Peterson claims to be a "right wing psychologist." What this means exactly is unclear, but it is crystal clear that Peterson credits conservatives (especially British so-called "Liberal" philosophers) who formally articulated the theory of the "sovereign individual" in the 18th and 19th centuries. Peterson seems to suggest that "leftist liberals" are more "tribal" in their orientation while conservatives are more devoted to the sovereign individual.
In the discussion with my interlocutor, I pressed back on Peterson a bit. I wrote:
Another interesting tidbit in the talk is the difference between what [Peterson] calls “collectivist” vs. “individualistic” thumbnail views of social relationships. I agree with the idea that the “individualistic” view was articulated relatively late in history (e.g. John Stuart Mill), and I also agree with the notion that a collectivistic view is similar to what we see among chimpanzees: it’s both ancient and tribal.
But I think this is muddled in [Peterson's] view, because he holds that the “individualistic” view is morally superior to the collectivist view AND in his mind, more associated with a conservative mindset.
I know that conservatives claim to be devoted to the sovereign individual, but in today's GOP, that devotion is less clear:
Because the GOP defines its “true” members by who they are not (i.e. they are *not* supporters of a “politics of identity”), the GOP has become more collectivist than the Democratic Party. (Just look at the differences in racial makeup of the two parties and their representatives.) So for conservatives (especially those affiliated with the GOP) to declare that they are somehow superior (morally; intellectually) to "leftist liberals" (especially those affiliated with the Democratic Party) because of the GOP's alleged allegiance to “individualistic” principles is, in my view, a joke.
I also see the “collectivistic” thinking of today’s Trump party in the “America First” rhetoric. If the US is, as it has pretended to be, a “beacon of light” in a world of darkness, or a “shining city upon a hill,” then the USA has a duty to work for the betterment of all of humanity. (Forgive me for actually believing in humanity as a whole.) This should apply to a variety of world issues and problems, ranging from climate change to supporting democracy, to providing humanitarian assistance to offering a “refuge” for “refugees” who are fleeing political and economic persecution. These used to be US ideals, not limited to a particular party.
"America First" is a tribal as it gets.
My interlocutor responded that he didn't think Peterson was saying that an emphasis on the "sovereign individual" over the collective was superior. He said that Peterson talks about collectivist values and individual values as being in a "conversation" that has vitality in a democracy. I think that's right to some extent, as in this passage:
Who's right? It depends on the situation. That's why liberals and
conservatives have to talk to each other, because one of them isn't
right and the other is wrong. Sometimes the liberals are right, because the environment is
unpredictable and constantly changing, so that's why you have to
communicate. That's what a democracy does. It allows people of different
temperamental types to communicate and to calibrate their societies.
But in other situations, Peterson's discussion of individualism suggest he thinks its a superior view. Here's Peterson in another context:
The notion that every single human being – regardless of their peculiarities and their strangenesses and sins and crimes and all of that – has something divine in them that needs to be regarded with respect, plays an integral role, at least an analogous role, in the creation of habitable order out of chaos. It's a magnificent, remarkable and crazy idea. Yet we developed it.
And I do firmly believe that it sits at the base of our legal system. I think it is the cornerstone of our legal system. That's the notion that everyone is equal before God. That's such a strange idea...But if you look way that the idea of individual sovereignty developed, it is clear that it unfolded over thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years, where it became something that was fixed in the imagination that each individual had something of transcendent value about them. And, man, I can tell you – we dispense with that idea at our serious peril. And if you're going to take that idea seriously – and you do because you act it out, because otherwise you wouldn't be law-abiding citizens. It's shared by anyone who acts in a civilized manner.
This response was typical for Peterson. In the video, when he describes the "collectivist" view, his example is chimpanzees, which Jane Goodall described as "tribal" in that they patrol the borders of their territory and "tear apart" any chimpanzees who aren't from their tribe. He also claims that liberalism tends toward an "atomized society." This seems to be a contradiction between his association of liberalism with collectivism and conservatism with individualism. According to many critiques, an "atomized society" comes more directly from the concept of "atomic individualism" than leftist liberalism.
Again, as he criticizes liberalism but never speaks negatively of conservatism, it doesn't seem like Peterson is trying to balance collective and individualistic views.
Peterson does denounce the "extreme right," but doesn't see that as conservatism. In his efforts to "balance," he never offers any actual critique of individualism/conservatism (or of capitalism for that matter). Here he is on the relationship between identity politics and individualism:
Here he is again, discussing the "liberal type" of personality:
The liberal types, especially the Social Justice types, are way higher in Compassion. It's actually their fundamental characteristic. You might think, 'well, compassion is a virtue.' Yes, it's a virtue, but any uni-dimensional virtue immediately becomes a vice, because real virtue is the intermingling of a number of virtues and their integration into a functional identity that can be expressed socially. Compassion can be great if you happen to be the entity towards which it is directed. But compassion tends to divide the world into crying children and predatory snakes. So if you're a crying child, hey great. But if you happen to be identified as one of the predatory snakes, you better look the hell out. Compassion is what the mother grizzly bear feels for her cubs while she eats you because you got in the way.
