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.

  • SpaceCowboy@lemmygrad.mlOP
    41·
    2 years ago

    Absolutely not, but I know the hot button areas of academia that are in contention.

    WWII and “human nature” philosophy.

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmygrad.mlOP
        31·
        2 years ago

        If you don’t see the value of plugging nietzsche then you don’t understand what fascism actually is or how the modern imperialist nations justify themselves.

          • SpaceCowboy@lemmygrad.mlOP
            31·
            2 years ago

            Yet again you rely on “they aren’t using his words”… i thought he had deeper meaning?

            They use his ideas

              • SpaceCowboy@lemmygrad.mlOP
                51·
                2 years ago

                It is not that biden says anything specific, it is that the crowd accepts what he says when at it’s core it assumes that there is a difference in the level of humanity between a brown and a white person. It is not just about a speech it is about the entire framing of how humans should organize and relate to one another, done through culture, psychology, academia, etc. This ideological framing enables the leadership to have their words and their actions be extremely out of alignment because the public does not humanize the people not in their country or of their skin color. Every time we hear that asians don’t respect human life as much as westerners or muslims hate women we are hearing echoes of Nietzsche. The ideas of dehumanizing other people, that some are lesser than others by their nature, is at the very heart of liberalism and of fascism.

                The very idea that an act arises out of some innate inferiority of another person rather than the material circumstances in which they find themselves can be traced back to Nietzsche.

                I have to get on with my day so I am leaving it at this. But I am begging you, to please read this essay https://redsails.org/really-existing-fascism/

                And I do apologize for getting so worked up. I was definitely wrong to name call. I just think this is so crucial to get right and it can be frustrating.