After reading all of Peterson’s books, I wanted to discuss my reservations with his work. I find his political ethic fundamentally unchristian, his scholarship questionable, and his self-help advice boring.
**Sorry the audio goes up and down. Still learning how to use this mic.
Notes for this video:
St. Basil quote: “When someone steals another’s clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.”
Re-individualism: I forgot to mention rule 6, “Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.” But this reinforces my point that Peterson’s work is highly individualistic. But we are obligated to be concerned with much more than just our house. A Christian political ethic centers around caring for our neighbors. This rule also justifies political apathy and denies anyone the chance to criticize injustice, ie, be a prophetic voice. Political apathy is unchristian. We are called to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, etc. (see Luke 4).
Psychology Today critiquing Peterson: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hot-thought/201803/jordan-petersons-murky-maps-meaning – https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hot-thought/201802/jordan-peterson-s-flimsy-philosophy-life
A cognitive psychologist critiquing Peterson (video series): https://youtu.be/yLi3C1ZYxuU
Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Marxism_conspiracy_theory
Why does Peterson resonate with white supremacists?: https://longviewoneducation.org/why-does-jordan-peterson-resonate-with-white-supremacists/
Peterson-Zizek debate: https://youtu.be/qsHJ3LvUWTs
Contrapoints video: https://youtu.be/4LqZdkkBDas
Re: rage underlying Peterson’s work: physician Gabor Maté (whom I mistakenly called a French psychologist in the video, but is actually a Hungarian-Canadian physician – sorry!): https://youtu.be/qOJ0lUSBI14
General resources and recommended reading:
**A highly recommended article that summarizes many of my points here** – “The intellectual we deserve:” https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/03/the-intellectual-we-deserve
Jordan Peterson is not profound, and here’s why (video): https://youtu.be/aQ3RL3WZaXg
Jordan Peterson is everything he criticizes (and can’t read) (video): https://youtu.be/XXwUaUf_pOs
A critique of Jordan Peterson: https://merionwest.com/2018/06/03/a-critique-of-jordan-peterson/
The pseudo-intellectualism of Jordan Peterson: https://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2019/03/23/the-pseudo-intellectualism-of-jordan-peterson-122704
Jacobin critique: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/04/jordan-peterson-capitalism-postmodernism-ideology/ – https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/02/jordan-peterson-enlightenment-nietzsche-alt-right
r/enoughpetersonspam mega-thread on Peterson: https://www.reddit.com/r/enoughpetersonspam/comments/c2ny3g/why_do_you_hate_jordan_peterson_the_megathread/
Collected critiques of Peterson: https://ap.io/pet/12/
The Wasteland of Jordan Peterson (video): https://youtu.be/wZoHGAK3k-I
“Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson” (book): https://amzn.to/35Wybky
Thanks so much for this.