ale snaha o projasnění jednání. Že pragmatismus vznikl právě v Americe, může být i historicky ovlivněné. Američané neměli čas na řecké teoretizování. Zatímco antičtí Řekové mohli opovrhovat prací, kterou za ně udělali otroci a oni se aristokraticky vypínali k pravdě samé, Američané budovali společnost, práci oslavovali a nacházeli v ní i pravdu. Pragmatismus však nezačíná s Richardem Rortym. Jedním ze zakládajících myslitelů této tradice je William James, který ani nebyl především filozof. Přesto tento psycholog a vystudovaný lékař způsobil gentlemanské filozofické tradici šok. Pravdivé je prý to, co funguje; to, co rozvíjí mou zkušenost. Tato koncepce byla podnětná a vlivná, ale má to také svou odvrácenou stránku. Není pak pravda skutečně volnou zábavou? Neodjela na dovolenou, jak říká – pochvalně – Richard Rorty? Asi ano, přikyvují pragmatisté. Ale co když pravda už holt taková je? Možná zrovna někde relaxuje – a i my se máme uvolnit. Kapitoly I. Americká filozofie: Žádná věda! Jen život. [začátek až 16:00] II. Svět? Improvizace hravého Boha [16:00 až 26:20] III. William James: Einstein psychologie? [26:20 až 43:05] IV. Výtečnost není jedinečný čin, ale zvyk. [43:05 až 52:45] V. Pravda? Relaxuje – uvolněte se i vy. [52:45 až závěr] Bibliografie Mark Edmundson, Truth Takes a Vacation. Trumpism and the American philosophical tradition, in: Harper's Magazin“, 1/2023, https://harpers.org/archive/2023/01/trumpism-and-the-american-philosophical-tradition/ William James, “The Conception of Truth,” in: Essays in Pragmatism, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1948. William James, The Principles of Psychology, I, New York: Henry Holt, 1890. William James, “To H. G. Wells. September 1, 1906,” in The Letters of William James, Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1920. John Kaag, Sick Souls, Healthy Minds. How William James Can Save Your Life, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020. Richard Rorty, Achieving Our Country, Cambridge – London: Harvard University Press, 1998.
¡Vótame en los Premios iVoox 2024! En la filosofía del Siglo XXI existen temas candentes que se abordan a muy diferentes niveles y que alcanzan sin duda también a la calle y a los medios. Hoy en nuestra serie sobre la historia de la filosofía nos detenemos en dos de ellos y a los autores que nos arrojan luz para ayudarnos en la reflexión sobre ellos. Junto a Francisco J. García analizamos, dentro de la filosofía política, el estado de la cuestión sobre cómo nos planteamos la democracia y nuestra relación con ella, quizá en plena crisis en especial en Occidente, para lo que tocaremos autores como Habermas o Richard Rorty. Y también el feminismo, una corriente de reflexión que nos hace replantearnos muchas cosas determinantes en nuestra sociedad, un asunto para el que nos apoyaremos en la importante filósofa feminista Judith Butler y en la teoría queer. Enlace a la serie completa sobre filosofía: https://go.ivoox.com/bk/10369731 El Abrazo del Oso 29x06 Guion: Francisco J. García Dirección y producción: Eduardo Moreno Navarro Accede a más contenidos extra y haz posible la producción de El Abrazo del Oso pinchando en el botón 'apoyar' aquí en iVoox. O pásate por www.patreon.com/elabrazodeloso ¡GRACIAS! www.eabrazodeloso.es Sintonía de inicio y cierre: Navegantes del tiempo de José Apolo iVoox: https://go.ivoox.com/sq/3737 Programa publicado originalmente el 20 de octubre de 2024. Camisetas, bolsas, tazas: www.latostadora.com/elabrazodeloso Canal de Telegram para estar informado: https://t.me/+T6RxUKg_xhk0NzE0 Grupo abierto de Telegram para conversar con el equipo y la audiencia: https://t.me/+tBHrUSWNbZswNThk Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/elabrazodeloso ¿Quieres patrocinar este podcast?: https://advoices.com/el-abrazo-del-oso-podcast Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals
Concluding on "Universality and Truth" from Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism. It it coherent to simply not have a theory of truth? Rorty claims that he's not a relativist; he's just avoiding some useless parts of philosophy that just cause problems, including inculcating the respect for a non-human absolute, and this attitude undermines democracy. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content. Sponsor: Check out the Constant Wonder podcast.
On "Universality and Truth" and "Pan-Relationalism," which are lectures 3-5 in Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism. How do we justify democracy? Rorty says we don't have to refer to transcendent Truth or Good to do this. He also denies the disinction between essential and accidental properties, and in fact between substance and property: Everything is just described in terms of its relations to other things, and which relations are important are not intrinsic to the thing, but a matter of a speaker's purposes. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content. If you like our podcast, try the Saga Thing podcast.
Continuing on Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism, ch. 1, "Pragmatism and Religion" and 2, "Pragmatism as Romantic Polytheism." Rorty evaluates past pragmatists' approaches to religion, arguing contra James that it can't be "privatized," that democratic social goals involve shared rationality, which means that all of our beliefs are open to the judgment of our peers. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content. Sponsors: Apply for convenient term life insurance from Fabric by Gerber Life at meetfabric.com/PEL. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/partially and get 10% off your first month.
'Review everything we do'Electronic, Richard Rorty, Ludovico Einaudi, Rob Auton, Eliza Doolittle, Rufus Hound, Vince.Guaraldi, The Gravity Drive, Fryars, The Teen Teens, Roddy Doyle, Robert Franks, The Secret Sisters, Mathilde Santing, Saint Etienne, Rita Dove, Philip Glass, Daniel Dennett, Debbie Reynolds, Malcolm McLaren, The Boswell Sisters, Lucinda Williams, Gregory Isaacs, David Byrne, Sheldon Allman, Sarah Jones.
Two quick opening notes on this episode of the Eminent Americans podcast:* According to some post by some guy that I read somewhere once, most podcasts don't make it past 20 episodes. This is episode 21, which I take to mean not only that I'm more stubborn and self-absorbed than all those sub-21-ep scrubs—who have appropriately realized by episode 20 that the world doesn't need another podcaster in it—but that this is surely one of those tipping point situations where if you make it past 20, then the next few hundred are all but assured. So I'll be in your life for a while, or at least until you unsubscribe. * This is the second episode in a row in which I flamboyantly refuse to pay any attention to the text that my guest has selected as our topic of conversation. I should probably reconsider my approach to these State of the Discourse episodes. * The opening clip is from Beanie Siegel's “The Truth.”My guest on this episode of the podcast is James Livingston, professor emeritus of history at Rutgers and the author of, among other books, The World Turned Inside Out: American Thought and Culture at the End of the 20th Century and Origins of the Federal Reserve System: Money, Class, and Corporate Capitalism, 1890-1913. He's currently hard at work on a new book on pragmatism, provisionally titled The Intellectual Earthquake: How Pragmatism Changed the World, 1898-2008.The Mark Edmundson essay we discuss is “Truth Takes a Vacation: Trumpism and the American philosophical tradition.” James's response to it, published on his Substack newsletter Politics, Letters, Persons, is “Pragmatism: An Old Name for a New Kind of Nihilism?”Here's how the AI software Claude describes our conversation. It's basically accurate, but I feel as though it fails to capture the unique essence of our charm and brilliance.This conversation is between Daniel Oppenheimer, the host of the podcast Eminent Americans, and his guest James Livingston, an intellectual historian and professor emeritus at Rutgers University. The main focus of their discussion is pragmatism, the philosophical tradition associated with thinkers like William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, and Richard Rorty.Livingston argues that pragmatism is still very relevant to American culture and politics. He sees it as a perspective that dismantles traditional dualisms and binary oppositions in favor of more fluid, constructed notions of truth. A key pragmatist idea they discuss is that truths are made by humans rather than existing independently, and that facts cannot be separated from the values and purposes that shape them.They then apply this pragmatist lens to the current polarized political climate in the US. Livingston suggests that the contemporary right-wing, characterized by the "MAGA nation," is motivated by a desire to defend traditional hierarchies and values like male supremacy that are threatened by more egalitarian social changes. He and Oppenheimer debate whether directly confronting this regressive impulse is necessary and desirable.While Oppenheimer is skeptical that heightened politicization and polarization is productive, Livingston argues it is clarifying essential conflicts in American society around issues like racism and sexism. However, they agree that approaching political opponents with empathy and an attempt to understand the experiences and values motivating them is important.Throughout, they reflect on the role of intellectuals and the nature of progress. The conversation showcases the continued relevance of pragmatist ideas for making sense of truth, politics and social change in the United States today. Get full access to Eminent Americans at danieloppenheimer.substack.com/subscribe
My former professors John McGowan and Meili Steele join me to discuss Richard Rorty's final book, Pragmatism as Anti-Authoritarianism.
