Stephen Hicks: Nietzsche Perfectly Forecasts the Postmodernist Left

The psychological component of postmodern criticism—the emotional motivations behind deconstruction—can be illuminated using Nietzsche's concept of ressentiment, which is more curdled, bitter, seething, and poisoned than the English word 'resentment' captures.

“for me what is most Illuminating is n's concept of rantal rantal in the French is close to the English resentment but it's got kind of a more curdled bitterness it's more seething and poison pooned and bottled up for a long time that's re we're trying to project this psychological State I kind of like the idea of using n here in analyzing the postmodernist”

The best strategy to destroy the West's pride is to attack its sense of moral worth by accusing it of racism, sexism, dogmatism, cruelty, and exploitation—undermining it at the core through accusations that the West is the opposite of what it believes itself to be.

“and so that pride is what you want to destroy your best bet then to was to attack the West's sense of its own moral worth attack it as racist and sexist then as inherently dogmatic and cruy exploitative undermine it at the core”

The words and accusations deployed by postmodernists do not have to be true in order to do their damage—the damage is what matters, not the truth-value of the accusations.

“the words don't have to be true in order to do their damage”

When postmodernists deconstruct great historical authors like Shakespeare, they do not engage in balanced critique acknowledging both merits and flaws; instead, they gleefully dismiss the entire corpus of work because of identified problematic elements like sexism.

“if you are reading deconstructions of great authors like Shakespeare you don't find things like you know Shakespeare really is great and it's kind of sad that I have to point out this element of sexism in him it's kind of a gleeful dismiss missing of all of Shakespeare because he got these sexist elements in them”

The most intelligent socialists will hate the fact that socialism is the loser. If socialists know they are on the losing side, they will hate that fact, will hate the winners for having won, and will hate themselves for having picked the losing side.

“like dov's underground man it's easy to see that the most intelligent socialists would just hate that fact socialism is the loser and if the Socialists know that they will hate that fact fact they will hate the winners for having won and they will hate themselves for having picked the losing side”

When an artist cannot create a masterpiece equal to a great work like Leonardo's Mona Lisa, the impulse is to destroy it through mockery and ridicule—making a statement of contempt rather than appreciation or substantive critique.

“here's an achievement I can't hope to equal and so I'll turn it into a joke all in fact destroy it so you become a bully and a thug not because it destroys something bad but just because it feels good to wreck something”

In rhetorical attacks, the truth or falsity of accusations doesn't matter, and whether you or your audience believes them doesn't matter—what matters is that the accusations cause psychological damage by striking at the target's sense of self and what they value.

“do you want to hurt a woman who takes pride in her independence spread through the gr gossip Grapevine that she married the man she did because he's wealthy now the truth or the falsity here of the rumors doesn't matter and whether you believe them yourself doesn't matter and whether the people you believe them or tell them to really believe them doesn't matter they get out there and they do their damage”

In the contemporary era, capitalists are the strong and exuberant, while socialists were briefly able to maintain hope that the Revolution was coming. However, that hope has been dashed because crude capitalism now seems inevitable, like 'twice two makes four.'

“now in our time the capitalists are the strong the exuberant the active for a while in the past Century socialists could believe that the Revolution was coming that woe would come to them that are rich and blessed would be the poor but that hope has been dashed cruy capitalism now seems like a case of twice two makes four”

In older socialist writing, there are clear signs of resentment, envy, anger, and exultation in the destruction that the Socialist Revolution will bring, including the fantasy that capitalists will 'finally get what's coming to them.'

“in older socialist writing you can often see signs of resentment Envy anger exulting in the destruction that the Socialist Revolution will bring how those capitalists will finally get what's coming to them”

With postmodernism, the negative emotionalism is often more extreme than with socialism, featuring a sheer love of deconstruction and chronic deployment of crude ad hominem arguments.

