Video of the Day
The Difficult Balancing Act Between Identity & Reflection

6 Comments

1. Ormstunga
   Posted October 27, 2016 at 12:43 pm | Permalink

   Great video, very thought provoking.
   Greg, what do you think it is that makes a thinker change from being an ironic participant to a believing one?

   • Greg Johnson
     Posted October 27, 2016 at 3:24 pm | Permalink

     Ultimately, it requires authenticity: honesty with one’s self about one’s real identity, which is broader and deeper than one’s conscious beliefs or self-image.

     • Ormstunga
       Posted October 27, 2016 at 8:23 pm | Permalink

       I agree. True philosophy investigates identity, while the pseudo-philosophy that dominates current discourse fears the truth, always unwilling to investigate its core assumptions.

       I’m reminded of a passage from Rick Roderick’s lecture on Socrates:
       After a tragic experience with a war and a military dictatorship, the words that had become standard in the Greek culture and had been used unproblematically with meanings attaching to definite positions began to be sources of irritation. Socratic inquiry was possible against a backdrop of a society that had deeply begun to question what these words really meant.

       Philosophy of the dangerous kind catches a society at a moment when it is insecure about what the main terms that hold it together mean, like man, woman, patriot and in particular, human being. When a term or a set of terms that are very important to the identity of a lot of people are in question. It asks us who we are and who our fellow citizens are. To be philosophical means not stop pursuing a question when it becomes inconvenient.

2. Luke Aragon
   Posted October 27, 2016 at 11:21 am | Permalink

   This is great! It’s very fun to watch. The combination of speech and doodling really engages the whole brain.

   • Greg Johnson
     Posted October 27, 2016 at 11:42 am | Permalink

     I agree. It is a surprisingly engaging concept for a video.

3. Ernst Robert Almgren
   Posted October 26, 2016 at 8:53 pm | Permalink

   Great video. Also you were so right about subversive (((elements))) in the alt-right. Check out the latest article on righton.net where the (((author))) argues for the alt-right ti be open for people like Milo and David Cole. In the comment section he argues that race is not important.