In Defense of My Work Critical of Jordan Peterson

“The irony of this exchange is it has only reinforced my opinion that Peterson’s political rhetoric often has a stultifying impact on sincere intellectual debates.”

Introduction

I must admit to reading Kambiz Tavana’s recent critique of my and Conrad Hamilton’s work on Jordan Peterson with some bewilderment. Tavana takes issue with both our direct criticisms of Jordan Peterson (presented in our forthcoming book Myth and Mayhem, available here) and our recent reviews of Jim Proser’s book Savage Messiah: How Doctor Jordan Peterson Is Saving Western Civilization. Tavana’s essay begins with a rather long discussion of Jean-Paul Sartre’s play In the Mesh. In Tavana’s reading, the play concerns the dangers of seeking radically to change society, as cycles of revolutionaries consume one another. I take no issue with this beyond pointing out that Sartre, himself, was a life-long revolutionary, who criticized Communists for being ineffective but not for their wanting to change society dramatically.

The real meat of Tavana’s essay begins about halfway through, though it is, unfortunately, very slight on specific details. He contends that Hamilton and I:

“repeatedly in [our] writings assert that the Left, as [we] see it, is all that is great and high. For [us], the problems of our society can be explained by tyranny that comes from the Right. [We] incessantly critique Jordan Peterson—or anyone else for that matter—who even slightly brings up ideas that contradict [our] views of what makes for a just society.”

Tavana then goes on to describe our reviews of Savage Messiah (mine is here) as exceedingly unfair, though no argument or evidence is given as to why they are unfair. Tavana simply invokes an interview with Proser describing the impact Peterson has had on his life, which may be moving but has nothing to do with our criticisms of the book. Tavana then proceeds to accuse Hamilton and me of supporting “equality of outcome,” while failing to appreciate the misery and suffering such aspirations have historically brought about. He then calls on us to take a closer look at The Black Book of Communism and concludes with a discussion of the crimes committed by various communist states.