Materialism>idealism

I’m not trying to get into a whole debate, it’s just interesting to me the way some people cling to these idealist philosophers. Same w the stoics imo. As a guy who used to read all of them… they’re useless to actually understanding life. Like it can be helpful to read them in order to understand how the Western worldview evolved, but they really shouldn’t be taken as some sort of handbook - which many seem to do. (reactionaries). People who read Nietzsche or Plato and think they have some sort of secret insight is my biggest red flag irt pseudo-intellectual who is just going to waste your time… same with Dostoevsky btw.

Confucius is based af though.

Edit: Also, yes these kinds of people exist- my former mentor/boss who spent decades at a white shoe DC law firm would accept any idea if you found a quote by Plato to justify it lmao.

  • @ZarathustrasApe420@lemmygrad.ml
    3•2 years ago

    Appreciate the response, wanted to give others some food for thought too. I of course hope readers of this thread will maybe listen and read a bit of his work so they can decide for themselves. I can certainly see how Nietzsche can be interpreted as dehumanizing especially given his common characterization of “man as a herd animal” but I would argue that human beings under capitalism are indeed forced into circumstances that cause them to become degraded and dehumanized. Nietzsche would say that each individual must find their own inner strength to escape this condition, in contrast I recognize and now believe that it is up to all human beings to support one another and liberate everyone from the immiseration of life under capitalism.

    I like this thread because it’s true, when I was that age I was very into Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche and others. As I got older I embraced Marx and Engels because they gave me something the others couldn’t: a coherent explanation of the way the human world works. Nietzsche invites us to explore the dark places both in society and in ourselves. He was also as poisoned by irony as many of us online are today. I think it’s important to connect to these parts of yourself at intervals throughout our lives, but of course it’s just as important to come back to materialist reality, touch the grass, and do revolutionary praxis.

    • SpaceCowboyOP
      6•2 years ago

      I am glad my response was taken in good faith because that’s how it is meant.

      I think that what you are describing is that Nietzsche made you feel like you weren’t alone in your evaluation of symptoms which you observed in the world around you, which is the one place that ML’s and reactionaries agree - shit’s fucked up (which liberals deny). then comes the diagnosis (“what is actually wrong/causing these various symptoms?”) and then the recommended treatment (socialism vs fascism/monarchism/etc).

      No one except ML’s routinely get ALL the symptoms correct imo, and the same goes for the diagnosis, and we’re still working on the treatment but I think Lenin was pretty close.

      I had a similar trajectory from an ideological perspective. And so did Losurdo 😄

      This was a great essay which directly discusses Nietzsche vs Marx