Holy shit. Professor Sugrue became Jake Skywalker. His heroic, confident lectures were such positive inspiration for everyone attuned to philosophy and charity for building a better world. I hope he fully recovers from his illness, and then returns to our cosmic fight for truth, justice, and the dialogical way.
@senakadezoysa3759
Ай бұрын
Great teacher. Can keep listening to him like listening to someone like Jesus!
@Xanadu2025
Жыл бұрын
Let’s pray for Professor Sugrue’s health. He is a true Christian and of such expansive intellect.
@Vgallo
Жыл бұрын
Is he a Christian? What’s with his health?
@australopithecusafarensis5386
Жыл бұрын
@@Vgallo he’s a Catholic !
@jeandarc5900
Жыл бұрын
he’s an incredible intellectual and his conservative views are a light in today’s dark world
@MaverickBEvans
Жыл бұрын
What videos does he state these beliefs?
@australopithecusafarensis5386
Жыл бұрын
@@MaverickBEvans he said he’s a Catholic on a podcast his daughter hosts
@ryanw3658
Жыл бұрын
I’m gonna be honest, I’d only ever seen Dr Sugrue from his own 90’s era uploads and I wasn’t expecting the beard.
@talon5985
Жыл бұрын
I binged 3 or 4 lectures back-to-back the day I discovered Dr Sugrue's channel. Commented "This man is one of the best lecturers I've ever heard", then looked to see his most recent upload (this vid). I came for the lectures, but this video was all I could talk about for the next few days 🤓
@MarcosElMalo2
Жыл бұрын
Or his voice.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
@@talon5985 glad you enjoyed it!
@platotle2106
Жыл бұрын
@@MarcosElMalo2 he said he's battling with cancer, although I'm not sure what type.
@daviddomrzalski7061
Жыл бұрын
It’s comforting in a way to hear the same verbal pauses and mannerisms as in the 90’s videos.
@user-hu3iy9gz5j
Жыл бұрын
He speaks slower also, which is good
@darillus1
Жыл бұрын
we need people like Michael guiding the future generations through the muck we have to wade in
@dubthedirector
Жыл бұрын
What an honor to share in the thoughts of such a great thinker in relation to our distressing modern condition. Thank you!
@walkerzupp8393
Жыл бұрын
The amount of people in that room says volumes about our education system. Well done you four :)
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Usually we have a few more as our society is very new. It's unfortunate we only had 4 on that day, but I think it made for a much more intimate conversation, glad you enjoyed :)
@walkerzupp8393
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy Sorry! haha! Go forth -
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
@@walkerzupp8393 no need to apologize! You're very welcome to come along to our future meetings 😊 (Info in the description)
@philipackerley5775
Жыл бұрын
This guy is a US national treasure surely? As a Brit I consider him up there with Thomas Sewell, his clarity of thought on the big world social questions is breath taking, also his 90s lectures glue you to the screen and are extremely thought provoking. He sums up the situation in Europe perfectly here early on, its an utterly polarised society, the institutions are horrendous, Universities just training schools for left wing ( mainly) idealogues, in fact all educational establishments spew out their theoretical wokey nonsense. I did not vote on Brexit, I had to smile when the London populace were 100% rattled when the Brexit vote came in, then they had to spin their heads around 180 degrees to face the rest of the UK rather than face PAris/Berlin! All Caused by the arrogance of the political class , thy did not bother to sell the good aspects of the EU community, if they had done that it would NOT have happened probably. What many middle of the road Brits do not understand regarding the US, is the people's view on Tony Blair, he seems popular (according to the BBC)? You do know he is unfortunately 'hated' in the UK, his views now mean nothing, in short his governments were like something out of an Orwellian novel, classic Double Speak from start to finish.
@tedsexton5406
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for this up-load. Dr. Sugrue is still my very favorite intellectual.
@txikitofandango
6 ай бұрын
My answer to Prof. Sugrue around 49:00 in is that society conditions and determines who has intellect and what values and positions count as intellectual. So you can bring benevolence and intellect to a greater overlap by changing the structure democratically, as long as a sufficiently benevolent and charismatic figure breathes truth into an idea. And remember that Christ and other figures of benevolence always appear as idiots as we know from Tolstoy This was a moving discussion
@MarkeyTeach
Жыл бұрын
Good job Mr Newton. So glad to see uni students reaching out to people like Dr Sugrue.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed!
@kishorekrishnadas5541
Жыл бұрын
I have a book sitting at my desk which reads, "Emerson: America's Sage" on the cover. I think that Emerson would be pleased to know that so long after his passing that the American philosophical tradition is still bearing fruit. All the best.
