Poll for the next video
Added 2018-05-30 11:51:14 +0000 UTCHey, guys! Time to vote for what the next video should be. Don't have any ideas for pop culture analyses right now so the next video will be more straightforwardly an explanatory video. Also adding 2 more explicitly political options. I'll leave the poll up for at least 2 weeks, so you have lots of time to pick.
1) In the video on social construction, I would explain the basics of what it means for something to be socially constructed, as there are many misconceptions about that term online - people thinking that social construction is some kind of leftist conspiracy theory, that if something is socially constructed means that it is not "real" or that claims of social construction entail some kind of dangerous relativism.
2) The video on scientism would be an example of some misapplications of science, and its limitations specifically in questions of love and beauty.
3) The video on socialism would be against the misconception that socialists (or leftists more generally) are against competition. I will talk about this using (and explaining) a distinction between internal goods and external goods, laid down by the most popular contemporary virtue ethicist Alasdair MacIntyre.
4) Don't worry, I'm not becoming a right-winger. The video on equality will explain the flaws of simply citing "equality" as a political goal, but mostly it will help counter the kind of critics of the left who think that socialism is about "equality of outcome" or something along those lines. The video will be applicable also to other parts of the political spectrum.
Comments
I haven't written a script yet, but I can give you the gist of it. Essentially, equality is never absolute, it is always equality in some specific aspect. For instance, Marx did not advocate equality as such, he advocated class equality. For two people to be absolutely equal, they would have to literally be the same person. Talking about equality of outcome or equality of opportunity is equally unhelpful, as both outcome and opportunity will inevitably differ from person to person no matter what the political system is. Equality before the law is unhelpful too - think, for example, of an argument I've actually heard online. A gay person demands the legalization of gay marriage on grounds of equality - a right-winger then says "but you already have equality before the law, all people are equal in being able to marry the opposite sex". This is because, again, the two people are talking about equality in different aspects. The two people may act like they're both talking about absolute equality, but equality is always specific, and by not taking this into account, you may end up talking past one another or even trick the person you're arguing with. And this is not just pedantry either, as such claims to equality can lead not only to confusion, but bad arguments. For example, the people who, on grounds of equality, instead of talking about how to stop violence in the first place, ask "shouldn't men be able to hit women too?" or, instead of fighting against military drafts, ask "shouldn't women be drafted too?". Such arguments can be seen even in decisions made in government. So, at the same time, the video would counter all those right-wingers who think that socialism is simply about equality of outcome - I've heard them say things like "people can't be equal because nature isn't equal". If we acknowledge that we speak of equality in specific aspects, their arguments fall apart.
Cuck Philosophy
2018-06-03 09:51:31 +0000 UTC
