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What Resources Are Good For Learning About Philosophy?
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this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2024
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askchapo
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For more context, I met a guy who describes himself philosophically as some sort of left anarchist, and I can't really understand what he's saying because of how much formal education he has in the subject (graduate level stuff I suppose). The experience reminded me of my own insecurities about the glaring gaps in my education.
If he can't explain his position to someone who doesn't have a formal education in the subject, he's a dogwater "leftist" and you shouldn't feel intimidated by it.
I don't say this in an anti-intellectual way like almost every thread in c/philosophy seems to be dedicated to, but rather that his grasp of the subject must be poor if all he can do is repeat technical language and cannot relate it to common reference points. It's especially damning for a so-called leftist, who stands for the masses, to have even their basic position be so esoteric.
There are lots of weird and fancy phrases you can use relating to Marxism, but you don't introduce yourself by saying you want the aufhebung of class antagonisms, you introduce it by explaining that you want a radically democratic system that takes every measure it can spare to shut out money from influencing elections and popular opinion in general, and to give power back to the people who make society run rather than the people who legally own things.
I mean, I'm generous in giving the benefit of the doubt to people who are so fixated on technical language. Sometimes people who spend a lot of time in academia focus too narrowly on only communicating with other academics. I try to be diplomatic that way. I don't like confrontation where people pick apart each other That was why in the spirit of the left unity we talk about here, I did emphasize things like radical democracy being one of my chief concerns. It is a very genuinely held belief of mine that helped me move from being a socdem/liberal to being a socialist.
But, I guess he felt my values weren't weren't firmly held enough to meet his standards. Now there are some philosophical questions I never really had looked for elaborate answers to, which made me feel unsatisfied, so I partially took his comment as encouragement to learn more. I don't think there was any sort of malice in him saying that, though I understand your concern given how we here on this site are so weary of people approaching us in bad faith.
I wasn't assuming he was attacking you or speaking in bad faith. I am firm in the assertion that any so-called leftist "intellectual" who [whether due to being lost in the sauce academically or for any other reason] is not able to explain themselves to a normal person is just a clown. The interaction you described should have been a wake-up call to him, not to you (though learning more is of course a good thing). He should realize there's something seriously wrong with his grasp of his own politics that you went away from the conversation baffled.
His sneering attitude makes me pessimistic that he will produce any kind of useful reflection from the encounter.
Anyway, don't worry about me. All that I'm saying is basically that you didn't do anything wrong and you aren't inadequate, though it's great you are seeking to improve. btw I also like HOPWAG like someone else recommended, though I'm sure it will become a pain in the coming years when they get to Marx. Politzer is also cool.
He's a Western graduate student. Even if there is zero malice involved, I would question if he even understands what it means to have 'firm philosophical values'. Especially if his values have never actually been materially challenged in any way (as most of them haven't in the West). It is very condescending to think otherwise.
Personally, I would have told him I would take one leftist with firm grasp of structural and geological engineering design for tunnel systems than one hundred leftists with a firm grasp of philosophical values.