Hannah Arendt liked to present herself in the image of a thinker who had jettisoned the grand met... more Hannah Arendt liked to present herself in the image of a thinker who had jettisoned the grand metaphysical ambitions of the Western philosophical tradition. In this, Arendt anticipated later “anti-foundationalist” themes in what came to be called post-modernist theory. Arendt even went so far as to resist the notion that she was a philosopher at all. In my view this self-understanding was way off the mark. Juxtaposing her idea of “judging” in the posthumously-published Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy with a classic conception of judgment from the Western philosophy canon – namely Aristotle’s key notion of “phronesis,” practical wisdom – demonstrates that Arendt easily matches the metaphysical ambitions of the philosophy tradition. For a thinker like Arendt, chucking off philosophy turns out to be easier said than done. In fact, properly appreciating the judging idea in the Kant Lectures conducts us into the very centre of Arendt’s political philosophy.
A much shorter version of this is being presented at the Illiberalism Studies Program at George W... more A much shorter version of this is being presented at the Illiberalism Studies Program at George Washington University on October 20th, 2023. The full version will be published eventually in STUDIES IN EAST EUROPEAN THOUGHT.
Foreword that I've written for Matthew McManus's forthcoming book, THE POLITICAL RIGHT AND EQUALI... more Foreword that I've written for Matthew McManus's forthcoming book, THE POLITICAL RIGHT AND EQUALITY (Routledge).
Book chapter being published in Matthew McManus, NIETZSCHE AND THE POLITICS OF REACTION (Palgrave... more Book chapter being published in Matthew McManus, NIETZSCHE AND THE POLITICS OF REACTION (Palgrave, forthcoming).
We intellectuals have been too easy on Nietzsche, either ignoring his ultra-reactionary politics or downplaying the relevance of that politics to his real philosophy. Quite possibly, this lenient treatment of Nietzsche is related to the fact that Western liberal societies for the past seventy years have enjoyed the luxury (which perhaps we haven't sufficiently appreciated!) of the politics of the far right being utterly discredited. But with the seeming return of fascist or quasi-fascist political possibilities, that happy respite from ultra-right politics may well be over. As I suggest in my 2018 book, DANGEROUS MINDS (University of Pennsylvania Press), this reappearance of far-right politics requires that we read or re-read Nietzsche with renewed vigilance and gravity. We have to be alive to aspects of his thought that may be a potential resource for the worst kind of politics. Nietzsche’s polemics against the Western tradition of Socratic rationalism, with its project to submit the idea of truth to a cynical genealogical unmasking, is one aspect of this. But I would argue that even Nietzsche’s complex reflections on truth need to be related back to his broader political project, seen in its full menace.
The latest in a series of little pieces I've written on Bannon, Dugin, and the nexus between them... more The latest in a series of little pieces I've written on Bannon, Dugin, and the nexus between them. Will be published in the Fall 2022 issue of INROADS.
In honour of Salman Rushdie, I'm posting my 2003 defense of him against critics such as Bhikhu Pa... more In honour of Salman Rushdie, I'm posting my 2003 defense of him against critics such as Bhikhu Parekh (RETHINKING MULTICULTURALISM, Chapter 10). Published in THE GOOD SOCIETY, Vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 50-54.
A mini-essay on Charles Taylor forthcoming in a volume being published in Italy to honour Taylor'... more A mini-essay on Charles Taylor forthcoming in a volume being published in Italy to honour Taylor's 90th birthday: La modernità al bivio: L'eredità della ragione romantica, ed. Paola Costa, Marietti, Bologna.
Conclusion to CIVIC NATIONALISMS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, ed. Jasper M. Trautsch, published by Rout... more Conclusion to CIVIC NATIONALISMS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, ed. Jasper M. Trautsch, published by Routledge in 2019.
My first stab at taking on Bannon. For a more recent critical analysis of Bannon, & the perils he... more My first stab at taking on Bannon. For a more recent critical analysis of Bannon, & the perils he poses for contemporary liberal democracy, see "The Plague of Bannonism" -- also on my Academia.edu page.
An edited version of this text was published as part of a symposium in *Review of Politics*, Vol.... more An edited version of this text was published as part of a symposium in *Review of Politics*, Vol. 78, No. 2 (Spring, 2016).
