Hegel, Wokeness, and the Dialectical Faith of Leftism

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Episode 37

Is Critical Race Theory Marxist, as many insist, or is it not? What is the relationship between Marxism, neo-Marxism (Critical Theory), and Wokeness? All three criticize one another, and yet all three have a great deal obviously in common. Is there some common underlying thread between these clearly similar yet obviously different worldviews? The answer is yes, and by tracing back to one of the most influential speculative idealist philosophers of the early 19th century, namely George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, we can gain a great deal of insight into how these decidedly leftist movements—the Marxist Old Left, the neo-Marxist New Left, and the intersectional Woke Left—share at least one deeper philosophical architecture in common. From Hegel, the Left since his time has, wittingly and not, adopted several of the pillars of Hegelian philosophy, these including his statism, historicism, and, much more importantly, his dialectical approach and metaphysical worldview. In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, James Lindsay takes a long, deep dive into the ways that Hegel's philosophy is at the root of the entire "Dialectical Left" since, naming the dialectic the "operating system" of all activist Leftism since the early 1800s.

In this episode, Lindsay takes considerable time explaining Hegel's view of dialectical thought and then reveals in many examples, reaching up to the present day, how consistently the dialectic appears as the functional underpinning of Leftism ever since, at the latest, the 1830s. He makes the case that Leftism since Hegel thinks dialectically, moves dialectically, and applies dialectical thought not just to its targets but to everything, including itself and even its own dialectic. He then switches gears and explains how the dialectic is central to Hegel's underlying Hermetic (or alchemical) worldview and explains his mystical metaphysics so that this long arc of Leftist activism can be understood as evolving denominations within a single religious faith. With this theoretical groundwork laid, he then tackles how Hegel's historicism and statism arise as key features of his philosophy, with both of these characterizing activist Leftism up to the present day. Join him for his longest and most in-depth discussion yet, taking on how Hegel is a key progenitor of communism, liberationism, and ultimately Wokeness, how this philosophy must be understood so that it can be countered, and why it should be thought of in the same way that Hegel thought of it: as a religion in its own right, with its own notion of deity, metaphysical commitments, soteriology, and eschatology.

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[LuIsSaNcHeZ]

4 hours might seem long, but once you’ve listened to it you’ll realize it’s actually an incredibly distilled and condensed masterclass. Thank you James.

[markkaravan]

0:40 Tweeting about Hegel gets you in trouble
2:23. Reading from Critical Race Theory: An Introduction
4:30. James’ goal: to teach you the Dialectic
10:00 Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis
11:45 Marcuse’s views on negative thinking
17:00 Young Hegelians
24:00 Engels: Hegel wasn’t ready for prime time
29:30 Marx’s dialectic
33:00 Hegel’s contribution to the dialectic
38:00 Failures of Marxism in the 20th century
42:09 The Woke incarnation of the dialectic
49:10 Marcuse’ take on the dialectic
57:20 Marcuse’s take on democracy
1:01:05 Post-Hegelianism / Post-Marxism
1:08:18 Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought
1:17:28 bell hooks’ Feminist Theory
1:21:50 Kim Crenshaw’s Seeing Race Again
1:24:40 Critical Turn in Education
1:27:50 Allison Bailey’s Tracking Privilege, Preserving Pushback
1:31:38 Henry Giroux’s teaching agenda
1:33:06 A few more points
1:34:15 structural determinism
1:37:00 Intersectional Dialectic
1:42:00 Aufhaben, the tool
1:46:10 Hermetic Alchemy
1:49:00 Alchemy with Language
1:52:05 Aufhaben der Kultur, Lukacs
2:01:30 Theosophy
2:09:00 A folk religion for Germany
2:13:05 marxists.org metaphysics of ideas
2:23:00 Hegel’s Trinities
2:31:25 Hegel’s God
2:40:30 Progressive Alchemy
2:44:16 Marcuse’s Eugenics
2:51:20 Robin DiAngelo’s Critical Whiteness
2:54:38 Marcuse’s critical theory
2:58:10 Men of Action and history
3:04:00 Verstehen and Vernunft
3:09:09 Hegel(ideas) -> Marx(state) -> Neo Marxists(culture)
3:14:50 Consequences of Hegel
3:18:10 Hegel vs Locke/Jefferson
3:23:15 Hegelianism and psychopaths
3:27:03 Interfaith movement
3:30:38 Leftists, Liberals and Conservatives
3:33:03 Conservative God(is) vs. Leftist God(becomes)
3:36:00 Practical advice: Avoid the dialectic
3:41:40 The dialectic’s stated goal (George Soros)
3:45:09 Wrap-up

[queeneartha]

I majored in black studies in college and read Black Feminist Thought. Was a black feminist. As I listen to you breakdown quotes, I’m searching for them in the book and seeing that in college years ago I’ve highlighted a lot of the quotes you’re reading. I’m like 😲🤯. It’s a trip learning from your videos why this stuff just didnt sound right. Learning the roots. Getting the tea. Thank you so much for these videos!

