Tag: Hannah Arendt

China from space on realistic model of planet Earth with network. Concept of digital technology, connectivity and travel.

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post

Heather Zeiger
Date
January 10, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Global Technology, Social Media

Tagged
China, Chinese Communist Party, Denise Ho, Hannah Arendt, Jack Ma, Peng Shuai, Rui Zhong, The Origins of Totalitarianism (book), Zhuoran Li}

China’s Internet: The Biggest Influencer Is the State

_{How China uses social metrics to guide its censorship strategy} _{Heather Zeiger
January 10, 2022

7

Censorship, Global Technology, Social Media}

The Chinese Communist Party’s response to champion doubles tennis player Peng Shuai was about more than just dismissing an accusation and protecting a high-ranking Party member. It was about silencing influencers and suppressing social mobilization. In a previous article, we looked at how Beijing’s propaganda machine used fake Twitter accounts to amplify messaging around tennis champion Peng Shuai after she disappeared from the public and was censored on the Chinese internet. Wilson Center scholar Rui Zhong writes in Wired magazine, “This is not about topics. This censorship is fundamentally about the dismantling of social resources.” Rui Zhong’s article is helpful in contextualizing the Chinese Communist Party’s targets for online censorship. She says that most analyses of Chinese internet censorship focus on specific words, phrases, or topics, rather Read More ›

Propaganda and brainwashing of the influential mass media concept. Vintage TV set with hypnotic spiral on the screen.

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post

Michael Egnor
Date
February 3, 2021

Categorized
Education, Ethics, Philosophy

Tagged
Critical theory, Featured, Hannah Arendt, Intersectionality, Propaganda in education, Tom Knighton, Totalitarian education, totalitarianism, Women's sports}

Contradictory Beliefs Are a Feature, Not Bug, of Critical Theory

_{As a historian of totalitarianism has pointed out, “The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.”} _{Michael Egnor
February 3, 2021

6

Education, Ethics, Philosophy}

“Intersectionality” is the claim by critical theorists that various kinds of oppression against victim groups intersect, in the sense that all oppression ultimately has the same source — you. In an essay at Substack titled “Intersectionality Has Hit the Stop Sign,” Tom Knighton argues, too optimistically in my view, that intersectionality is falling victim to its own contradictions. I believe he misunderstands the nature of the problem. Let me explain why. He cites the example of women’s rights vs. trans rights. A major victory for women’s rights is all-female sports, which allow women to compete without having to overcome the natural physical advantages of men. A major victory for trans rights is to allow men who identify as women to Read More ›

Incognito warrior in iron helmet and red cloak.

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post

Michael Egnor
Date
August 3, 2020

Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
___longform, Aristocracy, Aristotle, Darwinism, democracy, Edward Feser, Featured, government, Hannah Arendt, Karl Marx, Mob rule, Oligarchy, Plato, Republic (book), soul, Spirit, Timocracy, totalitarianism, Tyranny}

What would Plato Say About Antifa? Or Darwin?

_{A careful reading of Plato and Arendt goes a long way toward explaining the current scene—but it is unsettling reading} _{Michael Egnor
August 3, 2020

8

Ethics, Philosophy of Mind}

In college, I hated Plato. We read his Republic, and, as a patriot and an idealistic young (small “d”) democrat, I was appalled at the hegemony of the Guardians and at Plato’s disdain for democracy. It seemed to me that his Guardians were the archetypal totalitarians, and that it was a fundamental human right — enshrined in the Constitution — to be ruled only by consent of the governed. In my dotage, I am more sympathetic to Plato — it’s remarkable how much smarter the old philosopher has gotten in the past 40 years! I am still uncomfortable with Guardians, at least of the secular sort. But I think John Adams got it right when he observed that “our Constitution Read More ›