Harrison Fluss

Uncovers the irrational philosophy behind today's "confidence men" - from Jordan Peterson, to Elon Musk, Andrew Tate, and beyond. Why do millions of Americans support a system that is making them poorer, sicker, and less secure every day? If modern capitalism routinely exploits working people, then why do so many flock to its most reactionary defenders in personalities like Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk, and Andrew Tate? Or, as the philosopher Baruch Spinoza asked, why do we fight for slavery as if it were our salvation? Confidence Men: The Duping of the American Mind provides a compelling answer to those questions. Mere journalistic accounts of these hucksters have pointed out their many lies and inaccuracies, their personal failings and rank hypocrisy. Confidence Men does something different. Instead of treating these sensational figures as individual bad actors, it identifies a common philosophy that animates them all. Each of them are, in their own ways, irrationalists - believing in the power of a strong will to overcome ordinary reality (and ordinary people). Objective facts, nature, and even "human nature" melt away before the creative genius or the mystical hero. Today's "confidence men" are the cheerleaders of hierarchy and domination, where the supreme value is one of unhinged belief in oneself. As against reactionary forms of self-help, Confidence Men proposes a rationalist alternative - neither wishing our problems away, nor "manifesting" success - but instead, understanding the world so that we can change it for the better.

Representations of the figure of Moses are both central and pervasive in the history of Western political thought. The story of Moses, as depicted in the Books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible, has generated an immensely powerful set of images that have left a lasting mark on both Western and global culture. Moses and Political Philosophy explores the enduring tropes drawn from this narrative, which continue to shape political discourse up to the present. The book examines why these interpretations retain such a lasting relevance in contemporary debates and explores how an appreciation of them can enrich our engagement with the centuries-long dialogue that has shaped the tradition of Western political theory. Offering a comprehensive analysis of the Moses story, the book investigates various appropriations of the tale, the characterization of the Mosaic regime, the politically charged implications of Moses’s authority, and the most intriguing puzzles and paradoxes within the narrative. In doing so, Moses and Political Philosophy sheds new light on the profound and lasting influence of the Moses story on the evolution of political thought.

Representations of the figure of Moses are both central and pervasive in the history of Western political thought. The story of Moses, as depicted in the Books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible, has generated an immensely powerful set of images that have left a lasting mark on both Western and global culture. Moses and Political Philosophy explores the enduring tropes drawn from this narrative, which continue to shape political discourse up to the present. The book examines why these interpretations retain such a lasting relevance in contemporary debates and explores how an appreciation of them can enrich our engagement with the centuries-long dialogue that has shaped the tradition of Western political theory. Offering a comprehensive analysis of the Moses story, the book investigates various appropriations of the tale, the characterization of the Mosaic regime, the politically charged implications of Moses’s authority, and the most intriguing puzzles and paradoxes within the narrative. In doing so, Moses and Political Philosophy sheds new light on the profound and lasting influence of the Moses story on the evolution of political thought.

Prometheus and Gaia examines the ideological positions of Futurism and Eco-Pessimism. While these are rarely spoken about in mainstream discourse, they do have strong resonances in today’s popular politics and culture. In light of existential threats posed by climate change, disruptive technologies and economic crises, many have grown weary of the “small fixes” offered by mainstream policy-makers. Radical change thus appears necessary, as Futurism and Eco-Pessimism emerge as two fundamental challenges to the status quo. The Futurist claims that the current dynamism of technology is incompatible with human limitations, while the Eco-Pessimist sees the climate crisis as symptomatic of a broader human domination over nature. What these seemingly opposite currents have in common is a shared rejection of the human frame as grounding politics; each seeks to subordinate the human in favor of a wholly alien other, either in the form of an anarchic nature or a dynamic technology. To transcend this strange coincidence of opposites, Prometheus and Gaia makes the positive case for a humanism that is rationalist without being anthropocentric.

This study examines the complicated legacy of Stalinism in the twentieth century. The descent of the Russian Revolution into Stalinism has given rise to an oft-accepted truism that revolutions are like Saturn and will devour their own children. For anticommunists, Stalinism is condemned as a “bolt from blue,” whether an insidious contagion, Big Brother, or totalitarian reason that socialism cannot escape from. On the other end, Communists and their fellow-travelers have seen Stalinism as a force of historical necessity and the only way for the working class to reach a communist society. Both these twin camps accept a Dialectic of Saturn where Stalinism, whether for evil or good, is the preordained fate of all socialist revolutions. However, there is another position that views Stalinism as the product of material circumstance and class struggle. This position was represented by Leon Trotsky in his seminal work The Revolution Betrayed. In contrast to those who accept a mystical dialectic of Saturn, Trotsky argued that Stalinism can be rationally explained and was not inevitable outcome of socialism.

Prometheus and Gaia examines the ideological positions of Futurism and Eco-Pessimism. While these are rarely spoken about in mainstream discourse, they do have strong resonances in today’s popular politics and culture. In light of existential threats posed by climate change, disruptive technologies and economic crises, many have grown weary of the “small fixes” offered by mainstream policy-makers. Radical change thus appears necessary, as Futurism and Eco-Pessimism emerge as two fundamental challenges to the status quo. The Futurist claims that the current dynamism of technology is incompatible with human limitations, while the Eco-Pessimist sees the climate crisis as symptomatic of a broader human domination over nature. What these seemingly opposite currents have in common is a shared rejection of the human frame as grounding politics; each seeks to subordinate the human in favor of a wholly alien other, either in the form of an anarchic nature or a dynamic technology. To transcend this strange coincidence of opposites, Prometheus and Gaia makes the positive case for a humanism that is rationalist without being anthropocentric.