In this episode we discuss what distinguishes politics from other aspects of human existence by looking at Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition and “Reflections on Little Rock.” We question why Arendt is so concerned with defending the distinction between politics, the social, and the private realm and what useful insights can be drawn from these distinctions when analyzing real human history. In addition, we touch on Arendt’s controversial relationship to black politics around integration or as ...
Mar 07, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 33
In this episode we discuss the meaning of equality by delving into French political philosopher Jacques Rancière’s 1995 book, Disagreement . In a contentious conversation we unpack the core concepts of the book, including its expansive notion of the police and its highly restrictive definition of politics as foundationally egalitarian. Above all, we press Rancière (and each other!) on both the meaning and the political utility of equality as a presupposition or ‘axiom’ rather than a social goal....
Feb 22, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 32
In this episode we work through some of the ideas laid out in Part 1 of Raymond Geuss’ 2008 Philosophy and Real Politics . It’s a refreshingly clear-eyed argument for what he calls the realist approach in political philosophy, which tries to attend to the messiness of actually existing societies, the opaque and invested people who make them up, and the shifting, contradictory values they hold. We’re talking Hobbes meets Lenin meets Nietzsche here, folks. Leave your rational decision theory and n...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In this episode, we kick off a new series on the concept of utopia by taking a look at the guy who invented the word, Thomas More. We discuss how his wonderfully satirical 1516 book Utopia was written in response to the enclosures happening in England, which forced masses of peasants into unemployment and misery and created the conditions for early capitalist agriculture. His fictional island nation of Utopia thrives without private property, but More’s real trick is how he reveals the wildly ut...
Jan 24, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 30
In this episode, we read Jean-Paul Sartre's Search for a Method . We begin by working through Sartre’s puzzling claim that Marxism is this era’s one true philosophy and then branch out into broader questions concerning what it is we are trying to do when we philosophize and whether Sartre was right not to give up on capital-T “Truth.” Other topics include Sartre’s conception of freedom, the relationship of the individual to history, and the problems of dogmatic Marxism up to the present day. Thi...
Jan 10, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Merry Christmas and happy holidays! In this surprise gift of an episode, we’re visited by the spectre of Jacques Derrida and his deconstruction of the gift. Like the Ghost of Christmas Past, he forces us to ask whether we have given enough, whether we know how to give without reciprocity, and why it is so hard to give in the first place. The gang reflects on the phenomenology of gift-giving and the insidious politics of philanthropy, and even takes shots at the big guy himself: Santa Claus. So s...
Dec 25, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 28
In this episode we get together to discuss a new article by our very own Will Paris! We talk about Will’s critical and materialist conception of consciousness, the role of awareness and normative expectations in processes of social transformation, and why utopia is involved in knowledge production. We talk Bloch, we talk Hayek: you know, the usuals. It’s a classic original crew set, recorded live on stream! patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: William Paris, “Crisis Consciousne...
Dec 21, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 27
In this episode we welcome Dr. Ashley Bohrer to discuss Walter Benjamin’s 1921 essay “Critique of Violence”. We talk about the relationship between violence and the law, reflect on the limits of institutional power for emancipatory projects, and get really real about the spiritual dimension of justice. Keep your messianism weak, comrades. patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil ashleybohrer.com Pedagogies for Peace podcast: https://kroc.nd.edu/research/intersectionality/pedagogies-for-peace-p...
Dec 04, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 26
This episode dives behind the Iron Curtain into socialist Albania in discussion with Lea Ypi on her new memoir “Free.” The crew explores what has been gained and what has been lost in the transition to capitalism. Lea explains why some of the symmetry may surprise us and why Marxism is a philosophy of human freedom. patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: Lea Ypi, Free: Coming of Age at the End of History (Penguin Random House, 2021) Music: Vintage Memories by Schematist | schemat...
Nov 19, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 25
In this episode, the crew takes on a beloved figure of the academic ‘left’: Michel Foucault. The discussion gravitates around Foucault’s work in the early 1970’s on the ‘punitive society’, power as civil war, and popular rebellion. This post-‘68 period of his life and work is often seen as his most politically ‘radical’, both because of his activist involvement in the Prisons Information Group (GIP) and because he directly engages with Marxist discourse and thought. Nevertheless, the conversatio...
