Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Alternative Right

  • Sullivan is Right: Universalism Hasn’t Been Debunked

    Andrew Sullivan is down with a very bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. But he hasn't lost his mind entirely. He is hip to the absurdity of leftist talk about cultural appropriation.  After wading through yet another load of his anti-Trump hyperventilatory hysteria, I came upon these reasonable words of his: I love the phrase…

  • Is There a Defensible Sense in Which Human Beings are Equal?

    My brand of conservatism is personalist, which may help explain why I find myself at loggerheads with those on the so-called 'Alternative Right.'  And my brand of personalism is conservative which may help explain why I look askance at libertarianism and at 'mainstream conservatism' to the extent that the latter is libertarian and insufficiently attentive…

  • What is the Alt-Left?

    Victor Davis Hanson nails down some important points.  I add a bit of commentary in blue. But first a question. Do we really need the designator 'Alt-Left'? Isn't the referent of this term pretty much indistinguishable from the contemporary Left?  Granted, we need to distinguish between the contemporary Left and old-time liberalism. There is not…

  • On Transcending Tribalism

    Jonathan Haidt: Humans are tribal, but tribalism can be transcended. It exists in tension with our extraordinary ability to develop bonds with other human beings. Romeo and Juliet fell in love. French, British and German soldiers came out of their trenches in World War I to exchange food, cigarettes and Christmas greetings. The key, as…

  • Justice Thomas: “. . . so politically incorrect that he may not even be black.”

    Edward J. Erler, Last Chance to Defeat Political Correctness? Excerpt (exphasis added): . . . Progressive Liberals have viciously criticized Justice Clarence Thomas for refusing to represent his racial class on the Supreme Court. He sees his duty, instead, as following the rule of law and the Constitution. When the law classifies on the basis of…

  • Further Questions About the ‘Alternative Right’

    Jacques, in a debate in an earlier thread with Bob the Ape (sic!) writes: [. . .] The mere fact that conservatism, or western civilization more generally, is the product of a specific group does not _imply_ that "it must remain the exclusive property of that group, or that that group is essential for its existence".…

  • More on the Alternative Right

    What exactly is the alternative right (alt-right), and how does it differ from other views on the right? Yesterday I argued that John Derbyshire's definition is useless because too broad.  Jacques by e-mail contributes the following: If the alt-right is simply the (or a) right-wing alternative to the mainstream or dominant kind of conservatism, you…

  • So What is Alt-Right Anyway?

    John Derbyshire gives the following answer (HT: Malcolm Pollack): So what, in my opinion, makes the Alt-Right a distinct thing — not by any means a party, a faction, or a movement, but a collection of souls with something in common? Here's my answer: We don't like flagrant nonsense in the discussion of human affairs. We…