“For the many activists and intellectuals on the Right, who identify with the ambiguously defined “Western civilization,” a nostalgic and selective association with Western civilization’s philosophical grandeur can be extremely appealing.”
Author: Matt McManus
On Mourning for One’s Enemies: Remembering Sir Roger Scruton
“And that is why I will miss Roger Scruton, enemy of my beliefs that he was.”
Review: “The Enigma of Clarence Thomas” by Corey Robin
“Despite this, Thomas has also long acknowledged the history of racial discrimination in the United States and has never accepted the popular conservative trope that the impact of racism is merely a historical issue in the present day.“
What Sohrab Ahmari Has Failed to Sense
“Such specious reasoning is so problematic that it may well produce more of the existential instability Ahmari is keen to reject, rather than placate it.”
The Decline of the Intellectual Dark Web
“…if one truly believes that the better argument can and should win the day, more formidable ammunition will be needed on the part of the Intellectual Dark Web.”
As the Year Closes: Appreciating One’s Political Opponents
“In this spirit I would like to thank all the many individuals who have written or commented on my writing the last year, especially those who have offered sincere and interesting criticisms that have helped me develop my understanding of the world.”
How ‘Ideology’ Can Hold Us Stuck in Place (Part II)
“Rapid innovations in communications technology and new media have made it so that any individual can access more knowledge at their fingertips than prior generations could have by traveling to the world’s most esteemed centers of learning.”
How ‘Ideology’ Can Hold Us Stuck in Place
“What it means is that when we begin to coordinate our lives according to an ideological worldview, it begins to generate a social world that can look a lot like the image presented by the ideology.”
Developing a Progressive Theory of Rights: A Preview of Liberalism and Liberal Rights
“Finally, even a thinker as cynical and sharp as Michel Foucault invoked the language of rights to discuss the ‘right to intervene’ to liberate suffering individuals from the imposition of tyrannical sovereignty.”
A Chapter from Our Forthcoming Book Critiquing Jordan Peterson
“Peterson consistently invokes the Schopenhauerian-Nietzschean trope that the most important thing is to strengthen the self against the suffering of the world. The stronger one becomes, the greater and more worthy of respect and emulation by those around him.”
The Driver of the Trumpian Movement: Resentment?
“But the more interesting argument Nietzsche puts forward is that resentment was at the base of many of the West’s egalitarian philosophies.”
Where Did Post-Modernism Come From?
“In this short essay, I will argue that there were three factors, which contributed to the emergence of post-modern culture.”
Yoram Hazony, Russell Kirk, and the Conservative Fascination with “Order”
“By contrast, Kirk insists that progressives are the real fools in thinking that unbridled reason alone can provide us with an adequate sense of meaning in the world.”
Identity Politics, Coleman Hughes, and the Left: A Reply to Samuel Kronen
“We should be aspiring to establish a far more egalitarian society in accordance with principles of fairness. But this cannot come at the expense of respecting alternative doctrines which have a right to political expression.”
Review: Axel Honneth’s “The Idea of Socialism: Towards a Renewal”
“While this may be a fair criticism of socialist intellectuals, it isn’t obvious to me that all socialists were as myopically economistic as Honneth suggests.”