The Best Argument For Jordan Peterson: My Friend, Fred

In a November 17th Merion West article, Conrad Hamilton and Matt McManus announced their plans to release a book entitled Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson, which they assert will be the first comprehensive, book-length takedown of the Canadian psychologist-turned-public-intellectual. What is noteworthy about this book is that it will be written by four authors who have respective expertise in the areas of feminism, philosophy, Marxism, and the principles of argumentation. The purpose of this joint venture is to, in the words of Hamilton and McManus, “confront Peterson on his own terms—to eschew tawdry criticism and ad hominem attacks and instead get to the nucleus of his thought” in their attempt to beat the “anti- woke, truth telling patriarch act” out of Peterson’s persona.

After reading about this upcoming book project, I sought to learn more about Jordan Peterson—beyond simply his stances on political correctness, gender neutral pronouns, and the like. As such on November 19th, I attended a screening of The Rise Of Jordan Peterson, a new documentary about Peterson’s life, at my alma mater, Columbia University. The film was directed by Patricia Marcoccia and produced by her husband, Maziar Ghaderi. Although the two Toronto-based filmmakers lean “left of center” politically, fortunately, this did not factor into their film-making decisions. The film, instead, “thoughtfully explores the ways in which Peterson has been both celebrated and reviled.”

One of the most important points in the film, in my view, belongs, though, to the “celebrated” camp; it’s also in line with many comments that Hamilton and McManus received regarding their new book project. The point, in effect, is: ‘Enough high-minded academic critiques. Jordan Peterson is actually helping people.’ This was also what one commenter named Will was getting at when he wrote beneath Hamilton and McManus’ book preview, “I am a municipal maintanence [sic] worker in Toronto. Jordan Petetsons’ [sic] lectures and writing have been a major factor in my journey to stop making excuses for myself, finding sobriety and getting my finances in order.”

Similarly, in Marcoccia and Ghaderi’s film, a high school student named Connor describes how Peterson’s methods taught him, “how to act in the world.” Another, Matthew, suggests that Peterson helped him to “rekindle his faith in religion” and gave him, “the courage to stand up for his conservative and libertarian beliefs in the classroom.” Even so, many theaters have decided to pass on the film because of widespread criticism of Jordan Peterson, which, of course, primarily comes from the Left. For many of his critics, Peterson’s views on the importance of family, traditional gender roles, and an uncompromising commitment to free speech are unpalatable.