In this episode I revisit Louis Menand's collection of Pragmatist writings, Pragmatism: A Reader, with an eye toward the more recent writers. I discuss Richard Rorty's Postmodernist Bourgeois Liberalism and Richard Bernstein's Pragmatism, Pluralism, and the Healing of Wounds.
Jake and Phil are joined live at Fairfield University by the great critic and essayist George Scialabba to discuss Last Men and Women At a time of war, impending ecological disaster, and partisan rage, our commitments to the modern, liberal order are being questioned like never before. Do we understand ourselves best as individuals or as members of a community? Must we renew our absolute commitment to political freedoms, or accept greater state control to deal with the dangers and allures of new technologies? Should the future be post-liberal, neo-liberal, or some other, perhaps more frightening and electrifying possibility? For the past forty-four years the critic George Scialabba has been engaging in arguments with both the critics and proponents of modernity, staking out a commitment to liberty and mass democracy even in light of powerful challenges. On December 4th at 4:30pm George Scialabba will join Phil Klay and Jacob Siegel for a live recording of Manifesto! A Podcast. The three will discuss the price we pay for modern liberalism, and George's commitment to it nonetheless (the essay “Last Men and Women,” originally for Commonweal Magazine and included in his latest book, Only A Voice, published by Verso Books, outlines the basics of his argument) https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/last-men-and-women George Scialabba is the quintessential critic's critic, an outrageously learned and subtle thinker whose stylish, witty and elegantly argued reviews have served as guides to the modern age for generations of writers and intellectuals. Christopher Hitchens, Norman Rush, James Wood, and Vivian Gornick have all declared themselves devotees—while Richard Rorty declared his essays “models of moral inquiry.” An award-winning essayist and critic, his writing has appeared in the Nation, Dissent, bookforum, Riritan, n+1, and the Boston Review among many others. He is a Contributing Editor at the Baffler and the author of six essay collections and a memoir, How to Be Depressed.
On this episode I talk with Chris Voparil from Union Institute & University about American philosopher Richard Rorty. We discuss Rorty's biography, his complicated relation with American Pragmatist philosophy and both analytic and continental philosophy, how Rorty dealt with accusations of relativism, his epistemological and moral pluralism, what Rorty has to say about solidarity and community building, how the academic left neglected economics and forgot to talk about poor people, and what hope Rorty offers the contemporary world. Christopher J. Voparil is the author of two books Richard Rorty: Politics and Vision, (2006) and Reconstructing Pragmatism: Richard Rorty and the Classical Pragmatists (2022). He is also co-editor of The Rorty Reader (2010), Richard Rorty: On Philosophy and Philosophers: Unpublished Papers, 1960–2000 (2020), What Can We Hope For?: Essays on Politics (2023). He is the founding President of the Richard Rorty Society. You can find out more about Chris here. If you would like to study with me you can find more information about our online education MAs in Philosophy here at Staffordshire University. You can find out more information on our MA in Continental Philosophy via this link. Or, join our MA in Philosophy of Nature, Information and Technology via this link. Find out more about me here. September intakes F/T or January intakes P/T. You can listen to more free back content from the Thales' Well podcast on TuneIn Radio, Player Fm, Stitcher and Pod Bean. You can also download their apps to your smart phone and listen via there. You can also subscribe for free on iTunes. Please leave a nice review.
Can we have objective morality without metaphysics?Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesJoin Simon Blackburn, renowned philosopher at Cambridge University, as he discusses navigating heated moral discussions, the play of perspective on moral dilemmas, and his notable disagreements with Richard Rorty. From understanding contentious topics to gaining insights into meta-ethics, Blackburn takes us on an enlightening journey into the depths of truth and its implications in the modern world.Simon Blackburn is an academic philosopher known for his work on meta-ethics and his attempts to popularise philosophy to a wider audience. He has published over a dozen books on various philosophical issues both for public and academic audiences, and has appeared on shows such as Radio 4's The Moral Maze and PBS's Closer to Truth. He is known for proposing a meta-ethical view called 'quasi-realism' which proposes that ethical statements are projections of emotional attitudes as if they were real features of the world. His latest book, On Truth (2018), examines various philosophical approaches to the concept of truth, in order to interrogate what it is, how we should think about it, and why it matters.There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses waiting for you to explore. Find out more: https://iai.tv/podcast-offers?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_campaign=how-i-changed-my-mind-about-truth-simon-blackburnSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Back by popular demand, Clay Finck brings back Chris Mayer to chat about his book, How Do You Know – A Guide to Clear Thinking About Wall Street, Investing, and Life. This book is one that really made us think as it is not your conventional investing book and questions much of traditional thinking in the world of finance. If you're interested in becoming a better thinker as an investor, then this episode is a must-listen.Chris is the author of 100 Baggers and How Do You Know?, and the co-founder and portfolio manager of Woodlock House Family Capital.IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN:00:00 - Intro.02:13 - How being a learning machine has impacted Chris as an investor.07:30 - Chris' goal as a long-term investor in public equities.09:59 - What general semantics is, and how it relates to investing.10:42 - Finance terms that investors use that muddy the waters of how people think about stocks.13:10 - How either/or thinking doesn't align with how the real world typically operates.14:31 - Why can we do without broad terms as investors such as: “GDP,” “the economy,” “value investors,” “growth investors,” etc.20:17 - Why we shouldn't always take labels and names at face value.22:20 - What companies Chris owns are in what many would call “unattractive industries.”24:21 - Chris' opinion on what drives long-term shareholder returns.27:24 - What Sosnoff's Law is.30:17 - How meeting management teams play into Chris' investment process.33:17 - Why Chris believes that “This Time is Always Different” and that reversion to the mean is a flawed concept.42:58 - How Chris thinks about judging what numbers actually mean rather than judging the numbers themselves.44:06 - Why we shouldn't take accounting earnings at face value.47:50 - Why Chris encourages investors to develop a “delayed reaction.”50:29 - How Chris developed the ability to not take himself too seriously.55:08 - Chris' book recommendations.Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.BOOKS AND RESOURCESCheck out our newly released TIP Mastermind Community.Chris Mayer's book: How Do You Know?Chris Mayer's book: 100 Baggers.Rick Rubin's book, The Creative Act.Richard Rorty's book, Philosophy as Poetry.Chris's fund & blog: Woodlock House Family Capital.Thomas Phelps' book: 100 to 1 in the Stock Market.Follow Chris on Twitter.Follow Clay on Twitter.Check out our recent episode covering TIP568: Current Market Conditions, Alternative Assets, & AI w/ David Stein or watch the video here.Check out TIP531: Mark Leonard: The Best Capital Allocator You've Never Heard of or watch the video here.NEW TO THE SHOW?Check out our We Study Billionaires Starter Packs.Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) here.Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool.Enjoy exclusive perks from our favorite Apps and Services.Stay up-to-date on financial markets and investing strategies through our daily newsletter, We Study Markets.Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the best business podcasts.P.S The Investor's Podcast Network is excited to launch a subreddit devoted to our fans in discussing financial markets, stock picks, questions for our hosts, and much more! Join our subreddit r/TheInvestorsPodcast today!P.S The Investor's Podcast Network is excited to launch a subreddit devoted to our fans in discussing financial markets, stock picks, questions for our hosts, and much more! Join our subreddit r/TheInvestorsPodcast today!SPONSORSInvest in Bitcoin with confidence on River. It's the most secure way to buy Bitcoin with 100% full reserve custody and zero fees on recurring orders.Get a customized solution for all of your KPIs in one efficient system with one source of truth. Download NetSuite's popular KPI Checklist, designed to give you consistently excellent performance for free.Take ownership of your Bitcoin with Foundation. Attain self-custody with Passport hardware wallet.Reach the world's largest audience with Linkedin, the place to B2B. Plus, enjoy a $100 credit on your next ad campaign!Send, spend, and receive money around the world easily with Wise.Make investing in Short Term Rentals aka Air-BNBs simple, passive, and profitable with Techvestor. Listeners of We Study Billionaires get better terms by just mentioning “We Study Billionaires!” Sign up and book your call with their Investor Relations Team to get started today.Experience real language learning for real conversations with Babbel. Get 55% off your Babbel subscription today.Get your super sorted. Save money by consolidating multiple accounts, check out your investment options to see which is right for you, and see how extra contributions can make a big difference over time.Return to the all-access world of the rich and powerful. Don't miss new episodes of Billions streaming August 11th on the Paramount Plus with Showtime plan.Choose Toyota for your next vehicle – SUVs that are known for their reliability and longevity, making them a great investment. Plus, Toyotas now have more advanced technology than ever before, maximizing that investment with a comfortable and connected drive.Beat FOMO and move faster than the market with AlphaSense.Be confident that you'll be small businessing at your best with support designed to help you reach your goals. Book an appointment with a TD Small Business Specialist today.Get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep with America's #1 meal kit, HelloFresh! Use code wsb50 for 50% off plus free shipping.Start, run, and grow your business without the struggle. Be in control of every sales channel with Shopify. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period today.Look good and feel good with True Classic‘s range of summer essentials, crafted with premium quality fabrics at an accessible price. 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School boards and state governments have been locked in intense debates over what counts as history and whose history ought to be taught. Many of these wrestles orbit around events and cultural beliefs that the pragmatist philosopher Cornel West might refer to as “catastrophes.”Some voices are eager to bury, ignore, or sterilize many of the truly horrendous deeds that have happened in the United States. Slavery. Segregation. Jim Crow. Genocide. The exploitation of workers. And the list goes on.This inability to process the pain, guilt, or shame many of these events provoke in people is, arguably, a major contributing factor to the polarization, dehumanization, and political corrosiveness we encounter in both the national discourse and our local communities. Brad Elliott Stone and Jacob Goodson believe the answer can be found in building beloved community.They draw from the philosophies of Josiah Royce, Martin Luther King Jr, Cornel West, and William James. In their new book, Building Beloved Community in a Wounded World, they argue for ways in which we can heal the wounds inflicted on all of us by racism and economic injustices, both past and present. Here are just a few of the questions considered throughout the conversation.Should building beloved community be focused locally, nationally, or globally? What does it take to effectively respond to the cries of the wounded? And, how can communities better work through the emotional pain of past wrongs?Brad Elliott Stone is Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean in the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.Jacob L. Goodson is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.Show NotesBuilding Beloved Community in a Wounded World by Jacob L. Goodson, Brad Elliott Stone, and Philip Rudolph Kuehnert (2022)Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism: A Dialogue on Hope, the Philosophy of Race, and the Spiritual Blues by Jacob L. Goodson and Brad Elliott Stone (2019)Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity by Richard Rorty (1989)The American Evasion of Philosophy by Cornel West (1989)“Pragmatism and the Tragic Sense of Life” by Sidney Hook (1960)The Tragic Sense of Life by Miguel de Unamuno (1954)Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking by William James (1907)“Tender-Minded vs. Tough-Minded Thinkers” by Jeffrey Howard (2023)S2E02 Fear of Breakdown in American Democracy w/ Noëlle McAfee (2022)“American Democracy and Its Broken Bargaining Tables” by Daniel Layman (2021)“Rortian Liberalism and the Problem of Truth” by Adrian Rutt (2021)S1E12 Philosophers Need to Care About the Poor w/ Jacob Goodson (2021)S1E19 Buddhist Reflections on Race and Liberation w/ Charles Johnson (2021)S1E01 Richard Rorty and Achieving Our Country w/ Adrian Rutt (2020)Music Credits“Happy Americana” by ABCDmusic“Empty Bottle, Empty Bed” by Mini Vandals“Thinking Blues” by Bessie Smith“Nobody's Dirty Business” by Mississippi John Hurt“That's All Right” by Arthur Crudup“Sissy Man Blues” by Kokomo Arnold This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit damntheabsolute.substack.com
Episode 237 of RevolutionZ finishes off a two part series assessing and dismissing Richard Rorty's thought or, demystifying some philosophical mystification.Support the show
Episode 236 of the podcast RevolutionZ is titled A Brief Disparaging Trip In Philosophy. It addresses the political work of the renowned American philosopher Richard Rory, taking issue with his political views. Support the show
In the sixth installment of our John Dewey Series, we delve into the final chapter of "The Public and Its Problems," titled 'The Problem of Method.' This episode explores the reconciliation of atomistic individualism with shared moral narratives, a key aspect of our quest for the good life. We scrutinize the challenges posed by Enlightenment thinking and its influence on our perception of society and the individual. The importance of face-to-face interactions in community building is discussed, exemplified by a case against drive-throughs to underscore the value of fostering direct dialogue. Further, we navigate the revitalization of local communal life, drawing insights from Dewey and Rorty, with a particular emphasis on the call for empathetic dialogue. As we conclude this episode, we reflect on our journey through Dewey's work, expressing hope for a society that is not only alive and flexible but also stable, responsive, and enriching.Topics: Reconciliation of Atomistic Individualism and Shared Moral Narratives Critique of Enlightenment Thinking and its Impact on Society The Role of Face-to-Face Interactions in Community Building The Case Against Drive-Throughs as a Means to Foster Direct Dialogue Revitalization of Local Communal Life The Importance of Empathetic Dialogue in Community Building The Role of Education and Community Engagement in Healthcare Reform The Concept of Intelligence in Dewey's Philosophy The Importance of Ethics in Society The Hope for a Society that is Alive, Flexible, Stable, Responsive, and Enriching.Book Recommendations: "How Private Equity Is Swallowing Up Health Care—And What to Do About It"by Dana Brown "Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity" by Richard Rorty "Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity" by Charles Taylor The Book: The Public and its Problems Twitter: https://twitter.com/Reviving_Virtue Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/RevivingVirtue Substack: https://revivingvirtue.substack.com/ Contact: revivingvirtue@gmail.com Music by Jeffrey Anthony: https://open.spotify.com/album/1Q9wJCeuUa3wrHrKKtsTFW?si=NeyPJ-dzRBeWfHhYDPgvvw
In this fifth installment of our John Dewey Series, we delve into Chapter 5 of "The Public and Its Problems," titled "Search for the Great Community," exploring its implications for contemporary society. We draw metaphorical parallels between jazz improvisation and societal discourse, underscoring the importance of open communication, especially in the face of the polarizing phenomenon of cancel culture. Through a discussion on intellectual freedom, we elucidate the crucial roles of open-mindedness, courage, prudence, justice, and compassion in fostering harmonious societal ensembles. The episode underlines Dewey's emphasis on the power of art and literature in the presentation and dissemination of ideas, enabling rigorous exploration and inquiry to resonate with the masses. We highlight the transformative potential of art and literature in shaping democracy, underscoring their capacity to enhance our understanding of ourselves, others, and the world we share. We conclude the episode by acknowledging the intricate interplay between art, literature, and democracy. This amalgam of philosophical introspection and contemporary discourse analysis offers valuable insights for navigating our increasingly complex social landscapes.Topics Covered: Cancel culture and its impact on societal discourse The metaphor of jazz improvisation John Dewey's philosophy on intellectual freedom Role of open-mindedness, courage, prudence, justice, and compassion in societal discourse Importance of art and presentation in disseminating ideas The transformative potential of literature and art Role of artists in shaping public opinion Richard Rorty's thoughts on vehicles of moral change Interplay between art, literature, and democracy The importance of free social inquiry and artful communicationRecommended Books: "Irony, Contingency, and Solidarity" by Richard Rorty: An influential work that challenges traditional notions of truth and discusses the role of literature in moral progress. "The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages" by Harold Bloom: A rich exploration of literature's transformative potential, seen through the lens of Bloom's critical genius. "The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature" by Pierre Bourdieu: This book presents a comprehensive view of Bourdieu's wide-ranging theories of art and literature, shedding light on his concept of 'habitus.'The Book: The Public and its ProblemsTwitter: https://twitter.com/Reviving_VirtuePatreon page: https://www.patreon.com/RevivingVirtueSubstack: https://revivingvirtue.substack.com/Contact: revivingvirtue@gmail.comMusic by Jeffrey Anthony: https://open.spotify.com/album/1Q9wJCeuUa3wrHrKKtsTFW?si=NeyPJ-dzRBeWfHhYDPgvvw