@mikhaelvallena7298
Жыл бұрын
I have subscribed to his youtube channel and watched his 90s videos but one thing that really bothers me is that I do not see his current face and presence anymore but now I am really glad and satisfied that you uploaded this.
@Vgallo
Жыл бұрын
Love how he attacks these cultural cliches of self esteem and authenticity.
@plung3r
Жыл бұрын
I just discovered Dr. Sugrue 2 days ago from KZitem's recommendations. I watched 2 or 3 of his 90s lectures, as I'm watching this right now, I heard him say that his best story in the Bible was "The good Samaritan". I'm Muslim and I know almost nothing about the Bible, but I just googled about the story, the story is really powerful. Unfortunately as Muslims we believe in the Bible and the Torah and the first word reveled in the Quran is "read" but today we Muslims have neglected the the Quran and we have became so ignorant. Thank you very much Dr. Sugrue and thanks to this channel for hosting him.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Dr Sugrue has a seminar on the Quran on his podcast "the idea store"
@plung3r
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy wow thanks a lot. Where can I find the podcast ? Is it on his KZitem channel?
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
@@plung3r it's on Spotify and anchor!
@tonycafolla8946
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for this. I have been listening to Dr. Sugrue, on and off, for about 13 years. I was so happy to find his Great Minds of the West series on you tube so I could continue to learn. Previously I had listened to lectures down loaded to an I-pod, which has since been lost. I hope he recovers from his illness soon.
@Calixes
Жыл бұрын
I like listening to him, pausing it and disagreeing with him, and then play it again to see if he can prove me wrong or i could prove him wrong. The best birthday wish I could ever have would be a 1hr zoom call with him, so i can hear him destroy my philosophical conclusions such as "human life is not THAT valuable" hahaha, like, abortion (I think he is Catholic) vs. climate change/biodiversity
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
@@Calixes He'd refute you by pointing out the hierarchy of being from the subatomic and its ordering to the corporate, living sensate to intelligent and free willed. An attack on a life is literally an attack on God Himself. And this is demonstrable by reason alone using the irreducible principles of realist philosophy, e.g. form and matter , as in our word "information".
@reginaldphillips7615
Жыл бұрын
Watching a lecture with Q&A is so much better than watching a prerecorded lecture
@origamianywhere7764
Жыл бұрын
I've listened to and enjoyed a lot of his videos from the 90's and had no idea this was the same guy until i looked him up. Now I see it. So great to see him speaking now.
@mikegrecamusic5917
Жыл бұрын
I am a better human being for hearing this!
@irreadings
Жыл бұрын
Michael Sugrue is a titan
@jamesnoelward9116
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for doing this. Excellent continuity with the arc of this great philosopher’s thinking. Great to be in his Idea store.
@MrBernardthecow
Жыл бұрын
Wow. I am going through Prof Sugrue' entire video list the algorithm just threw this at me. It is really refreshing to listen to his opinion and candid thoughts on current affairs. Thank you.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed! 😊
@Calixes
Жыл бұрын
I loved seeing his thought process.
@jawsjazz
Жыл бұрын
Fascinating and thought provoking. Having watched a number of his excellent lectures, this was a bit different than I expected, but much more interesting as a result. Thank you for arranging for this talk and for sharing it.
@andyayala9119
Жыл бұрын
Nectar to the ears and mind
@Jacob011
Жыл бұрын
Micheal Sugrue is absolutely awesome! I love the guy. I may not agree with everything but his lecture on Marcus Aurelius is astounding and one of a kind.
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
Just recently discovered Michael Sugrue. I'm loving his lectures and as a Thomist (I hope!) I sense a deep sympathy of view and hope of reality.
@johndonne1
Жыл бұрын
Truly fantastic discussion. Dr. Sugrue is needed more today.
@rexbanner7256
Жыл бұрын
9w
@gregoryadams9397
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for this - - truly loved it--on of the most sincere, humble, and insightful Q&As on the Internet.
@taryngesmundo6928
Жыл бұрын
Thank you, Chris and Dr. Sugrue. This is incredible. Subbed!
@smulktis
Жыл бұрын
This is one of the most fascinating and dynamic conversations. Great questions, and damn good responses. Thank you all for putting this together, and to Dr Sugrue for his excellent lectures. I have a pushback to the love/reason dichotomy Dr Sugrue probed for: we experience a kind of superimposition of both love AND reason. And in time, we find moments where they do overlap and that is our water, our sustenance.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
You might enjoy his lecture on Kierkegaard's book "Either/Or"
@smulktis
Жыл бұрын
@LostintheWoods in threads, just like this. Or in the stitching together of moments of our lives where our time and efforts and words are delicately balanced between the two. It's a slalom.
@smulktis
Жыл бұрын
maybe?
