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
    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-”

              • Muad'Dibber
                7•2 years ago

                How does it take “a lot of work” to understand Nietzche’s woman-hating quotes above? I’m marveling at how you’re trying to twist everything he says into something positive.

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

                That’s right, we’re all too stupid to understand the very special and surpassingly intelligent ubermensch who loves slavery and hates Black people and women, thank you for being so much smarter than the rest of us.

                  • Seanchaí (she/her)
                    6•2 years ago

                    The next time you’re upset with some fascist saying something horrible and anti-communist, just remember: they are only terrible things if they mean what you think they mean.

                    You have to read all of wolfballs and Gab to understand the context <3