Wang Yangming

Wang Yangming

Author: Political Theory 101 May 13, 2023 Duration: 1:04:26
Alex and Benjamin discuss the state of Confucianism during the Ming Dynasty. Should "li" be understood as "principle" or "pattern"? What is the relationship between li and chi? While some theorists, like Zhu Xi, hold that studying the classics can help clear up your chi, Wang Yangming argues that the virtues are much easier to acquire, because for him li always already exists in the mind. He suggests there is a "unity of acting and knowing," so if a person acts in a virtuous way, that implies they have knowledge. This means that knowledge of the li can be found in the simple benevolent acts of ordinary people. While civil servants can quote classical texts, they may not act with the same benevolence, and if they act poorly they can't have the knowledge they purport to have. We therefore get a critique of civic education that comes from within Confucianism, without appeal to the legalist framework of someone like Lord Shang.

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Author: Language: English Episodes: 96

Political Theory 101
Podcast Episodes
Durkheim and Lukacs on Alienation, Anomie, and Reification [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:41:24
Edmund and Benjamin put Marx's theory of alienation into conversation with Durkheim's theory of anomie, examining how we can't live with social roles or without them. This leads to a discussion of how social roles are re…
Bentham, Mill, and the Utilitarians [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:34:05
Edmund and Benjamin run through the history of utilitarianism, focusing both on its radical and conservative aspects and running through some of the problems utilitarians have grappled with. Featuring Sidgwick, Moore, Si…
Fenelon, Mandeville, and 18th Century Thoughts on Commerce & Luxury [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:26:23
We discuss reactions to economic change in the 18th century, conflicts with traditional understandings of virtue, and how theorists thought about the problem before Smith & Bentham came on the scene. To skip the full rea…
The Frankfurt School and the Rise of the Interventionist State [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:29:14
Edmund and Benjamin delve into Marxist reactions to the rise of the interventionist state, both in the interwar and postwar periods. Featuring Adorno, Fraenkel, Habermas, Horkheimer, Kirchheimer, Marcuse, Pollock, Neuman…
Marxism After Marx [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:27:25
Edmund and Benjamin discuss the trajectory of Marxism during the decades following Marx's death. They focus on the limitations of both democratic and revolutionary approaches, attempts to find a golden mean between the t…
Nietzsche, Arendt, and Aesthetic Struggle [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:27:06
Edmund and Benjamin discuss what happens when political theorists make struggling their primary objective, comparing Nietzsche and Arendt to the theorists who prioritise unity, order, or truth.
Marx and Materialism [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:58:40
Edmund and Benjamin discuss Marx's theory of history, positioning Marx in relation to his German predecessors and to some of the Marxists that follow him. The Greeks make an appearance, too.
Hegel and the German Conception of Freedom [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:29
Edmund and Benjamin discuss Hegel's effort to bridge the gap between the individual and the collective with mediating institutions. They position Hegel in relation to the German theorists who came before and after him an…
Kant, Fichte, and the Liberal Origins of Nationalism [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:26:48
Edmund and Benjamin discuss Kant's autonomy-heavy moral theory, emphasising Kant's reluctance to apply his moral theory to politics. This, however, did not stop Fichte, who called for a "self-sufficient" German nation-st…