An intermediate episode. It seems wrong to talk about Foucault without mentioning his theory of power and societal change. But I don't think there's a lot you can *do* with that theory in the sense of "applying it to software". So it doesn't really fit with the podcast theme. But his is a disturbing theory for the problem-solvers among us, so I make it more palatable by comparing it to a cult horror movie from 1997.SourcesMichel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison, 1975C.G. Prado, Starting With Foucault (2/e), 2000 Vincenzo Natali, script for the movie "Cube", 6th draftPeter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteenth Century. The chapter I cite is “Ships and Chips: Technological Repression and the Origin of the Wage”Other mentionsOn large language models and "a judicious amount of randomness", Stephen Wolfram's "What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work?" is good. Ada Palmer, Too Like the Lightning, 2016George Lakoff, Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind, 1987Gregory L. Murphy, The Big Book of Concepts, 2002The Eastern State Penitentiary was a model prison that featured solitary confinement, a Bible as the only possession, and piecework in the cell. It was the founding institution of what came to be called "The Pennsylvania System." See also "Eastern State Penitentiary: A Prison With a Past".I mention an idea I got from Richard Rorty and Stanley Fish. I don't exactly remember the sources. For Rorty, it was probably Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity. For Fish, it might have been Is There a Text in This Class?Image creditThe image is the Albion flour mill, completed in 1786, which was possibly the referent of Blake's "dark satanic mills" in his poem Jerusalem: And did the Countenance Divine, Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here, Among these dark Satanic Mills?
The German philosopher Hegel gives us a useful tool for understanding the history of ideas: thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. We can see this clearly in the movement from the Enlightenment to romanticism to modernism and postmodernism—each intellectual movement a reaction to its predecessor, integrating what works from the previous era with new solutions to meet the demands of new problems. But, where does that leave us now? What comes next after postmodernism? Odds are, we're already in it this new intellectual movement. A growing number of people have become worn out with deconstruction and the postmodernist impulse to doubt everything, to dismantle every concept and institution. It's become apparent this exercise which started out as emancipatory and liberating has congealed into its own set of dogmas and less-than-productive ways of being. Eager to revitalize a more constructive mindset and free us from postmodernism's long shadow, as he calls it, Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm makes a case for what he hopes will come next. He argues this in his recent book Metamodernism: The Future of Theory (2021). Chair and professor of religion and chair of science and technology studies at Williams College, he aims to take us through postmodernism to metamodernism, to establish a new approach to producing what he calls “humble knowledge.” He's trying to create a paradigm shift, not just describe what is happening. He believes metamodernism is about the future of all disciplines, especially the human sciences. Ultimately, metamodernism is about hope. It's a vision whose ethical and political goals are rooted in compassion and multispecies flourishing. And here are a few things we consider during our conversation: How does metamodernism utilize skepticism without falling prey to either nihilism or a dogmatic doubting of everything? Why has postmodernism possibly, I say, possibly, reached a dead end? What is the relationship between metamodernism and Pragmatism? And what pressing political or social problems can metamodernism help us solve? Show Notes: The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity and the Birth of the Human Sciences by Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm (2017) “The Task of the Translator” in Illuminations: Essays and Reflections by Walter Benjamin (1968) “What Is a ‘Relevant' Translation?” by Jacques Derrida (2001) “An Interview with Moyo Okediji on Metamodernism” by Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm (2022) “Black Skin, White Kins: Metamodern Masks, Multiple Mimesis” in Diaspora and Visual Culture: Representing Africans and Jews by Moyo Okediji (1999) Metamodernism: The Future of Theory by Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm (2021) S1E07 Charles Peirce and Inquiry as an Act of Love w/ David O'Hara (2021) Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature by Richard Rorty (1979) S2E03 Literature Must Be an Unsettling Force for Democracy w/ Elin Danielsen Huckerby (2022) “Rortian Liberalism and the Problem of Truth” by Adrian Rutt (2021) “Truth as Pragmatism's Only Hope” by Jon Alan Schmidt (2022) “Why We Won't Ever Arrive at Truth” by Ian Cran (2022) “The Power of One Idea” by Jeffrey Howard (2020) Music Credits: “Suspicious” by Nicolas Gasparini licensed under a Creative Commons License “Happy Americana” by ABCDmusic “Carmen – Habanera (Piano Version) Georges Bizet” by Nicolas Gasparini licensed under a Creative Commons License “Old Bossa” by Twin Musicom licensed under a Creative Commons License “Chill Wave” by Kevin MacLeod licensed under a Creative Commons License “Bet On It” by Silent Partner licensed under a Creative Commons License
Is philosophy an unbiased quest for the true account of the world?From Plato to Aristotle, Russell to Wittgenstein, we traditionally see philosophers as engaged in the disinterested pursuit of truth: a view philosophers themselves are inclined to encourage. But in a postmodern world, shaped by Richard Rorty's claim that philosophy is merely a form of 'cultural politics', few now imagine that truth with a capital 'T' can be uncovered. Must we abandon the ideal of a philosophy free from motives and social goals? If so, how is such a philosophy to be distinguished from literature or politics? Should we hold on to philosophy as the pursuit of the one true story of the world, with logic and rationality central to the endeavour, or are these themselves rhetorical tools to convince the unwary? Janne Teller, Barry C. Smith and Silvia Jonas exchange their views. Janne Teller is a critically-acclaimed writer, whose oeuvre consists mainly of novels, essays, and short stories, often focusing on grand-scale existential topics which spark controversial debate.Barry C Smith is a philosophy professor, and the director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London's School of Advanced Study. He also co-directs the Centre for the Study of the Senses, a research centre trying to understand how our senses contribute to our perception of the world.Sophie Allen is a renowned philosopher, her work focuses on philosophical methodology, metaphilosophy and metaphysics. She is a lecturer at the University of Keele where she writes on the very understanding of philosophy itself.Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesThere are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses waiting for you to explore. Find out more: https://iai.tv/podcast-offers?