Here I introduce Eugene McCarraher, author of The Enchantments of Mammon, and discuss the contents of the Prologue, which sets up the argument of the book. … More McCarraher’s Enchantments of Mammon: Weber Was Wrong (1-Video)
In this second in a series on Chantal Mouffe’s ideas in The Return of the Political, I discuss her use of Carl Schmitt’s critique of liberalism and relate her ideas to authors she draws from, such as Leo Strauss, Isaiah Berlin, Michael Oakeshott, Charles Taylor, Michael Walzer and Hans Georg Gadamer. I try to get an initial handle on her preferred “agonistic pluralism” as an answer to the question–can we respect particular values and traditions enough to compete with them rather than seeking to destroy them? I relate her line of argument to my understanding of Carl Jung’s theory of political ideology as “ideological possession” — the projection of the shadow. … More Chantal Mouffe, Carl Schmitt, and the Critique of Enlightenment Liberalism (Video-2)
In this second in a series on Chantal Mouffe’s ideas in The Return of the Political, I discuss her use of Carl Schmitt’s critique of liberalism and relate her ideas to authors she draws from, such as Leo Strauss, Isaiah Berlin, Michael Oakeshott, Charles Taylor, Michael Walzer and Hans Georg Gadamer. I try to get an initial handle on her preferred “agonistic pluralism” as an answer to the question–can we respect particular values and traditions enough to compete with them rather than seeking to destroy them? I relate her line of argument to my understanding of Carl Jung’s theory of political ideology as “ideological possession” — the projection of the shadow. … More Chantal Mouffe, Carl Schmitt, and the Critique of Enlightenment Liberalism (2-Audio)
According to the anonymous author of Desert, even anarchists have been caught in the Enlightenment grand narrative of history as progress,and the “end of history” in some ideal future utopia. Though they disagree about the promise and value of state power, Desert and Robyn Eckersley (The Green State) both depart from “ideological possession.” Either explicitly (Desert) or implicitly (Eckersley), they reject the grand narrative and introduce a new openness to a pluralistic “good enough for now” perspective that may be more useful for actually making things better, incrementally. I continue to try to find areas of agreement as well as opposition between these two perspectives, because we need to compromise to survive. Can Desert find a place even within Eckersley’s vision–yes, because for both authors it’s not “all or nothing.” … More Escaping the End of History: Green State v. Desert (2)
This is a segment of a longer article I wrote for Harbinger: Journal of Social Ecology that was published in October 2019. It’s entitled “Jordan Peterson, Carl Jung, and the Challenge for Social Ecology.” The first part of the article is a critique of the limitations of Peterson’s political stands, which will take about 10 minutes to read, but much of the article explores a comparison of the ideas of Social Ecology founder Murray Bookchin and psychologist Carl Jung. This segment is on Jung’s political ideas with a little help from some of Charles Taylor’s concepts. Reflecting on Peterson’s take on politics, we find that Carl Jung’s ideas on what causes ideological extremism is quite a bit more penetrating as he goes back to the Enlightenment and trends like industrialization and urbanization as the underlying causes of dangerous ideological movements, dehumanizing economics and overbearing governments. Here’s the link to the article. https://harbinger-journal.com/issue-1/jordan-peterson-carl-jung-and-the-challenge-for-social-ecology/ … More What Would Carl Jung Think of Capitalism and Automation? A reading from my latest article.
Harbinger, the journal of the Institute for Social Ecology, has re-launched, and I aimed to be in the inaugural edition, which was recently published. The founder of social ecology was Murray Bookchin, and the Institute for Social Ecology carries on his legacy. While I do not fully agree with the ideas of either Social Ecology or Canadian psychologist and public intellectual Jordan Peterson, I resonate with some of the concerns of both positions. I thought it would be interesting to think about what would happen if the ideas of these two very different thinkers were put into dialogue with each other. Here is the result. … More Jordan Peterson, Carl Jung, and the Challenge for Social Ecology (Harbinger)
In this section of the book, I explain Carl Jung’s view that 20th Century ideological extremism is in part a reaction to the dehumanizing effects of industrialization and urbanization. … More Not Jordan Peterson’s Carl Jung (an audio reading from my new book)
From Jung, After the Catastrophe: “Thanks to industrialization, large portions of the population were up-rooted and were herded together in large centres. This new form of existence—with its mass psychology and social dependence on the fluctuations of markets and wages—produced an individual who was unstable, insecure, and suggestible. He was aware that his life depended on boards of directors and captains of industry, and he supposed, rightly or wrongly, that they were chiefly motivated by financial interests. He knew that, no matter how conscientiously he worked, he could still fall a victim at any moment to economic changes which were utterly beyond his control. And there was nothing else for him to rely on.” … More Not Jordan Peterson’s Carl Jung (A Reading From My New Book)
Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right: The Political Thought of Carl Jung is my latest book. … More My New Book on Carl Jung and Ideological Possession
Political Philosophy 