Hannah Arendt liked to present herself in the image of a thinker who had jettisoned the grand met... more Hannah Arendt liked to present herself in the image of a thinker who had jettisoned the grand metaphysical ambitions of the Western philosophical tradition. In this, Arendt anticipated later “anti-foundationalist” themes in what came to be called post-modernist theory. Arendt even went so far as to resist the notion that she was a philosopher at all. In my view this self-understanding was way off the mark. Juxtaposing her idea of “judging” in the posthumously-published Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy with a classic conception of judgment from the Western philosophy canon – namely Aristotle’s key notion of “phronesis,” practical wisdom – demonstrates that Arendt easily matches the metaphysical ambitions of the philosophy tradition. For a thinker like Arendt, chucking off philosophy turns out to be easier said than done. In fact, properly appreciating the judging idea in the Kant Lectures conducts us into the very centre of Arendt’s political philosophy.
A much shorter version of this is being presented at the Illiberalism Studies Program at George W... more A much shorter version of this is being presented at the Illiberalism Studies Program at George Washington University on October 20th, 2023. The full version will be published eventually in STUDIES IN EAST EUROPEAN THOUGHT.
Foreword that I've written for Matthew McManus's forthcoming book, THE POLITICAL RIGHT AND EQUALI... more Foreword that I've written for Matthew McManus's forthcoming book, THE POLITICAL RIGHT AND EQUALITY (Routledge).
Book chapter being published in Matthew McManus, NIETZSCHE AND THE POLITICS OF REACTION (Palgrave... more Book chapter being published in Matthew McManus, NIETZSCHE AND THE POLITICS OF REACTION (Palgrave, forthcoming).
We intellectuals have been too easy on Nietzsche, either ignoring his ultra-reactionary politics or downplaying the relevance of that politics to his real philosophy. Quite possibly, this lenient treatment of Nietzsche is related to the fact that Western liberal societies for the past seventy years have enjoyed the luxury (which perhaps we haven't sufficiently appreciated!) of the politics of the far right being utterly discredited. But with the seeming return of fascist or quasi-fascist political possibilities, that happy respite from ultra-right politics may well be over. As I suggest in my 2018 book, DANGEROUS MINDS (University of Pennsylvania Press), this reappearance of far-right politics requires that we read or re-read Nietzsche with renewed vigilance and gravity. We have to be alive to aspects of his thought that may be a potential resource for the worst kind of politics. Nietzsche’s polemics against the Western tradition of Socratic rationalism, with its project to submit the idea of truth to a cynical genealogical unmasking, is one aspect of this. But I would argue that even Nietzsche’s complex reflections on truth need to be related back to his broader political project, seen in its full menace.
The latest in a series of little pieces I've written on Bannon, Dugin, and the nexus between them... more The latest in a series of little pieces I've written on Bannon, Dugin, and the nexus between them. Will be published in the Fall 2022 issue of INROADS.
In honour of Salman Rushdie, I'm posting my 2003 defense of him against critics such as Bhikhu Pa... more In honour of Salman Rushdie, I'm posting my 2003 defense of him against critics such as Bhikhu Parekh (RETHINKING MULTICULTURALISM, Chapter 10). Published in THE GOOD SOCIETY, Vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 50-54.
A mini-essay on Charles Taylor forthcoming in a volume being published in Italy to honour Taylor'... more A mini-essay on Charles Taylor forthcoming in a volume being published in Italy to honour Taylor's 90th birthday: La modernità al bivio: L'eredità della ragione romantica, ed. Paola Costa, Marietti, Bologna.
Conclusion to CIVIC NATIONALISMS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, ed. Jasper M. Trautsch, published by Rout... more Conclusion to CIVIC NATIONALISMS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, ed. Jasper M. Trautsch, published by Routledge in 2019.
My first stab at taking on Bannon. For a more recent critical analysis of Bannon, & the perils he... more My first stab at taking on Bannon. For a more recent critical analysis of Bannon, & the perils he poses for contemporary liberal democracy, see "The Plague of Bannonism" -- also on my Academia.edu page.
An edited version of this text was published as part of a symposium in *Review of Politics*, Vol.... more An edited version of this text was published as part of a symposium in *Review of Politics*, Vol. 78, No. 2 (Spring, 2016).
Op-ed published in THE TORONTO STAR, Sept. 1, 2022.
On p. 2 I refer to a video that I suggest ... more Op-ed published in THE TORONTO STAR, Sept. 1, 2022.
On p. 2 I refer to a video that I suggest has been "scrubbed" from YouTube. The video is of remarks made by Dugin following a lecture by Sheikh Imran Hosein at Moscow State University in July of 2013. Hasn't been scrubbed; still available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWLABY5ZcW8 I'm grateful to someone who goes by the handle @Vorkoz on Twitter for correcting this mistake.
