I’ve written a new piece about two philosophers – Raymond Geuss and the late Alasdair MacIntyre – for the Marginalia Review of Books. There’s no paywall. You can read it here:
https://www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/two-ships-passing-at-high-noon-alasdair-macintyre-raymond-geuss
I have a new piece out with Sublation on the failure of the left to remain faithful to Medicare for All. There’s no paywall. You can read it here: https://www.sublationmag.com/post/medicare-for-all-requiem-for-a-dream
I have a new piece out in the Platypus Review on the state. I’ve been excited for this one to come out. It’s been brewing for a while. You can read it here: https://platypus1917.org/2024/05/01/beyond-bonapartism-breaking-statephobic-thought-taboos/
Continue reading “Beyond Bonapartism: Breaking Statephobic Thought Taboos”This past weekend, I did a couple panels for the Platypus Society at the University of Chicago and Northwestern. These included two prepared ten-minute talks. The talks focus on the relationship between Marxism and liberalism, and on the degree to which the Millennial Left is and was Marxist. The scripts for those two talks are below. If you watched the panels live (or on YouTube), I did ad-lib a bit in places. This is not a transcript.
Continue reading “On the State of the Left in 2022”In helping my undergrads prepare for their exams the last few weeks, I’ve noticed something–one of the major obstacles to successful left-wing organising is the left’s inability to agree on what politics itself is. Different political theorists understand “politics” differently. You can broadly divide conceptions of the political into two realms. Some people think politics is about pursuing the truth and the good, and other people think that politics is about managing disagreement about the truth and the good. Then within those camps you can make further divisions on the basis of what strategy people prefer to use to pursue the good or manage disagreement. Here, let me chart this out for you:
Continue reading “The Left Can’t Even Agree on What Politics Is”
Benjamin Studebaker 