On the longing for rational exchange in an irrational world # There is a certain type of discussion that tires me. Not because I lack arguments, but because they seem to have no effect. I’m not talking about different opinions, but about conversations in which rationality and fair argumentation hardly play a role anymore. These are conversations that are more about being right than about gaining insight, in which language becomes a weapon rather than a tool.
Introduction: Hägglund’s critique of time and its limitations # Martin Hägglund’s This Life got me thinking with its fundamental ethical critique of capitalism. His central thesis: our lifetime is our most precious asset, and yet in the capitalist system it is put to work, controlled by others, exploited. We work more efficiently, more productively—and yet we do not get this time back. It flows into profits, not into freedom.
Why moral judgment is possible (and necessary) without free will Introduction # In a world where political outrage, moral sensitivities and mutual recriminations dominate public discourse, the idea that no one is really ‘at fault’ seems radical. No politician, no criminal, no human being – not even Donald Trump. I subscribe to a harsh determinism: the idea that every thought, every feeling, every action is causally produced by preconditions. There is no free will in the metaphysical sense. And that is precisely why it is possible to treat people with deep empathy – without condemning them. But that does not mean we are defenceless.
