From Social Justice to Social (In)Justice?
I spoke to Eric Pratum for The Unfolding Thought Podcast.
I very much enjoyed speaking to Eric. As he wrote,
”At its core, this is a conversation about intellectual humility. About the discipline of staying curious even when an answer feels obvious. And about the responsibility to keep testing ideas, especially the ones we most want to be true.
Topics Covered
How ideas shift from open inquiry to unquestioned belief
The role of language in shaping perception and moral judgment
Why good intentions do not guarantee good outcomes
The difference between disagreement and harm
How moral certainty can suppress curiosity
The psychological comfort of belonging to a shared ideology
Why institutions sometimes protect beliefs instead of testing them
The tension between social justice goals and open debate
How identity can become fused with ideology
The importance of intellectual humility in public discourse
Why skepticism is a form of care, not hostility
The risk of treating complex problems as morally simple
How to create cultures that encourage disagreement without hostility”
You helped me understand why so many on the left, who used to be all about freedom of thought and speech, have become authoritarian. They disdain material reality in favor of solidarity and narratives that are fact impervious. It’s not about finding reality, it’s about loyalty to the clan.
Thank you Helen & Eric. As always, I'm impressed and awed by the depth, breadth and incisiveness of your analysis of the multiple factors contributing to today’s individual, interpersonal, social and cultural confusions. As you say, the main problem the world faces today is an epistemic one - it’s not just about political polarisation. People have lost sight of the objective, shared truths and principles which underpin classical liberalism and provide the basis of functional democracies. The bulk of today’s discourse shamelessly uses inconsistent narratives, motivated reasoning and confirmation bias (among other biases) to promote illiberal narratives, irrespective of their alignment with reality. I’m one of the adults you referred to who find the arguments in your book “Social (In)justice” easier to understand & retain than those made in “Cynical Theories” & “The Counterweight Handbook”. A thoroughly enjoyable interview showing how some of your own personal evolution has shaped your current thinking about our culture wars and what can be done about them.