Collectivism

Two essays on the organic theory of society and its uses

Leave a Comment / Human Nature, Politics /

Two related essays worth reading at the Library of Social Science site. Both take up the biologically-collectivist Organic Theory of Society and its recent applications to politics and public policy. Gerald V. O’Brien, Ph.D., “Social Justice Implications of the Organism Metaphor.” Abstract: “The denigration of marginalized groups is frequently supported through the widespread employment of […]

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Individualism and economic growth — Gorodnichenko and Roland

Leave a Comment / Business Ethics, Culture, Economics, Ethics /

In an NBER paper, “Culture, Institutions and the Wealth of Nations,” Yuriy Gorodnichenko and Gerard Roland compare the growth gains that individualist ethics generate compared to those of collectivist ethics. The first sentences of their abstract: “We construct an endogenous growth model that includes a cultural variable along the dimension of individualism-collectivism. The model predicts

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Principled anti-Nazism [Section 41 of Nietzsche and the Nazis]

4 Comments / History, Philosophy, Philosophy of History, Politics /

[This is Section 41 of Nietzsche and the Nazis.] 41. Principled anti-Nazism Philosophically and politically, the Nazis stood for five major principles: They stood for collectivism, for instinct and passion, for war and conflict, for authoritarianism, and for socialism. National Socialist Principles: Collectivism Instinct, passion, “blood” War and zero-sum conflict Authoritarianism Socialism That means we

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Defining modernism and pre-modernism

1 Comment / Epistemology, Ethics, Fruits of the Enlightenment, History, History of Philosophy, Human Nature, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Philosophy of History, Politics /

Intellectual systems and movements are defined philosophically by means of their characteristic claims in the five major branches of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, human nature, ethics, and politics. As historical movements, they are defined by the time of their formulation and most vigorous activity. So in the following table I offer a definitions of pre-modernism and

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Economic socialism, not capitalism [Section 8 of Nietzsche and the Nazis]

7 Comments / Economics, History, Philosophy, Philosophy of History, Politics /

[This is Section 8 of Nietzsche and the Nazis.] 8. Economic socialism, not capitalism The second theme of the Program is a stress upon socialism and a strong rejection of capitalism. Numerically, socialism is the most emphasized theme in the Nazi Program, for over half of the Program’s twenty-five points—fourteen out of the twenty-five, to

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Heidegger and postmodernism [EP]

15 Comments / History of Philosophy, Philosophy /

[This excerpt is from Chapter 3 of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault] Heidegger’s synthesis of the Continental tradition Martin Heidegger took Hegelian philosophy and gave it a personal, phenomenological twist. Heidegger is notorious for the obscurity of his prose and for his actions and inactions on behalf of the National Socialists

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“Nietzsche and the Nazis” update

49 Comments / Economics, Education, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Fruits of the Enlightenment, History, History of Philosophy, Objectivism, Philosophy, Politics /

Since its 2006 publication, my 2:45-hour documentary on Nietzsche and the Nazis has been available from Amazon, Netflix, and other venues. Beginning this summer, Netflix has made the documentary available via video-stream, which has led to a healthy uptick in feedback — including gratifying praise, interesting new angles, thoughtful disagreement — and a smattering of

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