@jamessheffield4173
Жыл бұрын
Always worth hearing.
@johnnypingsmusic
Жыл бұрын
Thank you Thank you Thank you
@e.s.p.illustrated1246
Жыл бұрын
loveee you Michael ! the most interesting teacher ive evvver fuckin had
@colbykidd6318
Жыл бұрын
Thanks Chris
@jamessheffield4173
Жыл бұрын
Just found your channel: keep up the good work. Blessings.
@lisnicion224
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for sharing this video with us!
@johnpetkos5686
Жыл бұрын
I love this man's mind!
@mirkomitrovic3107
Жыл бұрын
Best wishes to Dr. Sugrue! Truly amazing individual! Thank You professor for wonderful lectures!
@waynevanrensburg8037
Жыл бұрын
Absolute joy, thank you 😊
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed!
@stefaniastefania5672
Жыл бұрын
Wonderful person!
@davidcanmoocanu8127
Жыл бұрын
"Hiding Jews at your own risk, correlates inversely with the number of university degrees you have" 48:00 He said he read that in a book, anyone know which book he's talking about?
@Calixes
Жыл бұрын
I'm surprised as to how many things I disagreed with him on. I thought he'd have a much more clear and positive outlook on politics. What does he think of Chomsky in politics vs. Linguistics and Wittgenstein? Or, in a way, addressing the root of self-esteem in existentialism. Or, what are his thoughts on the biological need to procreate vs. the climate and biodiversity. I'd love to get notified of his next lectured so i could watch it live. The most beautiful thing I heard him say on a 90s lecture was that he thought that religion was like poetry, and it being creative. You've improved my life, even if I disagree with you lots. Thank you.
@animefam4019
Жыл бұрын
How i wish i could be there to ask him some questions, but a really great video talking about the situations that are plaguing society now a days if he could make one more lecture i would ask him to make one on the creation and inevitable fall of great empires.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Keep an eye out for future Q&A's - sometimes he asks his KZitem audience for questions and posts the discussions on his podcast called "the idea store" - worth checking out!
@samloutalbotmusic
9 ай бұрын
I can’t believe there are just three students for Michael Sugrue.
@RNCM_Philosophy
9 ай бұрын
And we couldn't believe that Dr Sugrue was kind enough to speak to us and post the recording on his channel! It was towards the end of term at our music college, and it's quite a small institution hence the lack of numbers (there were about 6 students there in person/online). Was a great conversation nonetheless, hope you enjoyed!
@samloutalbotmusic
9 ай бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophyhey, I understand. I'm also a PhD Music scholar at Glasgow and small numbers can be a thing. I've been watching one lecture a day at least by Sugrue since I found him, and then again, Mike and Darren Unplugged. I'm totally wow-ed by Mike. So, it's great that a Music institution has got to speak with him. Good stuff, thanks for posting.
@sean.3909
11 ай бұрын
Amazing interview ❤️❤️❤️
@RNCM_Philosophy
11 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed 😊
@AG-ic7hl
Жыл бұрын
Legend
@johngibby
Жыл бұрын
One of the things that strikes me in this sense vs love paradigm is to me, love is rational. Taking the story of the good samaritan, if we think about that from the context of society - does anyone actually want to live in a society in which dying beggars line the streets? There are rational consequences of that like increased crime, increased disease. It is rational for me to give some of my wealth to strangers who need it because that is cheaper than dealing with the consequences of not giving some of my wealth. Love and compassion can be logical, they are not mutually exclusive.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Great point! But what if *every* reason is pointing you away from loving someone? Would you still love them? Here's a somewhat trivial example: the mythology of Star Wars. Luke Skywalker has every reason not to love Darth Vader, except for an intuition that he still has good in him. In the end, it's Luke's faith in Vader that saves him. That's why the film is called Return of the Jedi, as Vader becomes Anakin again, and it's why I consider George Lucas the modern Kierkegaard; Luke is Kierkegaard's "Knight of Faith." Thoughts?
@riadf8126
Жыл бұрын
It is pleasing and reassuring to read your comment and you are absolutely right in your thinking. If only the selfish realise they're intellectually blind to what is the ultimate good for themselves and humanity at large. Thank you for making this important point.
