Posts by author

James A. Lindsay

25 posts

James Lindsay has a doctorate in math and background in physics. He is the author of five books and his essays have appeared in TIME, Scientific American, and The Philosophers’ Magazine. He led the "grievance studies affair" probe and his forthcoming book with Helen Pluckrose, Cynical Theories, looks at the evolution of postmodern thought in scholarship and activism.

8 min

Intersectionality: An Excerpt from “Cynical Theories”

I never again want anyone to say theorizing doesn’t lead to change. Black feminist theory and intersectionality informed the creation of black lives matter. We’d never be this close to…

12 min

Politics

The Left is Having an Identity Crisis

The Left is in crisis. We no longer present a cohesive movement, and we no longer form coherent political parties. We are a fractured and ill-defined mess, our goals are…

47 min

Features

Academic Grievance Studies and the Corruption of Scholarship

This essay, although hopefully accessible to everyone, is the most thorough breakdown of the study and written for those who are already somewhat familiar with the problems of ideologically-motivated scholarship,…

14 min

Identity Politics Does Not Continue the Work of the Civil Rights Movements

It is nearly beyond dispute that the Civil Rights Movement, second-wave liberal feminism, and Gay Pride were liberal projects, both in the broad philosophical sense and in the narrower meaning…

10 min

Features

Freedom of Speech and the Fallacy of Demanding to be Heard

There is a troubling misunderstanding of the principle of freedom of speech gaining momentum right now. It fundamentally misunderstands two central concepts of the principle — individual freedom and the…

24 min

Features

A Principled Defense of the University

The modern university is undoubtedly among humanity’s crowning achievements, and, more than many other advances made over the last five centuries, it is in danger. Now, more than any time…

8 min

Politics

Check your Progressive Privilege: John Rawls vs Moral Relativism

In 1971, liberal political philosopher John Rawls proposed in his influential book A Theory of Justice what is perhaps the most famous and compelling progressive thought experiment ever considered. He…

27 min

Features

The Guru Appeal of Jordan Peterson in our Post-Everything World

He reaches to people, mostly young men and their sympathizers, with sweeping cultural narratives about masculinity and femininity that seem to explain their crappy lot while offering them a means for redemptive action.

18 min

Features

Why I’m a Liberal Who Fights the Left, Even in the Age of Trump

This is an argument about how to defeat the lunatic right by criticizing the lunatic left.

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