On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I offer a perspective on Jordan Peterson's criticism of left-wing ideology (what he calls "cultural Marxism") by sharing some of my intellectual history with feminism, Marxism and postmodernism.

The broader theme of this episode is how to critically engage with ideas without being sucked into the tribal psychology of ideological conflict. 

Show notes and links: https://kevindelaplante.com/026-jordan-peterson

Support the podcast on Patreon: https://patreon.com/kevindelaplante

In This Episode:

(0:00 - 3:10) Introductory remarks

(3:10 - 6:10) Introduction to Jordan Peterson

(6:10 - 7:15) Email from Daniel: a question about JP and "cultural Marxism"

(7:15 -  8:00) Feminism's branding problem

(8:00 - 10:30) My philosophy mini-course in middle school

(10:30 - 17:35) The value of separating the descriptive components from the normative components of feminism

(17:35 - 19:00) Distinction: describing patterns of discrimination vs explaining those patterns

(19:00 - 20:11) Why this way of defining feminism leaves lots of room for disagreement

(20:11 - 20:45) My agnosticism about explanations for the root causes of discrimination (and social change in general)

(20:45 -  23:48) Feminism and theories of social change: the problem of how to get from here to there

(23:48 - 24:58) Help support the podcast!

(25:00 -  31:00) Introduction to Marxism: what you can learn from Marx without committing to socialism or communism

(31:00 - 42:35) A thought experiment to illustrate a Marxist approach to social change: social idealism vs social materialism in explanations of slavery

(42:35 - 50:00) Jordan Peterson (via Stephen Hicks) on cultural Marxism and postmodernism

(50:00 - 51:45) Conspiracy theories and peer review

(51:45 - 53:52) "Traditional philosophical inquiry" vs postmodernism

(53:52 - 1:03:15)  A legendary graduate seminar: "Essence and Construction". Philosophy vs Theory and Criticism as a clash of intellectual cultures

(1:03:15 - 1:06:38) Breaking through: learning to communicate across an ideological divide

(1:06:38 - 1:07:55) Empathy as a tool of understanding

(1:07:55 - 1:10:11) Being socialized into a tribal view of intellectual identity and ideological conflict

(1:10:11 - 1:12:19) Criticizing Jordan Peterson is easy when every side has their champion and everyone else is a charlatan

(1:12:19 - 1:14:15) "Once you start playing this game, you will be a creature of the game from that point forward"

(1:14:15 - 1:15:30) The WarGames option: "the only way to win is not to play". What it means to take the side of people