@joelhartman2312
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy Love is just an emotion, sympathy is an analytical tool. You can hate somebody and have sympathy for them at the same damn time. You can try to force a religious idea of compassion but it won't be compassionate to help a smoker to quit smoking because the smoker will see your compassion as a vice not a virtue. I'm going to help a drug addict because I see that he is damaging himself. We should expect the drug addict to despise us when we help them. No matter what we do the drug addict will still be a drug addict most of the time. You can't help somebody who's too far gone with just trying to be convincing. You can't convince me that there is a God because I'm too far gone. I'm always going to see the Bible as a myth that children read. I think it can be intellectually destructive to base your set of values on the Bible. This is just like vegans thinking that being compassionate will suddenly change the world. vegans thank you don't need experts you only need a hobbyist. People drag veganism in the mud because they're just too stupid. Look at dxc and the protest where they hook themselves on the chicken Slaughter line. You can't have people to invest in black lives matter without knowing what forum 990 is . kzitem.info/news/bejne/rm-dq2yqmn-bjY4
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
@@joelhartman2312 Love is the Final Cause of Aquinas; the ultimate mover. We cannot help but see truth, goodness and beauty and are literally moved by them. The BEING underlying existence is the highest form of being beyond our categories... LOVE Himself. It is the ground of everything including reason. God IS REASON which is the ordering of LOVE its source and ultimate intelligible nature.
@plung3r
Жыл бұрын
I'd like to see Dr. Sugrue and Jordan Peterson in a conversation.
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
Oh ya!
@marinaserbia
Жыл бұрын
To my best effort I couldn't find any info on the Internet about the mentioned Serbian minister of information. Apparently, nothing had been published in electronic media about a Serbian minister who has been teaching at City College in New York. With all due respect for professor Sugrue, he should make sure that his claims could be verified, especially when it comes to sensitive matters such as genocide. I wish all the best to the prof. Sugrue and thanks for this interview.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Search for Prof. Dr. Radmila Milentijević :)
@marinaserbia
Жыл бұрын
Thank you ;-) For those interested in what she really believed and spoked, here in Radmila Milentijevic in her own words: kzitem.info/news/bejne/xq-qu35tkoBymIo
@TheFlamingChips
Жыл бұрын
It’s extremely disheartening to be in a depressive pessimistic lull when looking at the world, and then deciding to sit down and listen to one of my favourite intellectuals only to hear him say the world is fucked. I mean, where do we look for hope? Great video though, thanks
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
It's a damn hard question. My hope is that people look to the arts to find consolation. Dr Sugrue is an admirer of James Joyce, whose character Stephen Dedalus was able to rise above the labyrinthian confines of his culture on the "wings of art".
@Calixes
Жыл бұрын
I was surprised as to how many things I disagreed with him on, but loved the video all the same. I find it difficult to agree with him on freedom of speech for Nazis when "compounding interest" is at play, but agree that education is at the heart of the problem. I wish I could hear his stance on social democracy, and value of human life vs. global climate change/biodiversity.
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
@@Calixes I rather doubt that his understanding of freedom of speech includes calling for the death of innocent others. British civil law, which seems grounded in the kind of natural law Catholics affirm philosophically and theologically would mitigate against such extremist notions.
@gooch2215
Жыл бұрын
❤️
@jeandarc5900
Жыл бұрын
Smartest guy ever and obviously a conservative. Tells you something…
@Calixes
Жыл бұрын
Even he would disagree with being the smartest guy alive--but I think Chomsky is, and he's no conservative
@jeandarc5900
Жыл бұрын
@@Calixes keep listening to Sugrue, perhaps it will improve your perspective. Good luck
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
I think he's clearly a classic liberal not the kind of narcissistic libertine that is the modern "liberal" who are tyrants. Catholic social justice thought is deeply human and compassionate. An older political liberalism perhaps.
@txikitofandango
6 ай бұрын
I agree with your criticisms of postmodernism, how people wear their beliefs like a costume, and reasoned argumentation has given way to a costume contest, but in all fairness Lacan warned us about this decades ago. Ditto for your critiques on authenticity, identity, self-esteem, but unfortunately the standards for his proponents aren't as high as yours. I'm saying I wish people as well-read and honest as you and as Lacan himself were reading and pushing his concepts
@xxcoopcoopxx
Жыл бұрын
@54:00 Greeks referred to a religion as a way to, "Govern the self." Govern yourself, or someone, or something else, will.
@AlphaPlague
Жыл бұрын
Oh. The man underneath is Socrates.
@Vgallo
Жыл бұрын
Inflation isn’t caused by deficit Spending, it’s when the money supply is increased so significantly and at the same time demand outstrips supply, covid has hamstrung supply, so it’s not actually irresponsible economics, it’s more a perfect storm.
@kurtismayer0994
Жыл бұрын
Yes! Denounce Foucault, just like Peterson!
@dusanlukovic6368
Жыл бұрын
Him and late hitchens debate would have been amazing.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Hitchens wouldn't have a chance.
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
Hitchens was great at the art of rhetoric and whipping up a mob. So was Hitler. Hitchens was anything but a deep thinker. Sugrue is vastly more intelligent and meaningful.
