John Gray, a renowned political philosopher and author of "The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism," delves into the state of liberalism and America's shifting identity. He discusses the significance of Trump's inaugural address and the liberal intelligentsia's reactions. Gray critiques the rise of nationalism and hyper-liberalism, questioning traditional moral beliefs. He also addresses the challenges of declining fertility rates, artificial intelligence's impact on jobs, and the complexities of identity in modern society.
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A New Era
America is at a historical crossroads with the inauguration of Donald Trump.
The future is uncertain, with some excited and others apprehensive.
insights INSIGHT
Peaceful Transfer and Liberal Panic
Trump's inauguration was a peaceful transfer of power, despite initial concerns.
The liberal intelligentsia is experiencing a nervous collapse, unable to process this shift.
insights INSIGHT
Trump's Contradictions
Trump's coalition shows cracks, with conflicts between his populist and techno-futurist sides.
These contradictions might be inherited by his successors, like J.D. Vance.
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In 'The Abolition of Man', C.S. Lewis delivers a defense of objective value and natural law, originating from his Riddell Memorial Lectures at the University of Durham in 1943. Lewis argues that education should be conducted within the context of moral law and objective values, which he terms the 'Tao'. He criticizes modern attempts to debunk these values, warning that such actions could lead to a dehumanization of society, resulting in what he calls 'Men without Chests' – individuals whose emotions have not been trained to conform to reason. The book emphasizes the universal nature of traditional moralities across different cultures and warns against the dangers of moral relativism and the reduction of human beings to mere objects of scientific analysis[2][4][5].
John Gray is a political philosopher. He retired from academia in 2007 as Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics, and is now a regular contributor and lead reviewer at the New Statesman. He’s the author of two dozen books, and his latest is The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism. I’d say he’s one of the most brilliant minds of our time — and my first podcast with him was a huge hit. I asked him to come on this week to get a broader and deeper perspective on where we are now in the world. He didn’t disappoint.
For two clips of our convo — on the ways Trump represents peace, and how heterosexuals have become more like gays — pop over to our YouTube page.
Other topics: this week’s inauguration; the peaceful transfer of power; the panic of the left intelligentsia; the contradictions in the new Trump administration; Bannon vs Musk; Vivek’s quick exit; the techno-futurist oligarchs; Vance as the GOP’s future; tariffs and inflation; the federal debt; McKinley and the Gilded Age; Manifest Destiny; Greenland; isolationism; the neocon project to convert the world; Hobbes and “commodious living”; Malthus and today’s declining birthrates; post-industrial alienation; deaths of despair; Fukuyama’s “End of History”; Latinx; AI and knowledge workers; Plato; Pascal; Dante; CS Lewis’ Abolition of Man; pre-Christian paganism; Puritans and the woke; Žižek; Rod Dreher; Houellebecq; how submission can be liberating; Graham Greene; religion as an anchor; why converts are often so dangerous; Freudian repression; Orwell and goose-stepping; the revolution of consciousness after Christ; Star Wars as neo-Christian; Dune as neo-pagan; Foucault; Oakeshott’s lovers; Montaigne; Judith Shklar; Ross Douthat; the UK’s rape-gangs; Starmer and liberal legalism; the Thomist view of nature; the medieval view of abortion; late-term abortions; and assisted dying.
Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy (the first 102 are free in their entirety — subscribe to get everything else). Coming up: Sebastian Junger on near-death experiences, Jon Rauch on “Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy,” Evan Wolfson on the history of marriage equality, Yoni Appelbaum on how America stopped building things, Nick Denton on the evolution of new media, and Ross Douthat on how everyone should be religious. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.
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