“One of the defining features of the reactionary outlook is how thin its conception of life’s meaning is, and this, in turn, explains why reactionaries tend to be so anxious about it all falling apart…”
Author: Matt McManus
What Cormac McCarthy Saw When He Saw Evil
“When asked to describe Chigurh, the few people lucky enough to have encountered him and survived claimed he that ‘looked like anybody.'”
Why Wendy Brown Remains as Relevant as Ever
“Brown makes the bold choice of echoing conservative critics in scrutinizing left-wing variants of identity politics from a Nietzschean perspective; however, she takes a far more nuanced and less polemical approach.”
Bhaskar Sunkara’s “The Socialist Manifesto” and Understanding Millennial Socialism
“What has become ‘millennial socialism’ arguably got its start in 2011, with the founding of Jacobin, a proudly left-wing magazine that was trendy, readable, and erudite.”
The Irrelevance of the Intelligence Debate
“By contrast, those on the Left tend to prefer more transparently social determinants, such as ethnic or economic background and push against anything which seems to ‘naturalize’ inequality by explaining it biologically.”
Why Thomas Piketty Thinks We Should Not Naturalize Inequality
“Piketty wants to re-orient the political left away from cultural and educational issues, which dominate the mindset of the elitist ‘Brahmin left’ in his telling, and back to the economic concerns that were once the Left’s bread and butter”
The Problem with Edmund Burke and Defenders of “Tradition”
“The problem here is that one man’s stable hierarchy and proud tradition is another’s tyrannical oppression and ideology.”
Thank you for Taking Our Thoughts on Jordan Peterson Seriously
“But good or bad, the extent of discourse around Myth and Mayhem at Merion West would have been edifying for any author, and we are very pleased the book has generated such interest and strong feelings, even before its release.”
Patrick Deneen, Henri Bergson, and Understanding Time
“The decision to break time into past, present, and future reflects a tendency to see time as more or less analogous to space.“
Robert Nozick and the Strongest Argument for Property Rights
“It is long past time that we abandon the transcendent appeal to rights as ways to settle more arguments, in part because—following Derek Parfit—it is far more constructive to ask why and which rights matter.”
Critiquing the Intellectual Dark Web: Michael Brooks’ “Against the Web”
“Peterson comes across no better in Brooks’ telling. He acknowledges that much of the Canadian psychologist’s self-help is quite useful, and he even jokingly admits that many leftists could do with some tough love about cleaning their room.”
In Defense of My Work Critical of Jordan Peterson
“The irony of this exchange is it has only reinforced my opinion that Peterson’s political rhetoric often has a stultifying impact on sincere intellectual debates.“
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Nietzsche and Godless Post-Modernity
“All of this culminated in the works of Nietzsche, who rejected the ontological and moral truths of monotheism, while retaining their stress on individualism.”
Hannah Arendt’s Concept of “Impotent Bigness”
“Impotent bigness uses empty violence to lash out against the vulnerable to compensate for its own utter inability to change the world in any meaningful way. “
Why Millennials Are Angry
“Millennials occupy the rather strange position of being both an angry and apathetic generation.”