@Vgallo
Жыл бұрын
Thing is the prooor that think the earth is flat are highly intelligent highly educated people, with science degrees, my mrs listens to these people and they are extremely convincing, I can’t refute their claims because I don’t have a science or geological degree, so assuming these people are stupid Is the first mistake. Also child murderers are usually abused horribly - both at home and at school,so the self esteem is 1 aspect that’s trying to combat this problem.
@user-hu3iy9gz5j
Жыл бұрын
1:21:40 ”What this is is.. is” 😉
@Vgallo
Жыл бұрын
This guy should talk with pageau/ Paul vanderklay or Jonathan vervaeke.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
We'll be talking with prof. Vervaeke in the new academic year. Feel free to have a look at our Facebook page, you're very welcome to join the discussion!
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy Good for you guys... and us Chris. Great work. The small seed that grows.
@anonymousjones4016
Жыл бұрын
I tend to first listen to Michael Sugrue and Darren Staloff as a pre-requisite to ground on before and then listening to more in the spotlight contemporary's like, J.B. Peterson, Sam Harris, Zizek, Dawkins....etc. These two - Sugrue and Staloff, are regurgitated by these others, although they're all contemporary to the same times.
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
Harris and Dawkins even more so are illiterate flakes compared to Sugrue and most sane people.
@mobina4569
Жыл бұрын
can you give me a link to his podcast please?
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Search "the idea store" on Spotify or Anchor! Not sure I can post links on here but will try!
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
anchor.fm/genevieve-sugrue
@mobina4569
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy thank you so much
@emmadestiny6555
Жыл бұрын
58: 57 The two easiest jobs in the world are spending other people's money and improving other people's morals
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
Mea culpa
@benesposito5493
Жыл бұрын
Great discussion! You all are music students?
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Yes we're all students at the Royal Northern College of Music! I uploaded a performance of a composition of mine to my channel if you'd like to listen to it 😊
@benesposito5493
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy very cool! I know a great drummer from there I believe he went there, Kai Craig, who plays jazz.
@honeyinglune8957
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy does rncm push postmodernism on students a lot? I'm studying at another conservatoire in the UK and half our modules are filtered to some extent through the postmodern/feminist lense.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
@@honeyinglune8957 increasingly so, yes. The teacher I mentioned in this discussion with Dr Sugrue said to me that he believes "everything is political, even the conversation we're having right now. I'm making a truth claim, which means that I'm exerting my will to power over you, and that's politics." Then I asked him why it's necessary to frame everything in terms of politics, and he replied "I find it hard not to." I'm not optimistic about the academia at RNCM if our discourses are constantly being politicised, which is partly why I founded the philosophy society. Which conservatoire do you go to? You're very welcome to come along to our society meetings via zoom!
@dr.michaelsugrue
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy Chris, you overlooked a crushing retort. Whenever people start blathering on with rubbish like "everything is political, even the conversation we're having right now. I'm making a truth claim, which means that I'm exerting my will to power over you, and that's politics", ask this savant if arithmetic is political, inquire specifically what it is that is controversial about 2+2=4, and who was exerting the original "will to power" upon the archaic humans who initially figured this out in many for themselves in various places and times. Bombs away.
@h.astley2113
Жыл бұрын
what does michael mean when he says 'in the 90s, when I had it together'? :/
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Unfortunately Dr Sugrue has got advanced cancer, so he said that his health doesn't permit him to think for sustained amounts of time like he used to - just imagine what he was like to speak to in the 90s!!
@deliveringIdeas
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy Forgive me for asking, but does Professor Sugrue smoke? It sounds as if though he has a smoker's voice. Is this the case?
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
@@deliveringIdeas I don't know sorry!
@faridachishti35
Жыл бұрын
In a recent pilgrimage to Makkah, I stood before the holy Kaaba n prayed for Dr. Sahib's health n long life like I did for my own people.
@henninghohmann7426
Жыл бұрын
Love the video however its hard to understand all the questions asked to dr. surgue so i think it would be beneficial if you guys used a microphone.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for the advice! The video initially was made without the intention of it going on KZitem, but Dr Sugrue and his daughter kindly posted it on his channel, so I thought I'd follow suit! I'll see if there are any better zoom cameras at college...
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Are there any questions in particular that you would like me to write down for you?
@henninghohmann7426
Жыл бұрын
Ahhh i see. That explains it and also this is the first video i saw of your channel so i dont know if this problem occures in other videos aswell. Thanks for the quick answer! I think i caught all questions but it was just difficult and i had to rewind here and there. Wish you the best and im looking forward to more content from you. Greetings from Germany :*
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
@@henninghohmann7426 ah I see, the same was true in our conversation with Sheldon Solomon, so I'll see if I can fix it.