Nov 05, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 24
In this episode, we welcome Professor Melvin Rogers of Brown University to discuss his forthcoming book The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought . We focus on the often elided importance of character in social struggle and transformation, the tension between optimism and pessimism in African American political thought, and the centrality of rhetoric and persuasion in this tradition. It is not to be missed! patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @lef...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 23
In this episode we are joined by Joel Michael Reynolds for a wide-ranging discussion about disability theory. We dig into the relationship between disability and white supremacy, the idea of politics as differential capacitation, genomics and medicalization, justice as equity, and more. Naturally we put full-bore social constructivism on blast. Leftists gotta be materialists, you know? patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: Joel Michael Reynolds, “The Meaning of Ability and Disab...
Oct 08, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In this episode we are joined by Professor Robin Celikates to discuss the big “method” question in critical theory: What is it doing, and why? Since Marx, this tradition has had a special connection to emancipatory struggles, so we talk about how that works (or doesn’t) in relation to contemporary debates about civil disobedience and migration. patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: Robin Celikates, 2019. “Constituent Power Beyond Exceptionalism: Irregular migration, disobedience...
Aug 28, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 21
For this episode we discuss David Walker’s 1830 radical anti-slavery tract An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World and Melvin Rogers’s 2015 article “David Walker and the Political Power of the Appeal.” We explore Walker’s political philosophy of judgment and its relationship to normativity, solidarity, and reconstructing civic society. Walker offers an insightful critique of the insidious pathologies race introduces into Western political formations. We cover questions of universalism, th...
Aug 13, 2021•58 min•Season 1Ep. 20
In this episode we talk through the work of one of the most infamous figures in the history of political thought, Niccolò Machiavelli. Looking both at the Prince and some passages from the Discourses , we ask ourselves what the Florentine can teach us about strategy, the need for vision and flexibility, and the virtues of leaders and citizens in a world of duplicity and chance. Is he a ruthless lover of cruelty, a clear-eyed political scientist, or a partisan defender of freedom as non-dominatio...
Aug 01, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 19
In this episode we finally get around to talking about Spinoza. It turns out normativity is kind of complicated when you think everything is strictly determined and there’s no such thing as contingency! We discuss the relationship between affect and power, the inherently social nature of knowledge, and why you should want joy for others as much as for yourself. Along the way we also manage to work in a needless and slanderous dig against Heidegger, just for good measure. patreon.com/leftofphilos...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In this Patron exclusive episode, we move to the third part of our mini-series “What is Dialectics?” and take on the works of Karl Marx. The WLOP crew investigates what Marx took and rejected from Hegelian dialectics while defending why Marx remains deeply relevant in our contemporary moment. We cover the role of mystification under capitalism, Marx’s moral and political critique of value, and the future of Marxism in the context of ecological crisis. There’s even a mention of spectres for you D...
Jul 02, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 17
In this episode, we discuss Erik Olin Wright’s 2010 book Envisioning Real Utopias . We excavate the relationship between social scientific investigation and normative claims concerning how we ought to structure our society. We ask what a theory of social transformation ought to entail and figure out why we don’t live in the best of all possible worlds yet. So sit back and relax while we pour one out for a real one: Comrade Erik Olin Wright. patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: ...
Jun 18, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 16
In this episode, we continue our series on dialectics by completely losing our minds talking about Hegel. We break through Kant’s critical prohibition on speculative metaphysics and grasp the in-itself as the movement of dialectical negativity. We realize the unity of opposites. We are seized by the necessity of the absolute Idea in history. It’s a banger, folks. In retrospect, it couldn’t have been any other way. patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: G.W.F. Hegel, Elements of t...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 15
In this episode, we go back to the seventeenth century to talk about Thomas Hobbes’ hugely influential political philosophy. Focusing mostly on De Cive , we dive into his hilariously bleak anthropology, his totalitarian absolutism, and his uncomfortable fit within the modern tradition of political liberalism. But things are a little more complicated than they first appear: maybe old Bishop Bramhall was right when he said that Hobbes’ ideas are ‘a rebel’s catechism’. patreon.com/leftofphilosophy ...