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_campaign= the-one-true-storySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The national purpose of the American state is to realize and then sustain the democracy and the equality that was the promise of our founding. I believe that requires perennial struggle and … groups like Black Lives Matter are an essential part of that struggle … Those are the social movements I hope to join, support, and that I hope will always be qualified by the adjective ‘liberal'. – Michael Walzer, NBN interview (2023) In the 1990 collection What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings edited by Solomon and Murphy and published by Oxford, teachers had a textbook to help introduce students to a broad cross-section of political thinkers ranging from Hobbes to Hegel to Hayek to Mill, Nozick, Rawls, Sandel, Taylor and Walzer among others. It is worth mentioning because Michael Walzer insists he is not a formal philosopher, does not in fact, deserve to be grouped with the likes of a Dewey or a Hegel, as Richard Rorty had done in the introduction of his 1999 collection of essays in Philosophy and Social Hope: ‘Recently Michael Walzer, a political philosopher best known for his earlier work, Spheres of Justice, has come to Hegel's and Dewey's defense. In his more recent book Thick and Thin, Walzer argues that we should not think of the customs and institutions of particular societies as accidental accretions around a common core of universal moral rationality, the transcultural moral law. Rather, we should think of the thick set of customs and institutions as prior, and as what commands moral allegiance.' Rorty's broader point remains as relevant as arguably, the positions of the political philosophers as collected in the Solomon and Murphy reader mentioned above, What is Justice?, which also recognized the appeal of Walzer's ‘very different approach' to the Rawls' paradigmatic A Theory of Justice. That same collection also shares Nozick's critical response to Rawls - mentioned because of the well-known course, ‘Capitalism and Socialism', that Robert Nozick and Michael Walzer taught together at Harvard. A former student, the Washington Post columnist, Brookings senior fellow, and policy professor E.J. Dionne once said: it was one of the best courses he ever took, adding, it was Michael Walzer ‘who very much shaped my view'. A short list of Professor Walzer's book titles include Just and Unjust Wars, Spheres of Justice - A Defense of Pluralism and Equality, The Company of Critics, Thick and Thin - Moral Argument at Home and Abroad, On Toleration, Politics and Passion, The Jewish Political Tradition, The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions, A Foreign Policy for the Left, as well as a published conversation - Justice is Steady Work: A Conversation on Political Theory - published by Polity in 2020. This interview focuses primarily on his latest book, The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On “Liberal” as an Adjective (2023, Yale University Press) which does much to clarify a simple, yet crucial distinction, between liberal and illiberal sensibilities underlying the pluralism, populism, and polarization today. Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and editor emeritus at Dissent magazine. Professor Walzer studied on a Fulbright Fellowship at Cambridge and completed his PhD in government at Harvard University. Keith Krueger can be reached at keithNBn@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
The national purpose of the American state is to realize and then sustain the democracy and the equality that was the promise of our founding. I believe that requires perennial struggle and … groups like Black Lives Matter are an essential part of that struggle … Those are the social movements I hope to join, support, and that I hope will always be qualified by the adjective ‘liberal'. – Michael Walzer, NBN interview (2023) In the 1990 collection What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings edited by Solomon and Murphy and published by Oxford, teachers had a textbook to help introduce students to a broad cross-section of political thinkers ranging from Hobbes to Hegel to Hayek to Mill, Nozick, Rawls, Sandel, Taylor and Walzer among others. It is worth mentioning because Michael Walzer insists he is not a formal philosopher, does not in fact, deserve to be grouped with the likes of a Dewey or a Hegel, as Richard Rorty had done in the introduction of his 1999 collection of essays in Philosophy and Social Hope: ‘Recently Michael Walzer, a political philosopher best known for his earlier work, Spheres of Justice, has come to Hegel's and Dewey's defense. In his more recent book Thick and Thin, Walzer argues that we should not think of the customs and institutions of particular societies as accidental accretions around a common core of universal moral rationality, the transcultural moral law. Rather, we should think of the thick set of customs and institutions as prior, and as what commands moral allegiance.' Rorty's broader point remains as relevant as arguably, the positions of the political philosophers as collected in the Solomon and Murphy reader mentioned above, What is Justice?, which also recognized the appeal of Walzer's ‘very different approach' to the Rawls' paradigmatic A Theory of Justice. That same collection also shares Nozick's critical response to Rawls - mentioned because of the well-known course, ‘Capitalism and Socialism', that Robert Nozick and Michael Walzer taught together at Harvard. A former student, the Washington Post columnist, Brookings senior fellow, and policy professor E.J. Dionne once said: it was one of the best courses he ever took, adding, it was Michael Walzer ‘who very much shaped my view'. A short list of Professor Walzer's book titles include Just and Unjust Wars, Spheres of Justice - A Defense of Pluralism and Equality, The Company of Critics, Thick and Thin - Moral Argument at Home and Abroad, On Toleration, Politics and Passion, The Jewish Political Tradition, The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions, A Foreign Policy for the Left, as well as a published conversation - Justice is Steady Work: A Conversation on Political Theory - published by Polity in 2020. This interview focuses primarily on his latest book, The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On “Liberal” as an Adjective (2023, Yale University Press) which does much to clarify a simple, yet crucial distinction, between liberal and illiberal sensibilities underlying the pluralism, populism, and polarization today. Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and editor emeritus at Dissent magazine. Professor Walzer studied on a Fulbright Fellowship at Cambridge and completed his PhD in government at Harvard University. Keith Krueger can be reached at keithNBn@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science
The national purpose of the American state is to realize and then sustain the democracy and the equality that was the promise of our founding. I believe that requires perennial struggle and … groups like Black Lives Matter are an essential part of that struggle … Those are the social movements I hope to join, support, and that I hope will always be qualified by the adjective ‘liberal'. – Michael Walzer, NBN interview (2023) In the 1990 collection What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings edited by Solomon and Murphy and published by Oxford, teachers had a textbook to help introduce students to a broad cross-section of political thinkers ranging from Hobbes to Hegel to Hayek to Mill, Nozick, Rawls, Sandel, Taylor and Walzer among others. It is worth mentioning because Michael Walzer insists he is not a formal philosopher, does not in fact, deserve to be grouped with the likes of a Dewey or a Hegel, as Richard Rorty had done in the introduction of his 1999 collection of essays in Philosophy and Social Hope: ‘Recently Michael Walzer, a political philosopher best known for his earlier work, Spheres of Justice, has come to Hegel's and Dewey's defense. In his more recent book Thick and Thin, Walzer argues that we should not think of the customs and institutions of particular societies as accidental accretions around a common core of universal moral rationality, the transcultural moral law. Rather, we should think of the thick set of customs and institutions as prior, and as what commands moral allegiance.' Rorty's broader point remains as relevant as arguably, the positions of the political philosophers as collected in the Solomon and Murphy reader mentioned above, What is Justice?, which also recognized the appeal of Walzer's ‘very different approach' to the Rawls' paradigmatic A Theory of Justice. That same collection also shares Nozick's critical response to Rawls - mentioned because of the well-known course, ‘Capitalism and Socialism', that Robert Nozick and Michael Walzer taught together at Harvard. A former student, the Washington Post columnist, Brookings senior fellow, and policy professor E.J. Dionne once said: it was one of the best courses he ever took, adding, it was Michael Walzer ‘who very much shaped my view'. A short list of Professor Walzer's book titles include Just and Unjust Wars, Spheres of Justice - A Defense of Pluralism and Equality, The Company of Critics, Thick and Thin - Moral Argument at Home and Abroad, On Toleration, Politics and Passion, The Jewish Political Tradition, The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions, A Foreign Policy for the Left, as well as a published conversation - Justice is Steady Work: A Conversation on Political Theory - published by Polity in 2020. This interview focuses primarily on his latest book, The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On “Liberal” as an Adjective (2023, Yale University Press) which does much to clarify a simple, yet crucial distinction, between liberal and illiberal sensibilities underlying the pluralism, populism, and polarization today. Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and editor emeritus at Dissent magazine. Professor Walzer studied on a Fulbright Fellowship at Cambridge and completed his PhD in government at Harvard University. Keith Krueger can be reached at keithNBn@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory
The national purpose of the American state is to realize and then sustain the democracy and the equality that was the promise of our founding. I believe that requires perennial struggle and … groups like Black Lives Matter are an essential part of that struggle … Those are the social movements I hope to join, support, and that I hope will always be qualified by the adjective ‘liberal'. – Michael Walzer, NBN interview (2023) In the 1990 collection What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings edited by Solomon and Murphy and published by Oxford, teachers had a textbook to help introduce students to a broad cross-section of political thinkers ranging from Hobbes to Hegel to Hayek to Mill, Nozick, Rawls, Sandel, Taylor and Walzer among others. It is worth mentioning because Michael Walzer insists he is not a formal philosopher, does not in fact, deserve to be grouped with the likes of a Dewey or a Hegel, as Richard Rorty had done in the introduction of his 1999 collection of essays in Philosophy and Social Hope: ‘Recently Michael Walzer, a political philosopher best known for his earlier work, Spheres of Justice, has come to Hegel's and Dewey's defense. In his more recent book Thick and Thin, Walzer argues that we should not think of the customs and institutions of particular societies as accidental accretions around a common core of universal moral rationality, the transcultural moral law. Rather, we should think of the thick set of customs and institutions as prior, and as what commands moral allegiance.' Rorty's broader point remains as relevant as arguably, the positions of the political philosophers as collected in the Solomon and Murphy reader mentioned above, What is Justice?, which also recognized the appeal of Walzer's ‘very different approach' to the Rawls' paradigmatic A Theory of Justice. That same collection also shares Nozick's critical response to Rawls - mentioned because of the well-known course, ‘Capitalism and Socialism', that Robert Nozick and Michael Walzer taught together at Harvard. A former student, the Washington Post columnist, Brookings senior fellow, and policy professor E.J. Dionne once said: it was one of the best courses he ever took, adding, it was Michael Walzer ‘who very much shaped my view'. A short list of Professor Walzer's book titles include Just and Unjust Wars, Spheres of Justice - A Defense of Pluralism and Equality, The Company of Critics, Thick and Thin - Moral Argument at Home and Abroad, On Toleration, Politics and Passion, The Jewish Political Tradition, The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions, A Foreign Policy for the Left, as well as a published conversation - Justice is Steady Work: A Conversation on Political Theory - published by Polity in 2020. This interview focuses primarily on his latest book, The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On “Liberal” as an Adjective (2023, Yale University Press) which does much to clarify a simple, yet crucial distinction, between liberal and illiberal sensibilities underlying the pluralism, populism, and polarization today. Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and editor emeritus at Dissent magazine. Professor Walzer studied on a Fulbright Fellowship at Cambridge and completed his PhD in government at Harvard University. Keith Krueger can be reached at keithNBn@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history
The national purpose of the American state is to realize and then sustain the democracy and the equality that was the promise of our founding. I believe that requires perennial struggle and … groups like Black Lives Matter are an essential part of that struggle … Those are the social movements I hope to join, support, and that I hope will always be qualified by the adjective ‘liberal'. – Michael Walzer, NBN interview (2023) In the 1990 collection What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings edited by Solomon and Murphy and published by Oxford, teachers had a textbook to help introduce students to a broad cross-section of political thinkers ranging from Hobbes to Hegel to Hayek to Mill, Nozick, Rawls, Sandel, Taylor and Walzer among others. It is worth mentioning because Michael Walzer insists he is not a formal philosopher, does not in fact, deserve to be grouped with the likes of a Dewey or a Hegel, as Richard Rorty had done in the introduction of his 1999 collection of essays in Philosophy and Social Hope: ‘Recently Michael Walzer, a political philosopher best known for his earlier work, Spheres of Justice, has come to Hegel's and Dewey's defense. In his more recent book Thick and Thin, Walzer argues that we should not think of the customs and institutions of particular societies as accidental accretions around a common core of universal moral rationality, the transcultural moral law. Rather, we should think of the thick set of customs and institutions as prior, and as what commands moral allegiance.' Rorty's broader point remains as relevant as arguably, the positions of the political philosophers as collected in the Solomon and Murphy reader mentioned above, What is Justice?, which also recognized the appeal of Walzer's ‘very different approach' to the Rawls' paradigmatic A Theory of Justice. That same collection also shares Nozick's critical response to Rawls - mentioned because of the well-known course, ‘Capitalism and Socialism', that Robert Nozick and Michael Walzer taught together at Harvard. A former student, the Washington Post columnist, Brookings senior fellow, and policy professor E.J. Dionne once said: it was one of the best courses he ever took, adding, it was Michael Walzer ‘who very much shaped my view'. A short list of Professor Walzer's book titles include Just and Unjust Wars, Spheres of Justice - A Defense of Pluralism and Equality, The Company of Critics, Thick and Thin - Moral Argument at Home and Abroad, On Toleration, Politics and Passion, The Jewish Political Tradition, The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions, A Foreign Policy for the Left, as well as a published conversation - Justice is Steady Work: A Conversation on Political Theory - published by Polity in 2020. This interview focuses primarily on his latest book, The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On “Liberal” as an Adjective (2023, Yale University Press) which does much to clarify a simple, yet crucial distinction, between liberal and illiberal sensibilities underlying the pluralism, populism, and polarization today. Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and editor emeritus at Dissent magazine. Professor Walzer studied on a Fulbright Fellowship at Cambridge and completed his PhD in government at Harvard University. Keith Krueger can be reached at keithNBn@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies
The national purpose of the American state is to realize and then sustain the democracy and the equality that was the promise of our founding. I believe that requires perennial struggle and … groups like Black Lives Matter are an essential part of that struggle … Those are the social movements I hope to join, support, and that I hope will always be qualified by the adjective ‘liberal'. – Michael Walzer, NBN interview (2023) In the 1990 collection What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings edited by Solomon and Murphy and published by Oxford, teachers had a textbook to help introduce students to a broad cross-section of political thinkers ranging from Hobbes to Hegel to Hayek to Mill, Nozick, Rawls, Sandel, Taylor and Walzer among others. It is worth mentioning because Michael Walzer insists he is not a formal philosopher, does not in fact, deserve to be grouped with the likes of a Dewey or a Hegel, as Richard Rorty had done in the introduction of his 1999 collection of essays in Philosophy and Social Hope: ‘Recently Michael Walzer, a political philosopher best known for his earlier work, Spheres of Justice, has come to Hegel's and Dewey's defense. In his more recent book Thick and Thin, Walzer argues that we should not think of the customs and institutions of particular societies as accidental accretions around a common core of universal moral rationality, the transcultural moral law. Rather, we should think of the thick set of customs and institutions as prior, and as what commands moral allegiance.' Rorty's broader point remains as relevant as arguably, the positions of the political philosophers as collected in the Solomon and Murphy reader mentioned above, What is Justice?, which also recognized the appeal of Walzer's ‘very different approach' to the Rawls' paradigmatic A Theory of Justice. That same collection also shares Nozick's critical response to Rawls - mentioned because of the well-known course, ‘Capitalism and Socialism', that Robert Nozick and Michael Walzer taught together at Harvard. A former student, the Washington Post columnist, Brookings senior fellow, and policy professor E.J. Dionne once said: it was one of the best courses he ever took, adding, it was Michael Walzer ‘who very much shaped my view'. A short list of Professor Walzer's book titles include Just and Unjust Wars, Spheres of Justice - A Defense of Pluralism and Equality, The Company of Critics, Thick and Thin - Moral Argument at Home and Abroad, On Toleration, Politics and Passion, The Jewish Political Tradition, The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions, A Foreign Policy for the Left, as well as a published conversation - Justice is Steady Work: A Conversation on Political Theory - published by Polity in 2020. This interview focuses primarily on his latest book, The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On “Liberal” as an Adjective (2023, Yale University Press) which does much to clarify a simple, yet crucial distinction, between liberal and illiberal sensibilities underlying the pluralism, populism, and polarization today. Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and editor emeritus at Dissent magazine. Professor Walzer studied on a Fulbright Fellowship at Cambridge and completed his PhD in government at Harvard University. Keith Krueger can be reached at keithNBn@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications
The national purpose of the American state is to realize and then sustain the democracy and the equality that was the promise of our founding. I believe that requires perennial struggle and … groups like Black Lives Matter are an essential part of that struggle … Those are the social movements I hope to join, support, and that I hope will always be qualified by the adjective ‘liberal'. – Michael Walzer, NBN interview (2023) In the 1990 collection What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings edited by Solomon and Murphy and published by Oxford, teachers had a textbook to help introduce students to a broad cross-section of political thinkers ranging from Hobbes to Hegel to Hayek to Mill, Nozick, Rawls, Sandel, Taylor and Walzer among others. It is worth mentioning because Michael Walzer insists he is not a formal philosopher, does not in fact, deserve to be grouped with the likes of a Dewey or a Hegel, as Richard Rorty had done in the introduction of his 1999 collection of essays in Philosophy and Social Hope: ‘Recently Michael Walzer, a political philosopher best known for his earlier work, Spheres of Justice, has come to Hegel's and Dewey's defense. In his more recent book Thick and Thin, Walzer argues that we should not think of the customs and institutions of particular societies as accidental accretions around a common core of universal moral rationality, the transcultural moral law. Rather, we should think of the thick set of customs and institutions as prior, and as what commands moral allegiance.' Rorty's broader point remains as relevant as arguably, the positions of the political philosophers as collected in the Solomon and Murphy reader mentioned above, What is Justice?, which also recognized the appeal of Walzer's ‘very different approach' to the Rawls' paradigmatic A Theory of Justice. That same collection also shares Nozick's critical response to Rawls - mentioned because of the well-known course, ‘Capitalism and Socialism', that Robert Nozick and Michael Walzer taught together at Harvard. A former student, the Washington Post columnist, Brookings senior fellow, and policy professor E.J. Dionne once said: it was one of the best courses he ever took, adding, it was Michael Walzer ‘who very much shaped my view'. A short list of Professor Walzer's book titles include Just and Unjust Wars, Spheres of Justice - A Defense of Pluralism and Equality, The Company of Critics, Thick and Thin - Moral Argument at Home and Abroad, On Toleration, Politics and Passion, The Jewish Political Tradition, The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions, A Foreign Policy for the Left, as well as a published conversation - Justice is Steady Work: A Conversation on Political Theory - published by Polity in 2020. This interview focuses primarily on his latest book, The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On “Liberal” as an Adjective (2023, Yale University Press) which does much to clarify a simple, yet crucial distinction, between liberal and illiberal sensibilities underlying the pluralism, populism, and polarization today. Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and editor emeritus at Dissent magazine. Professor Walzer studied on a Fulbright Fellowship at Cambridge and completed his PhD in government at Harvard University. Keith Krueger can be reached at keithNBn@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics
In this episode, Peter Boghossian interviews Carl Benjamin. This is what Peter said about the discussion:Carl Benjamin, AKA "Sargon of Akkad," is best described as a free-speech activist, staunch critic of identity politics, and champion of English Liberalism. When YouTube and Google shadowbanned his channel in 2019 for wrongthink, Carl continued creating content on Akkad Daily. In November 2020, he launched a new media venture: Lotuseaters.com.Carl and I have fundamental differences about our core principles, but we are able to explore these differences constructively. Carl challenged my views and I find his take on social and cultural issues to be insightful, refreshing, and unhindered by moral fashions. We discussed myriad topics over more than two hours; I'm sharing the most interesting segment, where the issue of national sovereignty sparks a deep inquiry into the value of rationality, the possibility of “moral facts,” the attainment of objective universal principles, and the possible pitfall of a doctrine of human rights. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.For further reading on ideas discussed, check out Michael Oakeshott, John Rawls, Richard Rorty, J. L. Mackie, Jürgen Habermas, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Michael Shermer.You can watch this conversation on YouTube.
This talk was given on December 4, 2022, at the Dominican House of Studies as part of "Avoiding Acedia: An Intellectual Retreat." For more information, please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: R.J. Snell is Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse and Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute. Previously, he was for many years Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Philosophy Program at Eastern University and the Templeton Honors College, where he founded and directed the Agora Institute for Civic Virtue and the Common Good. He earned his M.A. in philosophy at Boston College, and his Ph.D. in philosophy at Marquette University. His research interests include the liberal arts, ethics, natural law theory, Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic intellectual tradition, and the work of Bernard Lonergan, SJ. Snell is the author of Through a Glass Darkly: Bernard Lonergan and Richard Rorty on Knowing without a God's-eye View (Marquette, 2006), Authentic Cosmopolitanism (with Steve Cone, Pickwick, 2013), The Perspective of Love: Natural Law in a New Mode (Pickwick, 2014), Acedia and Its Discontents (Angelico, 2015), and co-editor of Subjectivity: Ancient and Modern (Lexington, 2016) and Nature: Ancient and Modern (Lexington), as well as articles, chapters, and essays in a variety of scholarly and popular venues. He and his family reside in the Princeton area.
This talk was given on December 2, 2022, at the Dominican House of Studies as part of "Avoiding Acedia: An Intellectual Retreat." For more information, please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: R.J. Snell is Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse and Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute. Previously, he was for many years Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Philosophy Program at Eastern University and the Templeton Honors College, where he founded and directed the Agora Institute for Civic Virtue and the Common Good. He earned his M.A. in philosophy at Boston College, and his Ph.D. in philosophy at Marquette University. His research interests include the liberal arts, ethics, natural law theory, Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic intellectual tradition, and the work of Bernard Lonergan, SJ. Snell is the author of Through a Glass Darkly: Bernard Lonergan and Richard Rorty on Knowing without a God's-eye View (Marquette, 2006), Authentic Cosmopolitanism (with Steve Cone, Pickwick, 2013), The Perspective of Love: Natural Law in a New Mode (Pickwick, 2014), Acedia and Its Discontents (Angelico, 2015), and co-editor of Subjectivity: Ancient and Modern (Lexington, 2016) and Nature: Ancient and Modern (Lexington), as well as articles, chapters, and essays in a variety of scholarly and popular venues. He and his family reside in the Princeton area.