Language is the key. People don;t seem to understand the words in the language they speak, which leads us to con-fusion For example America is not a country Canada etc is also in America so, those people are also Americans Is Europe a country? No? Then America is also not a country We need to KNOW HOW the system is set up and working which we do not we assume we do, thats all
@smulktis
Жыл бұрын
Question for Dr Sugrue (if he happens to glance here), inspired by 59:43 in this video, what is your most vexing question about the Bible? In other words, what is the most vexing thing in the Bible?
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Great question! If you don't mind me offering my two cents, the most vexing question for me is: why doesn't Yahweh resist Satan's demands in the book of Job? If Yahweh is omniscient, and knows that Job will remain faithful despite having everything taken from him, why doesn't he resist Satan? That's why I like books such as Answer to Job by Carl Jung, although it's not a very satisfying answer!
@MrBernardthecow
Жыл бұрын
He hasn't lost the gravitas when he says "right..." and "now..."
@mega4171
Жыл бұрын
The one thing I would push back on at 1:01:49 to extend the chatters question, what would you say about the evil things religious people do based purely on the doctrines that they follow? In other words how should we handle the religious fundamentalists of the 21st century who still think it's 'rational' to do clearly abhorrent things and drum clearly regressive ideas and fear into people of ideas like eternal torture in hell, etc. ?
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Yes I think I would push back too - a large part of the problem is the fact that people who hold dogmatic beliefs (of any sort) are much more likely to be hostile towards another group which doesn't share those beliefs. As Dr Sugrue admits, "Genocide is the ultimate result of refusing that there may be other legitimate ways to view the world beside your own." (This is also evident in Terror Management Theory - check out our Q&A with Sheldon Solomon) I think the fact that many of the religions offer the believer the promise of immortality means that the object of faith becomes something the believer wants to defend (out of self-interest), which ultimately leads to violence. "May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them- this is the glory of all his faithful people. Praise the Lord." - Psalm 149:6-9
@mega4171
Жыл бұрын
unfortunately people will interpret the scriptures in certain ways to pose horrible acts of tribalism. You see this especially in the Muslim community. If I could just have you answer this for me, a rather opiniated question but nevertheless, Do you think it would be more beneficial if we got rid of these doctrines that people often can use for malevolent purposes, or do you think the void (Nietzsche) that can happen from this loss of scripture would be more harmful? How does the balance swing in your opinion? It seems to me certain things like Santa Claus don't need a void filled when you realize there's actually not a fat guy that comes down your chimney every year. Same goes with every other delusion I used to believe as a kid. I can still enjoy stories and fantasy and science fiction to a great degree, without believing them to be literally true. Do you think this also can be a realistic possibility for the current and future believers who LITERALLY believe the doctrines of their religion?
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
@@mega4171 Interesting question - there are a few approaches to this which work in my experience: 1. Observe which parts of scripture your fellow Christian doesn't take literally (for example, many Christians don't believe the book of Job is a historical account), and explain that this is the way you view the whole of the text, given that you disagree that it's a literal account of history. That way you have common ground to work with - as a follow up, ask them if they consider Job to be an important book if it's not literal, and if not, why not? Same goes for things like parables. 2. Appreciate the wisdom that the evil passages in the various holy books can teach you - what is it about human nature that makes people want to kill for their gods? And what does that say about your own psychological tendencies? "For the sake of common worship they’ve slain each other with the sword. They have set up gods and challenged one another, ‘Put away your gods and come and worship ours, or we will kill you and your gods!’ And so it will be to the end of the world, even when gods disappear from the earth; they will fall down before idols just the same." (Dostoevsky, The Grand Inquisitor) 3. For all of their madness, belief structures such as those held by the Westboro Baptist Church have an internal consistency, which is often what shields the believer from conversation with non-believers. Hate from the outside will actually cause these people to re-affirm what they already believe, which means that you can't fight fire with fire. If you want to change their mind, often the best way to approach conversations like these is to listen with indifference, instead of confirming or denying what they believe. That way, any internal contradictions will slowly appear, which can be carefully pointed out afterwards. Megan Phelps-Roper is a great example of this :)) I don't think it's possible to "get rid" of the tendency to believe religions literally. Unless you can somehow change human nature completely, we're always going to be stuck with the fear of death - and the promise of a literal immortality is always going to be very persuasive, which leaves us with the dangers of dogma. (Same goes for symbolic immortality by the way, worth a google search)
@mega4171