[stevenrichardson]

Only Thomas Sowell ever engaged my interest consistently for this amount of time just by talking about ideas. I got the feeling Tom knew how good he was. I don't think James realises how important his voice is or how much he's changing thought out here in the real world.

[TelekineticCheez]

I really hope James can get on Jordan Peterson's podcast so he can share his insights to a wider audience in a relatively digestible manner because we need as many people to understand what's going on as possible.

[The_Isaiahnator]

This was a masterclass. Maybe I'll give it several more listens in the future to let it sink in.

[bfranciscop]

"If we could only get rid of all the problems, we could have the perfect society"
What if all the problems are people? This is the reality they _always_ come up against.

[harviejosephs]

In communistic Poland people were painting anti Marxist slogans on the walls, authorities were painting them over and someone was painting picture of a gnome on top. Finally they caught the gnome painter and asked him why. He responded: aniticommie slogan is thesis, you painting it over anithesis and a gnome on top - synthesis.

[christopherzen]

I've listened to this at least 6 times. it's absolutely excellent work.

[mfciaccio]

This is more comprehensive than my entire grad school philosophy class. And much less expensive. Keep up the good work.

[bunangst]

Equality is thesis (Bait), Equity is the antithesis, (Switch), and cultural strife is the synthesis that acts as a mechanism of controlling the populace. The establishment know this as a tactical propaganda subversion formula. In sales presentations you have deficit, solution and call to action.

[robgreene]

James, I am an Environmental Studies student and we are constantly provided with theories that do not explain the underlying theories. It is expected that the foundation should be accepted even when I provide evidence that rejects the hypothesis. This vlog has really helped me to understand the thinking that is being forced on me. Thank you! I called a leftist friend of mine on his dialectic thinking and his response was "now that you know the secret knowledge I hope you will use it for good". You have hit the nail on the head and removed the wool from my eyes.

[xstl]

No wonder they need endless dissertations to prevent people from reaching this level of clarity.

[esimm]

Jesus: "Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?"

[kevinevans]

I'm only moderately brainy and I couldn't really handle this stuff when I was supposed to be doing it at university; I just couldn't get that first corner lifted so that I could see what was under it. But listening to this is manageable, so I'm going to plug my head into it for a few nights and I have much hope for results. I really do thank God for the people like you who give the internet such a good reason to exist. Bless you.

[Tiberon]

And professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.

[Lavishandlazy]

James gives a helpful description of the concept of “historicism” here and in his previous “communism doesn’t know how” podcast. It’s really helping me understand Karl Popper’s book “the open society and its enemies” where he launches right into the term in the very first chapter. Thanks James 👍🏻

[timottes]

Of course... listening to this again as it is brilliant.

I don't think it's just Hegel. I think it is Idealist thought without grounding... generally.
Remember... Kant sought to resolve or ground Hume... & Schopenhauer sought to correct " the great Kant. "

When one studies Idealism, one has to be extremely careful in not transposing whatever Idealism one studies... upon one's everyday life in this world of representation/appearances.

Idealism... imho... save for those of Berkeley & Kant... will absolutely lead one to extreme skepticism. Even they will lead one to that, but both offer resolutions to that issue - God & Deontology.
I guess we could say that Schopenhauer grounded his Idealism in a Will without a purpose.

When Idealism isn't resolved... it turns into that extreme skepticism ( Modern skepticism, that is. I don't find much wrong in ancient skepticism, ) and all of the ills James is talking about.
Ancient Skepticism realizes that all thought turns into an infinite regress... & tells one to be calm in the face of that... & not go down the effin rabbit hole of trying to find The Thing Itself, imho.

In the end, Idealism says that there is probably... The Thing Itself & one MUST know that it is unattainable, and seek to resolve that quest for it... or one will go down the path of the infinite regress of thought turned into action: Implementation of the Dialectic. They keep coming up with additions in their dialectical quest, because their mind is engaged in an infinite regress acted out in the world.
They are digging a hole to the other side of the world, and, of course, need an infinite amount of shovels ( tools ) to get there!
Essentially, as we see of them... they do not exist in reality... they are in a fantasy quest for something they can never attain... The Thing Itself. That is, in themselves as individuals, and in reality.


Goedell tells us in his Incompleteness Theorems... that we can, indeed, go on forever... and we need to ground our realization that this is, indeed, a world of subjective representation and appearances... or we will spin out of control like the ungrounded Idealists...

[mustang]

I heard that some people are gonna lose their marbles after they hear about this video.
This should be interesting.

[codex]

3:39:55 "You can't create through a negation process. Aufhaben doesn't "make." Critical Theory doesn't build. Critical Theory doesn't understand -- it has no obligation to understand. It only has obligation to aufhaben der kultur. It only has obligation to tear down."