Tradition, Religion, & Gender Roles w/Nina Power and Carl Benjamin | Spectrum Street Epistemology

In Fall 2023, philosopher and author Nina Power and cultural critic and polymath Carl Benjamin joined Peter for a Spectrum Street Epistemology session in Hampstead Heath, London. They explored controversial claims about a variety of socio-political and cultural topics. Nina and Carl have been on Peter's channel before, but this is their first joint episode.

Nina received a Ph.D. in philosophy from Middlesex University and an MA and BA in philosophy from the University of Warwick. She was a senior lecturer in philosophy at Roehampton University and has taught at various British universities. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the British Philosophical Association. She co-hosts the podcast The Lack with Helen Rollins and Benjamin Studebaker.

00:00 Intro
01:41 Conservatism Definition
03:32 Conservatism v Liberalism
06:22 Discussion on traditionalism
08:46 Religious Conversion
22:54 Outcomes of belief systems
24:05 Which religions yield better societal results
25:47 Human Flourishing
29:13 Cultural Decline
34:33 Gender Roles
43:33 The fundamental experiences tied to gender
45:22 Differences between being a man and a woman
47:40 The unique experiences of pregnancy
49:51 The significance of being a man or a woman
52:16 Being a man in contemporary society

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#peterboghossian #genderdifferences #thoughtexperiment

[drpeterboghossian]

In case you missed my previous interviews with Nina and Carl:

[bankiey]

“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire”

[theolite]

Carl, despite not being a Christian defended the Christain position better.

Spoke about how inconsiderate the women were when they felt they had no use for men and also the lack of care for fatherhood as a father himself, not his use to the society and women.

Excellent points all through

[peterfield]

Anyone who thinks the increase of Islam in the UK not being anything but totally disastrous has lost the plot and submitted to it.

[alistairdarby]

I’ve always considered myself pretty liberal, but due to the current extremist cultural politics, I really find the arguments against “liberalism” so much more attractive. I also find people on the centre right far more intellectually sound in their arguments and it’s far more interesting to listen to than the utopian, authoritarian activist politics we hear now on the left.
Things on the right get debated. On the left, they get shouted down.

[robdavies]

Well done peter for inviting Carl on here. I love what he's doing with the lotus eaters and i enjoy hearing what he has to say. Looking forward to hearing from Nina, too!

[shaneoneill]

I could watch this for hours. Carl Benjamin, someone I have followed for years, really showed me how incredibly deep and empathetic he is. I am very impressed.

[TheSeznez]

Thank you Carl for your response to Nina regarding Islam in the West, Nina’s thinking on this does sum up everything wrong with Christianity at the moment.
Virtue signalling for some warm feelings about yourself, and working on the basis of a few people you know around you has contributed to the mess we’re in already with gender ideology etc, we really don’t need to go there with Islam.

The reason each of the outside forces against the West are so strong is because they have an ideology that unites them. Our ‘melting pot’ makes us weak and vulnerable.

Thanks for all you do, Peter.

[sznwlc_]

Carl’s sunglasses low key makes him look like South Park’s PC Principal. 😎

[pete]

I absolutely disdain the liberal Christian obsession with "turn the other cheek". They totally distorted the meaning of the metaphor. Jesus said both a man can turn the other cheek to give forgiveness but you must defend the weak and your brother.

[Cocytus]

As a fan of both Peter and Carl, I'm super hyped for this video. Love the content, Peter. Keep 'em coming.

[AlphaCrucis]

Man, 10 years ago I wouldn't have expected to watch such a crossover. Especially you and Carl. It's been quite a journey for us all. This was great!

[gabeo]

Thank you! Carl absolutely nailed it at 32:48. It was like he stole the thoughts right out of my mind and articulated them perfectly.

[tomtom]

Carl's point about the male body being an extension of his will and we dont have to be concerned about it doing something we dont concent to. That is such an important point. I found that so damn difficult when i became ill with my chronic condition and that is exactly what bothered me so much. I lost my agency, lost my virility, manliness and had to become more feminine in looking for help and not being self reliant because i couldnt physically be and do what i wanted anymore.
Thanks for articulating that Carl.

[melindarhodebeck]

I'm a woman. I've never heard the difference between how our bodies work from men's articulated the way that Carl does here. It's beautiful, and if it's true, does help to explain many things. Not as the only explanation, but as a starting point. Men think everything can be controlled and created into how they want it to be. Women think there will be random things that are completely out of their control. This would lead to a man being more likely to want to be left alone to fix things how they want & a woman wanting someone to help keep things in control for them.

Not every woman or not every man, and it would not show up in "bad" ways in everyone. It would also make sense why men would tend to be more Conservative & women more Liberal (in American political terms). Conservatives tend to say we just need to make the playing field level and let everyone strive for themselves and they will do well. Liberals tend to say there are some people who need a helping hand to get to where the rest of us are. Liberals see there are things outside of ourselves that randomly impact the outcome. Conservatives see that everyone can work hard & get to where ever they want to be.

Interesting perspective.

[drdeesnutts]

The fact that people are flocking to the UK to suck up it's remaining resources and assets really speaks to how little prestige is left in the west.
There used to be an abundance of prestige and power, enough to export it to the ends of the earth but over the last 100 years it's shrunk and now it barely even exists in the place it spawned, the foreigners who used to have it shipped to them now come here to suck up what little remains and soon there'll be nothing.
That optimism and confidence will forever be gone surrendered by generations that took it for granted and consumed by those who got used to it.
The cultures that remain seem utterly incapable of creating a similar bounty or even a will for it.
The promise of what other cultures offer is really just a imitation of what came before.

Look at pop music as an example the West used to dominate in pop music it created it and developed it and it peaked with Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Spice Girls etc but then it kind of stopped, then Japan started building their own version of the pop distinct but built on the formula the west created and it started to decline somewhat and now Korea and China are aping that, instead of our kids consuming our pop culture they have to import it from Korea.
We don't build anything any more, we don't innovate and we don't even generate our own culture any more.

[Tusitala]

I like all of these people. Nina is new to me, but what a quick and sparkling intellect; and an intriguing backstory coming from pagan parents to Christianity.

[brianreid]

This was fantastic! Such clear and concise speakers and thinkers. Loved how honest and open they were. Thanks Peter! 👍🏻

[drdeesnutts]

Doesn't speak much for her own faith if she only slightly disagrees that all religions are equally good, Carl has an absolute point.
If you're not going to war for your faith why should anyone else?
It's like wearing Christianity as a costume it's not a part of the person just something that be put on.

[mickles]

These are great. Fascinating. Please don't stop doing these, Peter.