May 22, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 14
In this episode, we start our series on dialectics with a conversation about Kant. If you’ve ever wondered what the hell this term means, then the WLOP crew is here for you. We talk about what human beings can know, what we can’t know but need to think, and introduce ourselves to the philosophy of history. patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, ed. and trans. Paul Guyer and Allan Wood (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009). Immanuel K...
May 07, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 13
In this episode, we explore the work of German anarchist Gustav Landauer. We work through the utility of utopia in political transformations and what is required to create richer communities and social life. In the end, we discover the one vibe we’re cool with: joy. Come on through for wild mysticism and learn what Meister Eckhart can do for you while in prison! The full episode is available on our Patreon page. patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: Gustav Landauer, “Anarchism a...
Apr 23, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 12
In this episode, we are joined by Professor Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò (@OlufemiOTaiwo) (Georgetown University) to discuss his work on the politics surrounding climate change and generative frameworks for global justice. In this wide-ranging discussion we address the urgency of climate politics for the African continent, what it means to connect the local to the global, and how we can move towards richer forms of collaborative security. We also offer a theory of “vibes” in politics and theory. patreon.com/l...
Apr 09, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this episode, we discuss Donna Haraway’s distinctive socialist cyberfeminism. We talk through the virtues and vices of her version of postmodern feminism and leftism, the ambivalent character of scientific knowledge production and new technologies, and the strange material powers of metaphor. Ask yourself: would you rather be a cyborg or a goddess? patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: Donna Haraway, “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late...
Mar 28, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Episode 9 explores the antinomies of autonomy and self-emancipation in the thought of C.L.R. James. Dr. William Clare Roberts joins us to discuss James’ legacy and how it fits into his book project on the history of “history from below.” Please be advised that a side-effect of this episode may be republicanism. (No, you Yanks, not the GOP. It’s the Black Jacobins , get it?) References: CLR James, The Black Jacobins , (New York: Vintage Books, 1989). CLR James, World Revolution 1917-1936: The Ris...
Mar 12, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 9
In episode 8, we look to the writings of Aimé Césaire to guide a conversation about colonialism, neocolonialism, and anti-colonial thought and struggle. Focusing especially on his 1950 Discourse on Colonialism and his 1956 letter to Maurice Thorez—in which he explains his resignation from French Communist Party—we discuss the subjective and objective ‘boomerang effects’ of colonialism on colonizing countries, the tensions between particularism and universalism in putatively global left politics,...
Feb 26, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 8
Episode 7 dives into class theory as we discuss why it’s important to make a normative case for class politics, misconceptions about who the working class is, and why the labor market dominates. We also ruminate on why workers don’t always organize and why solidarity is a counterculture. Plot twist: Lillian accuses everyone except herself of class reductionism. Lillian Cicerchia, "Why Does Class Matter?", Social Theory and Practice 47:4 (2021): https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=CICWDC&proxyId=...
Feb 12, 2021•59 min•Ep. 7
In this episode, we heal the divide between analytic and continental philosophy by finally giving logical positivism its due. Dr. Liam Kofi Bright (London School of Economics, @lastpositivist) explains the socialist roots of some of the positivists, details their views on the role of science and knowledge in projects of social betterment, and defends the political importance of clarity. patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: Hans Hahn, Otto Neurath, and Rudolf Carnap, “The Scient...
Jan 29, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 6
Full episode on the Patreon: patreon.com/leftofphilosophy In this episode, we talk about Simone de Beauvoir's masterful book The Ethics of Ambiguity. We spend some time with her typology of inadequate ethical positions, focusing on the subhuman, the serious person, and the nihilist, and discuss what it means to say that freedom is only possible as a liberatory movement. Oh and we make fun of the abstract negation of revolt, the absolute value of the Target corporation, and Ayn Rand's 'epistemolo...
Jan 15, 2021•14 min•Ep. 5
In our fourth episode we talk about security, digging into Mark Neocleous' argument, following Marx, that security rather than liberty is 'the supreme concept of bourgeois society'. But we also ask the thorny question of how the left can speak to everyone's desire to feel safe while critically highlighting the racialized violence and ruling-class utility of existing security regimes. It's, uh, more fun than that probably sounds. patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil References: Mark Neocleo...
Jan 01, 2021•59 min•Ep. 4
