

Robert B. Pippin on Politics Today, Hegel, Heidegger, Cinema....and more!
Nov 10, 2023
Renowned philosopher Robert B. Pippin, a professor at the University of Chicago and an expert on Hegel and Heidegger, dives into fascinating discussions on contemporary politics and cinema. He examines Heidegger's critique of Hegel and highlights Hegel's relevance today, advocating against individualism. Pippin also explores the connection between sports and philosophical self-examination, and discusses how cinema, particularly the works of Bresson and the Dardenne brothers, reveals the psychology of modern life. Additionally, he provides insight into the complexities surrounding the Trump phenomenon and Democratic challenges.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Hegel As Metaphysical Culmination
- Heidegger reads Hegel as the culmination of Western metaphysics where being is equated with intelligibility.
- This culminated in a world where significance and calculable intelligibility became the primary mode of meaning.
Meaning As Mattering, Not Semantics
- For Heidegger the key issue is not semantics but what things matter to us and why they do.
- He claims Western thought made discursive intelligibility the dominant source of meaning, producing technological nihilism.
Poetry Reveals What Propositions Miss
- Heidegger argues everyday thoughtlessness hides deeper problems about how things matter.
- Great art and poetry disclose our condition in ways propositional philosophy cannot.