A blog posted on the POLITICAL THEOLOGY TODAY blogsite under the title, "The Fashionable New Glob... more A blog posted on the POLITICAL THEOLOGY TODAY blogsite under the title, "The Fashionable New Global Fascism".
A blog posted on the POLITICAL THEOLOGY TODAY blogsite under the title, "Brexit Confirms Some of ... more A blog posted on the POLITICAL THEOLOGY TODAY blogsite under the title, "Brexit Confirms Some of Plato's Cautions".
An interview with the Persian translator of Hannah Arendt's LECTURES ON KANT'S POLITICAL PHILOSOP... more An interview with the Persian translator of Hannah Arendt's LECTURES ON KANT'S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. Will be included in the book when the Persian edition appears.
My contribution to a discussion of my DANGEROUS MINDS book taking place at a conference on "The S... more My contribution to a discussion of my DANGEROUS MINDS book taking place at a conference on "The State of Political Philosophy in Canada" being held in Huntsville, Ontario on August 20th-21st, 2024.
Somewhat expanded version of remarks delivered in the context of a roundtable concluding "Interdi... more Somewhat expanded version of remarks delivered in the context of a roundtable concluding "Interdisciplinary Arendt: Pluralism, Promise, Problems", a conference at the University of Aberdeen commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hannah Arendt's 1973-1974 Gifford Lectures.
The text of my contribution to a Canadian Political Science Association panel (May 2023) discussi... more The text of my contribution to a Canadian Political Science Association panel (May 2023) discussing NIETZSCHE AND THE POLITICS OF REACTION, ed. Matthew McManus (to which I was a contributor). I will be presenting a slightly revised version at a Nietzsche workshop at U of Colorado--Boulder in April, 2024.
Contribution to a symposium hosted by University of Toronto's Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish St... more Contribution to a symposium hosted by University of Toronto's Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies marking the 50th anniversary of a Hannah Arendt conference held in November of 1972 at York University, Toronto. The proceedings of the 1972 conference (including wide-ranging exchanges with Hannah Arendt herself) were published in HANNAH ARENDT: THE RECOVERY OF THE PUBLIC WORLD, ed. Melvyn A. Hill.
Text of my contribution to a panel on "History and Political Judgment", APSA, Montreal, September... more Text of my contribution to a panel on "History and Political Judgment", APSA, Montreal, September, 2022.
Text of presentation at LIBERALISM AND ITS DISCONTENTS, LeFrak Forum conference held at Michigan ... more Text of presentation at LIBERALISM AND ITS DISCONTENTS, LeFrak Forum conference held at Michigan State University, April 2022.
Paper written for a February 2021 workshop (hosted by Matt Sharpe of Deakin University) on Domeni... more Paper written for a February 2021 workshop (hosted by Matt Sharpe of Deakin University) on Domenico Losurdo's NIETZSCHE, THE ARISTOCRATIC REBEL
Talk given at Deakin University (Melbourne) on November 18th, 2019 in the context of a workshop o... more Talk given at Deakin University (Melbourne) on November 18th, 2019 in the context of a workshop on "Philosophy and the Far Right, from Weimar to Charlottesville."
Expanded version of a short talk given on October 23rd, 2019, at a conference on "Civil Religion:... more Expanded version of a short talk given on October 23rd, 2019, at a conference on "Civil Religion: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment" held at Newcastle University.
Presented at a conference on “Medicine as a Spiritual Practice”, Lupina Centre for Spirituality, ... more Presented at a conference on “Medicine as a Spiritual Practice”, Lupina Centre for Spirituality, Healthcare and Ethics, Regius College, Toronto, October, 2010.
Follow-up exchange between author (Ben Teitelbaum) and critic (me) published in INROADS, Issue 49... more Follow-up exchange between author (Ben Teitelbaum) and critic (me) published in INROADS, Issue 49.
Scroll down to see the review essay (INROADS, Issue 48) to which Teitelbaum was responding.
This is a little review of a Sheldon Wolin Festschrift that I published in 2004 (in BULLETIN OF S... more This is a little review of a Sheldon Wolin Festschrift that I published in 2004 (in BULLETIN OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY). Re-reading the concluding paragraph of the original edition of Politics and Vision, I see that it articulates a view of politics & political theory that has stayed with me throughout my intellectual career, even if Wolin himself eventually abandoned it.