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy Thank you I appreciate your thoughtful words it's clear you put consideration and read carefully my concern so I appreciate that Something about my own human nature just feels this weird twist of ill emotions when I hear someone have so much confidence in their eschatological beliefs of eternity. And I know professor Sugrue doesn't believe we should be acting on 'feelings' which I agree with completely. It's just hard to act with reason when people don't value reason or evidence as core virtues. There's no type of evidence (scientific) that will break them free of this tautology. Don't get me wrong I'm certainly not advocating to get rid of religion and spiritual experience completely. I just wish people would understand that they can have the utility without worrying that you might make the wrong noises and subsequently burn in hell for eternity. Our freedom of speech and new ideas is heavily compromised due to this pseudo-problem. also you asked a question and idk if it was rhetorical or not but I'll give my subjective answer I guess. 'what is it about human nature that makes people want to kill for their gods? And what does that say about your own psychological tendencies' Certainly the fear of eternal hell can lead an otherwise rational person to kill someone believing in different gods as you alluded to with the 'promise of literal immortality'. That seems to lead to a certain type of misbehavior that in any other domain of human life we would consider as clearly immoral. Unfortunately when it comes to religion we are often stigmatized and even threatened to keep our mouths shut. That quote by Dostoevsky is great. My interpretation of it is these people are spending their time fighting and killing each other over who's god is the "true" god when in reality every man and man's ideas will eventually perish. If you had some other interpretation on that piece though I would love to hear it. and ok I will search up symbolic immortality
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
@@mega4171 that whole chapter of Dostoevsky is fantastic, would recommend!! I think we're going to see science become the new "idol," especially when it comes to politics. I wonder what do you think of the grievance studies hoax with James Lindsay, Peter Boghossian and Helen Pluckrose?
@elliotfrank119
Жыл бұрын
Why does Dr Sugrue say that he was part of the decision making class? Was he ever in politics? Also what is the merit test he said that he took as an adolescent that got him into that class? Does he mean SAT’s or something or is this just a figure of speech?
@dr.michaelsugrue
Жыл бұрын
I was talking about what Michael Lind calls the "managerial elite", not internet billionaires but the 10% of America that call the shots in practice. This includes politicians but also military, media, intelligence, corporate, intellectual and other deciders or "influencers". Tastemakers, opinion makers, guardians of the Overton Window, we are the most rapacious, mendacious, audacious collection of human locusts in America since the Robber Barons. Yes, I meant the SATs, if you score in the top half of the top 1% you get awarded a "National Merit Scholarship" which makes the cost of a high end college much more affordable.
@elliotfrank119
Жыл бұрын
@@dr.michaelsugrue thank you for your response. This was an excellent Q&A I was particularly moved at the end when you said that Jesus and the parable of the Good Samaritan introduced us to the idea of unashamed true Love without the “fig leaf” of rationality or self interest - I may be paraphrasing. Such a beautiful thought and so poetically expressed!
@wyattrussell7496
Жыл бұрын
This guy would make Pordan Jeterson seem derivative
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
Psychology must always be downstream from religion , theology, and philosophy, so all sound philosophy is in that sense derived. Peterson has a pretty good grasp of this fact. His wife says a lot of rosaries and he welcomes prominent religious and philosophical experts.
@wyattrussell7496
Жыл бұрын
@@tommore3263 he’s a charlatan
@horrhiunioj507
Жыл бұрын
Professors should be “transparent”…activists in the classroom have destroyed so many minds
@johnmallonee2088
4 ай бұрын
I can’t tell if he is really Christian. He likes some of the parables and the ethics, but doesn’t care if Jesus was raised from the dead? That was shocking to hear since he has always identified as a Christian (Catholic). Every Christian I know says that the entire religion hinges on the resurrection.
@RNCM_Philosophy
4 ай бұрын
He was both a Platonist and a Christian. Trying to embody the values of both Socrates and Jesus gives you a religion and the ability to criticise it. Like Dr Sugrue said, maybe making sense isn't everything
@tefilobraga
Жыл бұрын
I disagree with Michael Sugrue regarding the need for the apparently non self-interested acts to have a religious/irrational origin. Essentially everything can be seen in terms of self-interest, if one broadens the scope widely enough. For example, not bombing Hiroshima, although in the short term it saves American soldiers' lives, in the long term, if by any chance the USA saw itself in a symmetric situation regarding Japan, would probably benefit the USA, since the Japanese would probably feel inclined to reciprocate their reluctance to use nuclear weapons. This may seem a bit far-fetched, but more generally the fact is self-interest, as many atheist evolutionary biologists have pointed out, cannot be seen in a personal, or even in a small-group sense. It must be regarded in the broadest possible sense, in terms of what benefits the species, or even all species, at an essentially infinite temporal range. Self-interest has a bad reputation, being equated with selfishness, because its wider implications are often overlooked. In fact, assuming the universality of human beings, or even of all living beings, self-interest is the same as the interest of the others, and I think this perspective presents it in its true light.