“with postmodernism the negative emotionalism is often more extreme the sheer love of De deconstruction The Chronic deployment of crude ad hominum argument”

According to Nietzsche, the weak become frustrated because they cannot get what they want out of life, become envious of the strong, and also secretly start to hate themselves for being cowardly and weak.

“weaklings are the chronically passive largely because they are afraid of the strong as a result the weak feel frustrated they can't get what they want out of life they become envious of the strong and they also secretly start to hate themselves for be being so cowardly and weak”

The weak cannot live while believing themselves to be deeply hateful, so they invent a rationalization that tells them they are good and moral because they are weak, humble, and passive—transforming their greatest liabilities into virtues.

“but no one can live thinking that he or she is deeply hateful and so the weak invent a rationalization a rationalization that tells them they are the good and the moral because they are weak humble passive patience is a virtue right so they have to wait a long time before they ever get into something what they want so patience is a virtue obedience is a virtue they can't do their own will they have to obey so make it a virtue humility”

Seeing that the strong continue to get stronger and richer while enjoying life causes additional psychological damage to the weak, eventually generating such a combination of self-loathing and envy that the weak feel compelled to lash out and hurt their hated enemy.

“and the strong and Rich will carry on getting stronger and richer and enjoying life and seeing that will do more damage inside eventually the smart weakling will feel such a combination of self-loathing and envy of his enemies that will need to lash out he will feel the urge to hurt in any way he can his hated enemy”

If words are your weapons and you want to destroy the achievements of Western Civilization, especially the Enlightenment, the strategic approach is to identify what your target values most and attack that directly—metaphorically 'hitting them where it counts.'

“so if words are your weapons now and you want to destroy the achievements of Western Civilization especially the enlightenment how do you do it well consider a more personal case if you hate someone and you want to hurt him hit him where it counts”

The psychological satisfaction in rhetorical attack comes from the knowledge that you caused damage to your enemy—'that wonderfully dark glow inside of knowing that you did it'—and the hope that the rumors might actually come to something.

“what matters is that you score a direct hit in the psyche of your enemy your target person you know that the accusations and the rumors are going to cause some Tremors even if they come to nothing and you get that wonderfully dark glow inside of knowing that you did it right and it might just come to something after all”

Because the weak person is a weakling and cannot engage in direct physical confrontation with the strong, their only weapons are words—making rhetorical destruction the only available form of attack.

“but of course he can't risk direct physical confrontation he's a weakling his only weapons are words”

If you want to hurt someone who loves their children and hates child abuse, the worst rhetorical attack is to publicly accuse them of child molestation or to spread sneaky rumors to that effect, regardless of truth or falsity.

“do you want to hurt a man who loves his children and hates child molesters what would be the worst thing you could say about such a guy well accuse him publicly of child molesting or better yet spread sneaky rumors that he's a child molester”

The problem with the weak person's rationalization of slave morality is that it is not entirely convincing—a smart weakling never quite manages to fully convince themselves, and the internal contradiction causes psychological damage.

“sure but of course nature says it's a rationalization and a smart weakling is never quite going to convince himself of it and that will do damage inside meanwhile the strong will be laughing at him and that will do damage inside”

In the visual art world, artists like Marcel Duchamp and Ferdinand de Duve have used techniques of mockery and destruction to attack aesthetic achievement—Duchamp by submitting a urinal as art, and de Duve by adding a mustache to a reproduction of the Mona Lisa—making statements that achievement can be destroyed through ridicule.

“consider parallel examples from the world of visual art I think the visual art world was a little ahead of the post modernist this Century asked to submit something for display at the Art Institute of Chicago Marcel du sends a urinal which is then displayed this makes a statement about art art is something you piss on or there's the painter duning version of the monaa A reproduction he makes of loner leard lonardo's Masterpiece with a cartoonish mustache added”

The psychological compulsion to attack the West allows postmodernists to hold contradictions without discomfort: they can assert absolutism while also asserting relativism, because as long as the assertions harm their enemy, truth and consistency don't matter.