As far as I can tell, you need conscientiousness, which is a much colder virtue. It's also a virtue that is much more concerned with larger structures over the longer period of time. And you can think about conscientiousness as a form of compassion too. It's like: 'straighten the hell out, and work hard and your life will go well. I don't care how you feel about that right now.' Someone who's cold, that is, low in agreeableness and high in conscientiousness, will tell you every time. 'Don't come whining to me. I don't care about your hurt feelings. Do your goddamn job or you're going to be out on the street.' One might think, 'Oh that person is being really hard on me.' Not necessarily. They might have your long term best interest in mind. You're fortunate if you come across someone who is disagreeable. Not tyrannically disagreeable, but moderately disagreeable and high in conscientiousness because they will whip you into shape. And that's really helpful. You'll admire people like that. You won't be able to help it.
Just to re-emphasize Peterson's preference for the individualistic (or "conservative") personality, he accuses certain liberals of a kind of totalitarianism.
That's the compassion issue. You can't just transform that into a political stance.
I think part of what we're seeing is actually the rise of a form of female totalitarianism, because we have no idea what totalitarianism would be like if women ran it, because that's never happened before in the history of the planet.
(See also his video encounter with a feminist.)
So perhaps what Peterson is actually doing in his emphasis on "balance" is arguing with liberals who don't adequately value conservative values.
This is like Fox News claiming it is "Fair and Balanced."
But because Peterson styles himself as an objective intellectual, he is sometimes hard to pin down. Some have tried.
As Dorian Lynskey in The Guardian writes: [Peterson's] "arguments are riddled with ‘pseudo-facts’ and conspiracy theories." Again, despite his claims to want "balance," he has become a darling of conservatives.
No wonder every scourge of political correctness, from the Spectator to InfoWars, is aflutter over the 55-year-old professor who appears to bring heavyweight intellectual armature to standard complaints about 'social-justice warriors' and 'snowflakes.' They think he could be the culture war’s Weapon X.
Peterson continually decries "post-modernism" and the "radical left" but always describes them in quite general and vague terms. His interview with Helen Lewis shows a kind of aggressive and bullying affect that appeals to many conservative men. Indeed, an argument could be made that men are his primary audience. For example, he claims that these trends have meant that our culture hasn't "discussed responsibility in over 50 years." This phrase "our culture" is also used bluntly to make his case: "Our culture confuses men's desire for achievement and competence with the patriarchal desire for tyrannical power. That's a big mistake." He also talks about "the modern idea of patriarchy" and "this whole patriarchy thing" as if that idea is both unitary and also dominated by a radical leftist critique of men. He derides the "modern" emphasis on "power" rather than "competence." He critiques "modern universities" (especially the social sciences) as allegedly dens of radical leftism that are being abandoned by men. He also makes very strong claims about the ways that "institutionally powerful radicals" in universities seek to replace "natural" hierarchies of competence with a "totalitarian" goal of "equality of outcome" in an effort to "remake society in their multi-gendered image."
At the core of his position, though, seems to be the view that any claim of "oppression"--whether systemic or individual--are illegitimate and (according to him) a form of "neo-Marxism."
Despite his stringent derogation of "neo-Marxism" and also "cultural Marxism," Peterson is also strongly and slyly Marxist (certainly a believer in historical materialism) in his orientation, with his commonly expressed view that "technological change" is more important to history than political action by certain identity groups. "In doing so Peterson loses track of the absolutely critical roles that both ideology and, ironically, individual human psychology play in turning some people against their fellow human beings." [source] In other contexts, Peterson seems quite confused about the relationship between Marxist communism and Nazi fascism.
[As an aside, Peterson's claim that "one of the things [he's] strived to do is not to become resentful" is belied by his affect when he says that and (as mentioned by Helen Lewis) the obvious resentment he seems to express on his Twitter feed when responding to critiques of his positions. Peterson's recent struggle to overcome physical dependence on anti-anxiety drugs could be additional evidence of deep resentment, or at least of his admitted anger at the world. Peterson's own resentment is also strongly implied by his use of German "resentment" as an excuse for Nazi atrocities. This attempt to explain Nazism psychologically is an example why Peterson has become a darling of the alt-right (or at least the alt-light, which doesn't necessarily advocate explicitly for fascism.]
In an article in Maclean's, attempts to understand Peterson's "darling" status among certain groups.
There is no polite way to put this, but since Peterson claims that “If you worry about hurting people’s feelings and disturbing the social structure, you’re not going to put your ideas forward,” I’m just going to say it: Spend half an hour on his website, sit through a few of his interminable videos, and you realize that what he has going for him, the niche he has found—he never seems to say “know” where he could instead say “cognizant of”—is that Jordan Peterson is the stupid man’s smart person.
While one could counter that only an academic would critique Peterson for appealing to "stupid men," his fame among certain resentful men is obvious. Southey continues:
It’s easy to assume Peterson is deserving of respect. A lot of what he says sounds, on the surface, like serious thought. It’s easy to laugh at him: after all, most of what he says is, after fifteen seconds’ consideration, completely inane. But in between his long rambling pseudo-academic takes on common self-help advice and his weird fixation on Disney movies, is a dreadfully serious message.
What he’s telling you is that certain people—most of them women and minorities—are trying to destroy not only our freedom to spite nonbinary university students for kicks, but all of Western civilization and the idea of objective truth itself. He’s telling you that when someone tells you racism is still a problem and that something should be done about it, they are, at best, a dupe and, at worst, part of a Marxist conspiracy to destroy your way of life.
Unless you yourself are a "leftist liberal," in which case Peterson just seems like an apologist for those who want to go back to a time when anyone who claims to be oppressed is just "waaaa."
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