Challenging the Norms of Intellectual Life

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The speaker reflects on a time when questioning conceptual inconsistencies was considered unthinkable and could lead to public denouncement, highlighting a radical shift towards valuing intellectual freedom. The speaker believes that the current situation, where such freedoms need to be fought for, cannot revert to the past and suggests that only the power of the state can protect these freedoms. However, the speaker is wary of the power of the state and the drafting of a bill of rights due to influence from diversity ideas. The speaker acknowledges the differences in the situation between America and Britain but does not see a bill of rights as a favorable solution.

Sam Harris speaks with John Gray about the possibility of moral and political progress. They discuss historical and current threats to freedom of thought, the limits of law, the spread of dangerous technology, failures of convergence on norms and values, Arthur Koestler, de-industrialization in Europe, fellow travelers and the progressive embrace of barbarism, Bertrand Russell, the absurdity of pacifism, utilitarianism, the moral landscape, George Santayana, moral and scientific realism, pragmatism, atheism, Schopenhauer, liberalism as an historical accident, and other topics.

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