Containing States of Mind in Triangle of SadnessIn his book Containing States of Mind, Duncan Cartwright explores the ideas of the British psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion (1897–1979), and in…Jan 6, 2024Jan 6, 2024
Thoughts on the Munk Media DebateThe recent Munk debate on whether the mainstream media can be trusted was, in my view, a missed opportunity. Despite the participation of…Dec 19, 2022Dec 19, 2022
Why did the Intellectual Dark Web Fail?When I first came across the Intellectual Dark Web (IDW) in a New York Times article in 2018, I dismissed it as nothing more than a clever…Sep 11, 2022Sep 11, 2022
How to do things with words (and gender identity)Nathan Robinson of Current Affairs recently wrote a scathing review of the satirical documentary “What is a Woman?” by right-wing…Jun 26, 2022Jun 26, 2022
How not to read Marcuse’s “Repressive Tolerance”There are many on the right who view Herbert Marcuse’s essay “Repressive Tolerance” as something of a Rosetta Stone for understanding the…May 9, 20211May 9, 20211
The False Consolation of Pinker’s Enlightenment NowNathan J. Robinson’s essay “The World’s Most Annoying Man” ought to be the last word on Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now. It comes after…Jan 3, 2020Jan 3, 2020
Mimetic Desire and Sacrifice in The MatrixI recently rewatched The Matrix (1999), and since I also happened to be reading through the work of Rene Girard, I couldn’t help but…Nov 19, 2018Nov 19, 2018
A note on UBIWhy is the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) embraced by elements of both the right and the left? I think the answer lies in the…Jun 7, 2018Jun 7, 2018
Peterson and Brandom on PragmatismAfter listening to a hilarious send up of conservative contrarian Jordan Peterson and his book Twelve Rules for Life by the Chapo Trap…Apr 22, 2018Apr 22, 2018
Hayek, Joas and the Ends of Value — Part FiveAt the beginning of this series, I referred to Corey Robin’s discussion of Hayek in “Nietzsche’s Marginal Children”. There Robin argues…Feb 11, 2018Feb 11, 2018
Hayek, Joas and the Ends of Value — Part FourWhat are values? The answer to be inferred from Hayek’s essay is that values are whatever determines human social behaviour. It is by…Jan 19, 2018Jan 19, 2018
Social Media and MentalizationThere has been a lot of commentary recently on how social media may be adversely affecting people’s mental health. The question of what…Jan 1, 20181Jan 1, 20181
Hayek, Joas and the Ends of Value — Part ThreeAlthough Hayek’s essay is called “Three Sources of Human Values”, he barely mentions the word “value” in it at all. Instead, he appears to…Dec 27, 20171Dec 27, 20171
Hayek, Joas and the Ends of Value — Part TwoHayek’s argument in “Three Sources of Human Values” (published as an epilogue to Law, Legislation and Liberty) is relatively…Dec 18, 20171Dec 18, 20171
Hayek, Joas and the Ends of Value — Part OneA few years ago, professor of political science Corey Robin published an essay on the Austrian school of economics called “Nietzsche’s…Dec 9, 2017Dec 9, 2017
On Radical Hope by Jonathan Lear — Part 4When he was nine years old, Plenty Coups underwent a traditional rite of passage which involved leaving the tribe for a few days and…Sep 4, 2017Sep 4, 2017
On Radical Hope by Jonathan Lear — Part 3In the previous post in this series, I looked at Heidegger’s account of anxiety and how it is bound up with the finitude of human…Aug 24, 2017Aug 24, 2017
Hatred of DemocracyPrior to the election of Donald Trump, Andrew Sullivan wrote a piece warning that America had become ripe for tyranny. In doing so, he…Aug 17, 2017Aug 17, 2017
