Do you watch or read anything from modern philosophers/debaters/social critics?

20-07-2018 01:04PM #1

So Jordan Peterson has been making a bit of a stir the last months, I think there are 4 different threads on him in various forums but he's just the latest big deal, there's been plenty of others ranging from national newspaper columnists doing philosophical university debates to people making videos in their bedrooms on youtube.

Personally I've never watched a single one of these youtube videos, either homemade or taped debates where X destroys Y, and never read newspaper opinion pieces anymore. I'm not entirely sure why I don't have any interest, maybe my physics background has left me wary of verbal debates in an area I'm not an expert, maybe it's the smug 'intellectual' attitude a lot of these people give off while debating. Maybe while the topics might be sometimes interesting and I do glance at them on Boards, all the strawmen and having to analyse every sentence for fallacies leaves me bored. Possibly there's just something odd about watching a load of people mass debating on stage.

And the rest of ye?

LLMMLL · 20-07-2018 01:09PM

riffmongous wrote: »

So Jordan Peterson has been making a bit of a stir the last months, I think there are 4 different threads on him in various forums but he's just the latest big deal, there's been plenty of others ranging from national newspaper columnists doing philosophical university debates to people making videos in their bedrooms on youtube.

Personally I've never watched a single one of these youtube videos, either homemade or taped debates where X destroys Y. I'm not entirely sure why I don't have any interest, maybe my physics background has left me wary of verbal debates in an area I'm not an expert, maybe it's the smug 'intellectual' attitude a lot of these people give off while debating. Maybe while the topics might be sometimes interesting and I do glance at them on Boards, all the strawmen and having to analyse every sentence for fallacies leaves me bored. Possibly there's just something odd about watching a load of people mass debating on stage.

And the rest of ye?

As far as I can tell the only reason JP broke into the mainstream is because of that interview.

Very rare that any significant number of people would pay attention to YouTube philosophers.

20-07-2018 01:11PM

LLMMLL wrote: »

As far as I can tell the only reason JP broke into the mainstream is because of that interview.

Very rare that any significant number of people would pay attention to YouTube philosophers.

It's not just youtube guys though, there are plenty who write or wrote for big newspapers and wrote books, like that Hitchens guy

The Backwards Man · 20-07-2018 01:14PM

Life's too short to be listening to yahoos spouting endless bolllocks. If that's how I wanted to spend my time I'd go to the pub more often.

LLMMLL · 20-07-2018 01:17PM

riffmongous wrote: »

It's not just youtube guys though, there are plenty who write or wrote for big newspapers and wrote books, like that Hitchens guy

And Hitchens was famous for being controversial. I only heard of Hitchens work when he was causing a fuss.

I don’t believe the vast majority of people seek out philosophy/social commentary.

We can be exposed to it a good bit (for example in newspaper columns) but seeking it out, following particular personalities..... seems a lot rarer to me.

Noveight · 20-07-2018 01:26PM

Ben Shapiro's name is sometimes mentioned alongside Peterson. He seems to be an accomplished speaker and his debates make for interesting viewing.

Admittedly I'm somewhat apolitical myself so my opinion of him or his views wouldn't be what you'd call qualified.

20-07-2018 01:28PM

LLMMLL wrote: »

And Hitchens was famous for being controversial. I only heard of Hitchens work when he was causing a fuss.

I don’t believe the vast majority of people seek out philosophy/social commentary.

We can be exposed to it a good bit (for example in newspaper columns) but seeking it out, following particular personalities..... seems a lot rarer to me.

I wouldn't think so either amongst the general population, but it does seem to be getting more popular, certainly here on Boards and other Irish internet platforms Peterson has created a lot of posts. Before that it was mostly religious debaters that got all the attention and posts, particularly on A&A forum (how could I forget Dawkins, probably the most famous of them all, although from a previous internet age). Has he opened the door I wonder? I mean if you are going to listen to him, then why not others

20-07-2018 01:32PM

Noveight wrote: »

Ben Shapiro's name is sometimes mentioned alongside Peterson. He seems to be an accomplished speaker and his debates make for interesting viewing.

Admittedly I'm somewhat apolitical myself so my opinion of him or his views wouldn't be what you'd call qualified.

And there was that Milo Yiannopolous for a while too. I don't know if Lousie O Neill does debates, but she probably fits in from the columnists side of things

LLMMLL · 20-07-2018 01:34PM

riffmongous wrote: »

I wouldn't think so either amongst the general population, but it does seem to be getting more popular, certainly here on Boards and other Irish internet platforms Peterson has created a lot of posts. Before that it was mostly religious debaters that got all the attention and posts, particularly on A&A forum. Has he opened the door I wonder? I mean if you are going to listen to him, then why not others

Well because there was a major controversy around him because of that interview. There’s no way he’d have gotten so famous without it.

People love someone to follow. It’s why TED talks became popular. It’s why things like the web summit promoted WHO would be debating or chatting on the main stage rather than WHAT they’d be debating or chatting about.

People care more about ideas when there’s someone famous communicating those ideas. And JP became famous because of that interview.

Other people discussing those ideas are less famous.

Pyr0 · 20-07-2018 01:37PM

I find it too exhausting trying to keep up with all these new social movements and changes so I just don't bother.

LLMMLL · 20-07-2018 01:39PM

riffmongous wrote: »

And there was that Milo Yiannopolous for a while too. I don't know if Lousie O Neill does debates, but she probably fits in from the columnists side of things

Again both controversial figures.

20-07-2018 03:08PM

LLMMLL wrote: »

Again both controversial figures.

Sure, but when I think back to when I was in university in Ireland, roughly 10 years ago, I wouldn't have known of a single one, except maybe Dawkins, who was the controversialist of that time I suppose.

Do you watch or read anything from modern philosophers/debaters/social critics?

Well? 10 votes

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