@RNCM_Philosophy
Жыл бұрын
Great comment! I think Dr Sugrue would share your sentiment, but would word it differently - at around 1:03:50 he says something to the effect of "Jesus was thoughtful enough to extend our moral obligations [like concentric rings around a bullseye] to those on the other side of the world... What would a world be like that doesn't tell the story of the Good Samaritan?" My sense is that without a grounding in compassion, most people will act out of their own egoism, only really caring about what belongs to them, and not so much about the broader world they belong to - that's the seduction of vanity.
@tefilobraga
Жыл бұрын
@@RNCM_Philosophy Christianity undoubtedly had a positive impact on this particular aspect of ethics, by putting so much emphasis on it. What I would argue is that compassion is just a corollary of the golden rule, which precedes Christianity. There are indications that compassion, although perhaps not so widespread, existed among Neanderthal men, let alone Ancient Greeks. There are even examples of compassion in the animal kingdom, between different species, although many species must be enemies to ensure their own survival. As for the principles of compassion extending to everyone, I do not think that Jesus or the story of the Good Samaritan were essential to encourage this belief, although they were beneficial. Noticing similarities in feelings and emotions among all members of the human species, or even between different species in the animal kingdom, is a rational act. From this realization and the golden rule (which is itself also rational) there follows compassion, if not necessarily dictated by love, at least by a sense of fairness.
@hoastbeef1202
Жыл бұрын
Things have never been worse, but do the people in your life who lived through the last 100 years bear any of the responsibility? Rarely ever seen this discussed. Meaning: your mom, dad, aunts, uncles, grandparents who for the most part of the last decade, sat around and believed everything the government and institutions told them at face value. Instead of spending their time learning about how economics really works and educating themselves so they can at the very least question the mainstream narrative, they were more concerned about going what bar/restaurant to go to every weekend, the latest celebrity gossip or what the latest score of the baseball game was (the bread and circus), basically a world where people spend their time amusing themselves to death. Now that the "shit has hit the fan," these people who could have done something by the mere fact that they lived through it, just blame governments and the institutions, and transfer a broken and flawed system to the new generation. It's really easy to blame others, the question is: what did YOU do about it.
@ceo3209
Жыл бұрын
This guy was a moderately interesting blow hard up until he spurned Heidegger. Don’t forget, the Solviets attacted Poland concurently with Hitler, yet, Church only attacked Germany and sided with the communists, who ended up murdering more people than any other regime ever. Wouldn’t you also, as an honest man, give Churchill the same condensending disdain Also, you have held up Darwin as a must read for all students, which makes you a hypocrite if you truely abhor racism. See the subtitle of Darwin’s magnum opus, On the Orgins of Species, or, on the preservation of favoured races in the stuggle for life. FYI, by favoured races he means Europeans. Merely repudiating your deceased betters, who are vastly superior to yourself, does not make you their equal. Another falsehood, Charles Manson was not a mass murderer. Some people claimed he told them to kill people but that lacks the crucially important actus reus evidence. It is most obvious you are no philosopher, since your thoughts and opinions conincide precisely with what you watch on television. It must be true, i done seen it on CNN.
@tommore3263
Жыл бұрын
What a jaundiced view you offer. I see you equate reading Darwin with necessarily and stupidly affirming his every notion. And one SHOULD see that naive materialism and animal level competition led to the first and second world wars. Professor Sugrue really isn't that dumb. And peculiar that you would view a Catholic as a disciple of CNN of all things. Your interior compass is faulty and even absurd. But that is for you to deal with.
@cliftondowns4798
Жыл бұрын
In his remarks on deficits, Sugrue demonstrates that he knows nothing about how "fiat" monetary systems work and seems to think that the US is still on the gold standard. He needs to read "The Deficit Myth" by Stephanie Kelton. He decries "ad hominem" attacks by politicians and then attacks Heidegger ad hominem.
@blurredlenzpictures3251
Ай бұрын
While I really respect and love Dr. Sugrue(RIP) for his contributions to our understanding of history, he is not unlike the many philosophers he covers when speaking about his own worldview the ideas start to fall apart. When I watch him speak about the world he seems to be an America-Centrific Christian Conservative using the same rhetoric to keep powers that be. He always attacks Marxism and The Frankfurt School more than a capitalist theology. He believes in ownership and elitism. American superiority. Oppressing free speech if it disagrees with him. He talks of Woke-ism like an alt right Jordan Peterson type. Lots of contradictions masked in quotes from philosophers to sell his rhetoric. Philosophers that were wrong. He has a dislike for Democracy and young people. Says he dislikes the hive mind but at the same time wants to create an elitist hive mind. He's not for the will of the people, but for the views of very few he deems to be intelligent.
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