Sentientism 171: "We've made a civilizational error" - Philosopher John Sanbonmatsu - Sentientism
John is a writer, philosopher, cultural critic and magician. He is best known for his book, The Postmodern Prince, and for his more recent work in Critical Animal Studies where he edited the collection "Critical Theory and Animal Liberation". Also in that field his book "The Omnivore's Deception: What We Get Wrong about Meat, Animals, and the Nature of Moral Life" will be published by NYU Press in 2024. He has taught at the University of Illinois Chicago, DePaul University, and the University of California Santa Cruz, and is currently Associate Professor of Philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, where he teaches ethics, politics, existentialism, and other courses. In his spare time, he performs as a professional magician and mentalist. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?”
Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.
We discuss:
00:00 Welcome
02:10 John's Intro
- Philosopher
- Critical theorist "begins from the perspective of the world being unfree - and works from there - how do we build a world that is free?"
- "Since a kid I've been very interested in justice - social justice for all beings"
- Anti-nuclear weapons movement in college
- Solidarity movement against US interventions in Central America
- "When you become interested in claims of justice - it's a slippery slope - you broaden yourself out from there"
- Reading Peter Singer's "Famine, affluence and morality" (Peter Singer Sentientism episode here) #utilitarianism "we should all give 90% of our income"
- Singer's "Animal Liberation... turned me into a #vegetarian... got me on this path"
- Growing up in Massachusetts
- "Concerns oriented around liberation and justice"
- Professional magician & mentalism
05:10 What's Real?
- Brought up Unitarian
- Father "pretty much an atheist". Mother "Jewish but mostly a secular Jew". "I kind of think they met in the middle."
- "The pilgrims would have been horrified by the liberalism of the modern Unitarian church"
- Celebrating Passover "the liberation of the Jews... a narrative about freedom... more general liberation"
- "In the 70's people believed in psychic phenomena... ferment around supernaturalism... almost animism... maybe there are aliens... maybe the plants are listening to us"
- "#UriGeller was a big inspiration to me at the time... I would spend hours in my room trying to move pennies with my mind"
- "What I thought was real at the time turns out wasn't real :)"
- Japanese American father "I grew up in a completely white town... I experienced a lot of racism... that experience was real. Ordinary events were shot through with the potential for harm or vulnerability... grounded me... an attentiveness towards suffering - my own suffering and the suffering of other people."
- Charles Mills' "Blackness Visible" criticism of Descartes'... "Do I really exist" isn't a question black people are really asking. "They know they exist because they're getting beaten up - they're aware their body is real... it takes a certain privileged position to doubt your corporeal reality"
43:12 What and Who Matters?
01:00:55 A Better Future?
01:32:36 Follow John
...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info.
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