Sean Illing talks with Cornel West about the American philosophical tradition known as pragmatism. They talk about what makes pragmatism so distinctly American, how pragmatists understand the connection between knowledge and action, and how the pragmatist mindset can invigorate our understanding of democratic life and communal action today. Cornel West also talks about the ways in which pragmatism has influenced his work and life, alongside the blues, Chekhov, and his Christian faith. This was an episode of The Philosophers, a series from Vox Conversations, originally released in May. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews writer, Vox Guest: Cornel West (@CornelWest), author; Dietrich Bonhoeffer professor of philosophy & Christian practice, Union Theological Seminary References to works by American pragmatists: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882): "Self-Reliance" (1841) William James (1842–1910): Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907); The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902); "Is Life Worth Living?" (1895) Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914): "The Fixation of Belief" (1877) John Dewey (1859–1952): The Quest for Certainty (1929); "Emerson—The Philosopher of Democracy" (1903); The Public and Its Problems (1927) Richard Rorty (1931–2007): "Pragmatism, Relativism, and Irrationalism" (1979); "Solidarity or Objectivity?" (1989) Other references: Cornel West Teaches Philosophy (MasterClass) The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism by Cornel West (Univ. of Wisconsin Press; 1989) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) Plato, Republic (refs. in particular to Book 1 and Book 8) The Phantom Public by Walter Lippmann (1925) Leopardi: Selected Poems of Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), tr. by Eamon Grennan (Princeton; 1997) "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Albert Camus (1942; tr. 1955) Democracy & Tradition by Jeffrey Stout (Princeton; 2003) Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Patrick Boyd Senior Producer: Katelyn Bogucki Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This resembles one of our FIGHT NIGHT episodes, except the whole of it is mediated by another philosopher, Richard Rorty. We give a bit of background to philosophical pragmatism before trying to get a read on what philosophy is for according to each of these three authors. Is it for self-help? Can it solve 'real' problems? Or is philosophy just cope? Find the public link on our patreon page https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills
We welcome Sam Harris back to the show for a deep dive into Stanley Kubrick's confounding 1968 masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey." How long is the Dawn of Man? What does the second monolith do exactly? Why are the humans so banal and expressionless? What are HAL'S motivations? Has he planned his mutiny from the start, or does the Council's deception make him manlfunction? Or something else? Who is the Council anyway? Was HAL meant to go through the stargate? What is the final leap forward in consciousness? The hotel room, the starchild, all the rectangles, rectangles everywhere, the music – what does it all mean???? Plus Sam has some thoughts about our Rorty episode and David tries to rile Tamler up about Kanye's antisemitism. note: there's a bit of an abrupt transition between our brief opening and Sam telling a story about Rorty in around the 9 minute mark... couldn't be helped. Special Guest: Sam Harris.
David and Tamler take their first real look at pragmatism via Richard Rorty's “Solidarity or Objectivity.” Can we discover facts about the world as it “really is,” independent of our own culturally influenced methods of inquiry? If not, does that make us relativists? Is David right about pragamatism being an ass-backward approach to scientific truth, or is he just a pragmatist who's not ready to admit that to himself? Plus, does "The Little Mermaid" have to be white? What about Clark Kent? And we select the topic finalists for our Patreon listener selected episode.
Whether it's theology, philosophy, politics, or science, it is not uncommon for people to believe their particular worldview has greater authority over others. This authoritarian approach to ideas implies that one person's representation of truth more closely and certainly reflects reality—they have the truth and we must submit to it. Alternatively, pragmatists believe this abstract certitude leads to religious fundamentalism, philosophical dogmatism, political absoluteness, and rigid scientism. For thinkers like the late-twentieth century philosopher Richard Rorty, language is an instrument for coordinating our efforts in addressing concrete issues we face in our lived environments. He doesn't believe theology, politics, philosophy, or even science are about acquiring an accurate representation of reality. In fact, he rejects the notion that the nature of truth is one of language mirroring reality. Instead, he views language as a dynamic tool, not something that reproduces truth. Often credited with rehabilitating pragmatism, Rorty encourages us to abandon these authoritarian approaches for what he calls a literary culture. While he holds that none of these disciplines have an epistemically privileged position from which they can determine which truth claims more closely represent reality, they each still play important roles in society. In other words, each provides us with particular vocabularies with different uses. Their vitality resides in the way they empower us to describe and redescribe experiences in continually novel and fruitful ways. Elin Danielsen Huckerby is a research fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, associated with an EU-funded project on Inclusive Science and European Democracies. She recently graduated with a PhD from the University of Cambridge, where she worked on Rorty's uses of literature in his philosophical work. She believes Rorty's literary attitude gives us more productive ways to move culture, science, and politics forward. A few questions to ponder. What is the role of literature in liberal democracies? What is moral progress for Rorty? How can liberal democracies benefit from embracing a more literary rather than scientistic culture? And, how worried should we be about Rorty's rejection of objective truth? Show Notes Richard Rorty The Takeover by Literary Culture: Richard Rorty's Philosophy of Literature by Elin Danielsen Huckerby (2021) "Rortian Liberalism and the Problem of Truth" by Adrian Rutt (2021) S1E20 Can Pragmatism Help Us Live Well? w/ John Stuhr (2021) S1E14 A Tool for a Pluralistic World w/ Justin Marshall (2021) S1E12 Philosophers Need to Care About the Poor w/ Jacob Goodson (2021) S1E07 Charles Peirce and Inquiry as an Act of Love w/ David O'Hara (2021) S1E06 Levinas and James: A Pragmatic Phenomenology w/ Megan Craig (2020) S1E01 Richard Rorty and Achieving Our Country w/ Adrian Rutt (2020) “The Power of One Idea” by Jeffrey Howard (2020) “The Pragmatic Truth of Existentialism” by Donovan Irven (2020) Richard Rorty: The Making of an American Philosopher by Neil Gross (2008) "Trotsky and the Wild Orchids" by Richard Rorty (1992) Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity by Richard Rorty (1989) Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature by Richard Rorty (1979)
Sean Illing talks with Cornel West about the American philosophical tradition known as pragmatism. They talk about what makes pragmatism so distinctly American, how pragmatists understand the connection between knowledge and action, and how the pragmatist mindset can invigorate our understanding of democratic life and communal action today. Cornel West also talks about the ways in which pragmatism has influenced his work and life, alongside the blues, Chekhov, and his Christian faith. This is the third episode of The Philosophers, a new monthly series from Vox Conversations. Each episode will focus on a philosophical figure or school of thought from the past, and discuss how their ideas can help us make sense of our modern world and lives today. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews writer, Vox Guest: Cornel West (@CornelWest), author; Dietrich Bonhoeffer professor of philosophy & Christian practice, Union Theological Seminary References to works by American pragmatists: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882): "Self-Reliance" (1841) William James (1842–1910): Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907); The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902); "Is Life Worth Living?" (1895) Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914): "The Fixation of Belief" (1877) John Dewey (1859–1952): The Quest for Certainty (1929); "Emerson—The Philosopher of Democracy" (1903); The Public and Its Problems (1927) Richard Rorty (1931–2007): "Pragmatism, Relativism, and Irrationalism" (1979); "Solidarity or Objectivity?" (1989) Other references: Cornel West Teaches Philosophy (MasterClass) The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism by Cornel West (Univ. of Wisconsin Press; 1989) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) Plato, Republic (refs. in particular to Book 1 and Book 8) The Phantom Public by Walter Lippmann (1925) Leopardi: Selected Poems of Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), tr. by Eamon Grennan (Princeton; 1997) "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Albert Camus (1942; tr. 1955) Democracy & Tradition by Jeffrey Stout (Princeton; 2003) Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Patrick Boyd Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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