This is a somewhat longer review essay published in European Journal of Political Theory in 2006,... more This is a somewhat longer review essay published in European Journal of Political Theory in 2006, 2 years after the BSTS review. I especially recommend the Nietzsche chapter in the expanded edition of Politics and Vision. Wolin was right on target when he wrote that Nietzsche is "iconized, undercriticized, and overauthoritative" within postmodernist thought.
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and demise of the Soviet Union, prominent Western thinkers ... more Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and demise of the Soviet Union, prominent Western thinkers began to suggest that liberal democracy had triumphed decisively on the world stage. Having banished fascism in World War II, liberalism had now buried communism, and the result would be an end of major ideological conflicts, as liberal norms and institutions spread to every corner of the globe. With the Brexit vote in Great Britain, the resurgence of right-wing populist parties across the European continent, and the surprising ascent of Donald Trump to the American presidency, such hopes have begun to seem hopelessly naïve. The far right is back, and serious rethinking is in order.
Composed for an online colloquium to mark the retirement of my friend Leah Bradshaw of Brock Univ... more Composed for an online colloquium to mark the retirement of my friend Leah Bradshaw of Brock University (October 29, 2022).
Written version of remarks presented at Une Journée Karl Löwith, a workshop held at the Centre ca... more Written version of remarks presented at Une Journée Karl Löwith, a workshop held at the Centre canadien d'études allemandes et européennes on May 9th, 2019, marking the publication of Karl Löwith, Essais américains (Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 2019), edited by Martine Béland.
No one can deny that the Moses story has been a crucially important trope in the history of polit... more No one can deny that the Moses story has been a crucially important trope in the history of political thought, at least from Machiavelli to Freud. The purpose of this seminar is to do a close reading of the original source of this story/trope, namely the Book of Exodus--as well as Numbers and Deuteronomy--and then relate that source to some of its subsequent iterations and appropriations in the history of Western political thought and vice versa.
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We intellectuals have been too easy on Nietzsche, either ignoring his ultra-reactionary politics or downplaying the relevance of that politics to his real philosophy. Quite possibly, this lenient treatment of Nietzsche is related to the fact that Western liberal societies for the past seventy years have enjoyed the luxury (which perhaps we haven't sufficiently appreciated!) of the politics of the far right being utterly discredited. But with the seeming return of fascist or quasi-fascist political possibilities, that happy respite from ultra-right politics may well be over. As I suggest in my 2018 book, DANGEROUS MINDS (University of Pennsylvania Press), this reappearance of far-right politics requires that we read or re-read Nietzsche with renewed vigilance and gravity. We have to be alive to aspects of his thought that may be a potential resource for the worst kind of politics. Nietzsche’s polemics against the Western tradition of Socratic rationalism, with its project to submit the idea of truth to a cynical genealogical unmasking, is one aspect of this. But I would argue that even Nietzsche’s complex reflections on truth need to be related back to his broader political project, seen in its full menace.
We intellectuals have been too easy on Nietzsche, either ignoring his ultra-reactionary politics or downplaying the relevance of that politics to his real philosophy. Quite possibly, this lenient treatment of Nietzsche is related to the fact that Western liberal societies for the past seventy years have enjoyed the luxury (which perhaps we haven't sufficiently appreciated!) of the politics of the far right being utterly discredited. But with the seeming return of fascist or quasi-fascist political possibilities, that happy respite from ultra-right politics may well be over. As I suggest in my 2018 book, DANGEROUS MINDS (University of Pennsylvania Press), this reappearance of far-right politics requires that we read or re-read Nietzsche with renewed vigilance and gravity. We have to be alive to aspects of his thought that may be a potential resource for the worst kind of politics. Nietzsche’s polemics against the Western tradition of Socratic rationalism, with its project to submit the idea of truth to a cynical genealogical unmasking, is one aspect of this. But I would argue that even Nietzsche’s complex reflections on truth need to be related back to his broader political project, seen in its full menace.
On p. 2 I refer to a video that I suggest has been "scrubbed" from YouTube. The video is of remarks made by Dugin following a lecture by Sheikh Imran Hosein at Moscow State University in July of 2013. Hasn't been scrubbed; still available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWLABY5ZcW8
I'm grateful to someone who goes by the handle @Vorkoz on Twitter for correcting this mistake.
Scroll down to see the review essay (INROADS, Issue 48) to which Teitelbaum was responding.