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    Wright's Writing

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    Against liberal "pluralism"
    • Jul 10, 2021
    • 15 min

    Against liberal "pluralism"

    In the time of Trumpism, Michael Paul Rogin’s great book The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter (1967) shouldn’t be as...
    Critical remarks on academia and philosophy
    • Aug 30, 2020
    • 37 min

    Critical remarks on academia and philosophy

    I was recently skimming old notes of mine and came across the following thoughts from a two-volume book on "humanism" I wanted to write...
    The remarkable perversity of idealism
    • Aug 27, 2020
    • 21 min

    The remarkable perversity of idealism

    Many years ago, when I was a simple boy who thought he ought to know a lot about Hegel, I took masses of notes on his philosophy. Below...
    Thou shalt not worship intellectuals
    • Aug 25, 2020
    • 9 min

    Thou shalt not worship intellectuals

    When I read old books or articles that are totally forgotten despite being brilliant, it saddens me. Siblings of Donald Trump publish...
    The radical dimensions of mass consciousness, part 1
    • Aug 23, 2020
    • 45 min

    The radical dimensions of mass consciousness, part 1

    I'm kind of a "vulgar Marxist." In this respect, I suppose I'm a lot like people in the American ruling class, except that their values...
    I wish stupidity were less common
    • Aug 21, 2020
    • 9 min

    I wish stupidity were less common

    This is going to be a whiny, self-pitying post. Just to warn you. The question is sometimes asked, "Why are stupid people frequently so...
    Rambling reflections on Camille Paglia
    • Jun 6, 2020
    • 16 min

    Rambling reflections on Camille Paglia

    I've been reading Camille Paglia's collection of essays Sex, Art, and American Culture (1992). I disagree with a lot of Paglia's...
    A little misanthropy can be a healthy thing
    • Jul 24, 2019
    • 19 min

    A little misanthropy can be a healthy thing

    This is from a letter Sigmund Freud wrote to his pastor friend Oskar Pfister: I do not break my head very much about good and evil, but I...
    What will "the revolution" look like?
    • Jul 11, 2019
    • 10 min

    What will "the revolution" look like?

    Here's a blog post for you masochists who are interested in the debates that go on among Marxist intellectuals over questions around...
    The Destruction of Reason
    • Mar 23, 2018
    • 1 min

    The Destruction of Reason

    Just a quick note: I recently posted a long summary of and commentary on Georg Lukacs' masterpiece The Destruction of Reason, which has...
    Collectivism
    • Mar 11, 2018
    • 9 min

    Collectivism

    [Excerpts from this book.] Collectivism comes in both noble and evil forms. In the former, the principle of the individual is paramount;...
    Contemporary philosophy vs. sanity
    • Jul 29, 2016
    • 4 min

    Contemporary philosophy vs. sanity

    [The following is a vignette I wrote years ago when studying for my Master's in philosophy. I was taking a class in contemporary...
    Richard Lewontin, Chomsky, and common sense
    • Jul 20, 2016
    • 3 min

    Richard Lewontin, Chomsky, and common sense

    Richard Lewontin’s article “The Evolution of Cognition: Questions We Will Never Answer” is excellent. It counsels skepticism about...
    Elite pretentiousness
    • Jul 9, 2016
    • 5 min

    Elite pretentiousness

    The following is the beginning of an essay I wanted to write years ago on the concept of pretentiousness, a phenomenon the ubiquity of...
    Historians and existentialism
    • May 21, 2016
    • 1 min

    Historians and existentialism

    In a sense, writing history is an intrinsically moral activity—although different kinds of history embody different degrees of morality....
    Economics as class war
    • Sep 26, 2015
    • 7 min

    Economics as class war

    Reading the Chomsky-recommended Political Economy and Laissez-Faire: Economics and Ideology in the Ricardian Era (1986), by Rajani Kanth....
    On "The Reactionary Mind"
    • Sep 25, 2015
    • 4 min

    On "The Reactionary Mind"

    Reading The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin (2011), by Corey Robin. An elegant and erudite elaboration of...
    Götzendämmerung
    • Apr 15, 2015
    • 2 min

    Götzendämmerung

    Albert Camus: “We [moderns] read more than we meditate. We have no philosophies but merely commentaries. This is what Étienne Gilson...
    The fraudulence of status
    • Apr 11, 2015
    • 5 min

    The fraudulence of status

    [The following is an excerpt from this book.] In order to determine someone’s intellectual or artistic integrity and acuity, a simple...
    Anti-intellectual intellectuals
    • Feb 3, 2015
    • 2 min

    Anti-intellectual intellectuals

    If intellectual curiosity means the desire to learn new things, encounter new ideas, explore and explain the world, then “intellectuals”...
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    Wright's Writing

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