Steven Fairchild

Teacher/Scholar/Writer. Lover of great books and great movies. Bi-coastal Straussian.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

My debut at American Greatness on the war in Ukraine and the past and future of the American right: https://t.co/82ledkzWdJ

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@Trad_West_Art PROGRESS — if the source of their depravity must be captured in a single word

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@jmrphy There are very serious philosophical reasons for studying the history of math and science in the manner you deride and dismiss here. Try reading Husserl and Jacob Klein (the father of the St. John’s program) before so breezily rejecting what you’ve not attempted to understand.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@husafell_stone Someone should teach @elonmusk some Heidegger. Ge-Stell, Bestand, etc. The world night arrives when everything is transformed into the “content” he craves.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@Babygravy9 @pupitard No dog ever deserves to be compared to a lib. Delete your account!

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

It’s Oscar season. And you won’t find a better review than my friend @Panurgien’s of what, in this upside down world we live in, seems to be the top contender.

[Panurge @Panurgien]

My review of the (relatively) new Paul Thomas Anderson movie.

https://t.co/WtTfnmc9qP

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@duncanreyburn @ArtyArtHistory How wonderful that our elites, busy inventing happiness, live in blissful ignorance of philosophy from Plato to Heidegger. There is infinitely more to be gained from understanding “knowledge of ignorance” or “Ge-Stell” for oneself than any AI model can ever regurgitate.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@FistedFoucault The terms right and left fail to get at the core of the issue in the historical consciousness—progress, reaction, and the movement toward or away from the universal and homogenous state.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@Babygravy9 “We are Hyperboreans”

[Eastern Dionysus @DionysusPS]

The left went from seeing themselves and their values as embedded in the Western tradition (I know this sounds crazy, but it used to be true) - the idea was that even though the West was guilty of colonialism and exploitation, nevertheless, the capacity to criticize and reform oppressive structures was something distinctively, if not uniquely, Western. The civilization that conquered the world also possessed the means of creating justice within it. Stalin's Soviet Union, for example, took the view that the masterpieces of European art should be claimed for the communist future, pointing to a time where justice and equality had at last been reached.

The shift toward extreme moralism by the left by contrast is the result of two things:

1. despair among older leftists about reaching their goals and overcoming capitalism

2. the dumbing-down of the young generations who are no longer taught how to think in a nuanced manner - so that the achievements lauded by the older generations of the left, like the abolition of slavery and equal rights for women, lost all meaning. The young believe, thanks in part to Ibram X. Kendi and Ta-Nehisi Coates, that racism remains unchanged from the days of segregation. They believe, thanks to MeToo, that patriarchy retains immense power in the liberal West. They too are in the grips of despair, but it is a despair that stems not from disillusionment but from having to confront the world without ever having learned properly to reason, reflect, and think.

Thus, we see so many on the left acting out erratically of impulse, rather than out of conviction or determination, not realizing how to map their beliefs onto reality, and attacking anyone who they sense has a clearer picture of what is going on than they. It is a civilization-threatening malady that has come to grip the West.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@tommasodi_di Further reports suggest Stancil has drowned in spittle.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@tommasodi_di Your subtle and sly use of the word “little” in this context is inspiring. 😉

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@Bill_Reddinger @BillKristol Is it obvious to you that the shots were not in some measure defensive? It’s not to me. Offering an interpretation of a chaotic scuffle with an armed and truculent protester is hardly the same as denying nature.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@MaoWashington76 What is the book quoted here?

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@BillKristol @BulwarkOnline @Timodc There’s a wonderful thing the Greeks discovered. They called it “physis.” We call it “nature.” I’m sure you’ve read a book or two about it. Now would be a good time to revisit them, and report back. Though you obviously feel no obligation to be intellectually honest.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@MTClassical Surely a Straussian. A discussion of nature should occur in the middle of the conversation.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@PhilipDBunn And so philosophy rightly remains the queen of the sciences.

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@PhilipDBunn There’s something deeper at stake. A man with a high IQ can easily manipulate symbols as long as he likes. But does he really understand what he’s doing? Does he grasp anything about the ontological and cognitive statuses of his objects? Insofar as he does, he philosophizes….

[Steven Fairchild @sfairchild]

@husafell_stone More than vibes. He IS the last man, convinced he is inventing happiness.