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.

    • Oatsteak
      6•2 years ago

      Okay so IF I was trying my very hardest to interpret the quote in the most agreeable way possible I could MAYBE convince myself that “the higher breeding of humanity” actually refers to a spiritual/cultural evolution and that the “remorseless extermination of all degenerate and parasitic elements” is just an edgy way to say eat the rich or something.

      But like… come on. That’s such a ridiculously generous interpretation. Am I wrong?

        • Oatsteak
          5•2 years ago

          Would it explain quotes like this?

          “From the beginning, nothing has been more alien, repugnant, and hostile to woman than truth—her great art is the lie, her highest concern is mere appearance and beauty.”

          Because unless he starts of by saying “Here’s an example of some really stupid shit that the average misogynist might say” I’m not interested.

            • Oatsteak
              7•2 years ago

              Oh, come on. Of course you know what he meant by that.

              “Women have the intelligence, men the heart and passion”

              Also a stupid, stupid thing to say.

                • Seanchaí (she/her)
                  7•2 years ago

                  If a modern-day liberal said even one of these terrible things, would you be asking us to look for “context,” or would you be right in there making fun of it with everyone else?

                  I don’t understand what personal attachment you have to Nietzsche, but he is just one writer. There are others. Ones who you don’t have to struggle to defend because they don’t say things like “Woman is not yet capable of friendship: women are still cats and birds. Or at best cows…”

                  “Woman! One-half of mankind is weak, typically sick, changeable, inconstant. . .”

                  “Woman has always conspired with the types of decadence, the priests, against the ‘powerful’, the ‘strong’, the men-”