“and so that allows you to hold the contradiction you you can be an absolutist in your assertions and you can assert the relativism and it just doesn't matter as long as it's harming someone your enemy that's fine that's the final explanation or my final hypothesis here”

Hate as a chronic condition leads to the urge to destroy. The postmodernist impulse to deconstruct emerges from this need to use words to destroy what one cannot construct or overcome directly.

“hate as a chronic condition leads to the urge to to destroy but again your only weapons are words how can you use words to destroy I think the whole idea of deconstruction comes out of this postmodernism is populated by large numbers of people who like the idea of deconstructing other people's work it's opposite of constructing something of your own”

Shakespeare, in the character of Iago from Othello, demonstrates this psychology of rhetorical destruction centuries before postmodernism: Iago hates Othello, cannot defeat him in open confrontation, and instead destroys him by poisoning his most precious relationship through hints, subtle lies, and innuendo about Desdemona.

“my best EX example of this psychology comes from the deadest and whitest of the dead white European males and that's Shakespeare think of Yago and aell now here I think Shakespeare nailed this psychology centuries ago long before the postmodernist what we've got is Yago just hates a but he couldn't hope to defeat him in open confrontation so how best to destroy him well hit him where it hurts most his passion for Desdemona hint that she's been sleeping around spread subtle lies and innuendo raise a doubt in ael's mind about the most beautiful thing in his life”

The speaker does not believe it is accidental that postmodernism has launched attacks on the core values of the West, knowing full well that many of the accusations it makes are not true. Instead, this is a psychological compulsion driven by ressentiment.

“and so I don't think it's accidental that postmodernism has launched the kinds of attacks on the core values of the West and it's done so knowing full well that the accusations it's making are not true it's a psychological compulsion in some cases”

The speaker's 'Nietzschean explanation' for postmodernism proposes that some of the worst postmodernists are individuals of deep ressentiment, and the combination of alienation, bitterness, envy, and rage leads them to lashing out with an intent to destroy aspects of culture that seem to them opposite to their values.

“I call it the neolist explanation for obvious reasons I think some postmodernists the worst of them many ways are individuals of deep R psychologically and that the combination of alienation bitterness Envy and rage leads them to lashing out with an intent to destroy any aspect of culture that seems to them to be the opposite”

The deployment of ad hominem arguments in postmodern discourse (such as Stanley Fish calling all opponents of affirmative action bigots and lumping them with the Klan, or Andrea Dworkin calling all heterosexual males rapists) represents unprecedented harshness in Western intellectual tradition.

“in my reading of the whole history of the Western tradition these are unprecedented Stanley fish calling all opponents of affirmative action bigots lumping them in with the Klux Clan Andrea dworkin's maale bashing in the form of calling all heterosexual males rapists the rhetoric behind it is Harsh”

Postmodernism is populated by large numbers of people who like the idea of deconstructing other people's work rather than constructing something of their own, suggesting that destruction is the goal rather than creation.

“postmodernism is populated by large numbers of people who like the idea of deconstructing other people's work it's opposite of constructing something of your own”

Like postmodernists, Iago's only weapons are words. The key difference is that postmodernists are 'hardly subtle' in their attacks, whereas Iago deploys subtle lies and innuendo that work 'like a slow poison.'

“like the uh postmodernists Yo's only words or or weapons were words the only difference between the postmodernists and Yago is that the postmodernists are hardly subtle”

The Western tradition prides itself on commitment to equality, justice, open-mindedness, and making opportunity available to all. This pride and confidence in being the wave of the future is unbearable to those totally invested in an opposite and failed outlook.

“the Western tradition it Prides itself on its commitment to equality Justice open-mindedness making opportunity available to all the West is proud full of itself confident and it knows that it's the wave of the future this is unbearable to someone who is totally invested in an opposite and failed Outlook”