In his 1932 The Doctrine of Fascism, Benito Mussolini quotes approvingly historian Ernst Renan for his “pre-fascist intuitions”: “The maxim that society exists only for the well-being and freedom of the individuals composing it does not seem to be in conformity with nature’s plans, which care only for the species and seem ready to sacrifice […]
Mussolini and Kant on war and the sacrifice of individuals Read More »
Michel Foucault in 1976: “In addition to the State racism that developed in the conditions I have been telling you about, a social-racism also came into being, and it did not wait for the formation of socialist States before making its appearance. Socialism was a racism from the outset, even in the nineteenth century. No
Foucault on the racism in socialism Read More »
When did slavery end? Intellectual historian Zeev Sternhell makes the following observation: “But it is above all the French Revolution that is overlooked. Slavery was in fact abolished by the French Revolution. The slaves, like the Jews, were liberated, and for the first time in history, all men living within the frontiers of a single
The French Revolution and the ending of slavery Read More »
Recorded in Sweden, this interview (in English) with hosts Hanif Bali and Per Lindgren asks: What intellectual and historical sources led to the Culture Wars? The Patreon link for those who would like to sign up to their show: The book in English (audio, text) and in Swedish. Related:
God Ton podcast on the roots of the culture wars, with Hanif Bali and Per Lindgren Read More »
At the Hermann Hesse Museum in the south of Switzerland, where Hesse moved in 1919. Charming Medieval and Renaissance Italian-style neighborhood high in the hills overlooking the valley that overlooks Lugano. Here he wrote Siddhartha (1922), Steppenwolf (1927), The Glass Bead Game (1943). I have a future episode on Siddhartha coming out in the Philosophers.
Hermann Hesse house in Montagnola Read More »
Milton Friedman (Nobel Prize in Economics, 1976) received an honorary doctorate from Rockford College and was our commencement speaker in 1969. Gordon Tullock (co-founder of Public Choice economics with James Buchanan, Nobel Prize in Economics, 1986) was a native of Rockford. And I was charmed to find this bookplate in the Rockford University library’s copy
Rockford, Illinois and the free society (Friedman, Tullock, Coase) Read More »
Reprising this anecdote about philosopher Bertrand Russell’s opinion that the world would be better off with a Nazi victory. As reported by Richard Jencks, who was one of Russell’s students at UCLA in 1940: “The British philosopher Bertrand Russell, who had been jailed in World War I for his pacifism by a government of which
Bertrand Russell’s pacifism in the face of Nazism Read More »
Like many other people, I am troubled by this phrase when I hear it. The usual scenario: A successful person makes a donation to a worthy cause but downplays any praise by saying “I’m only giving back.” The usual gentle rejoinder is to point out that the phrase assumes that the giver has taken something