In part II of this discussion with philosopher Naomi Zack, Naomi and I finish working through some of my students' questions about her arguments against identity politics. Here are all the things we cover:

Min 2: Question: “Don’t universal policies face pushback too?”

Min 5:10: How social security overcomes the “spite factor.”

Min 6:16: Affirmative action.

Min 10:45: Question: "Isn’t pushback an inevitable part of moving forward? We’ve always seen pushback whenever we’ve made progress as a country.”

Min 16:33: Question: “Doesn’t ‘solving problems’ oversimplifying the purpose of the government? Shouldn’t the maintenance of justice and equal treatment be part of the purpose of the government too?

Min 26:30: Question:“Doesn’t avoiding pushback cede too much to racism? Does your view make white appeasement too morally and pragmatically important.”

Min 28:57: Changing cultural views first. “The government is the last step.”

Min 31:20: Joel expresses hope for shifting views on reparations.

Philosopher Naomi Zack is critical of identity politics––it does not belong in the government, or so she argues. My students raised a bunch of questions and criticisms of her view. This episode is part I of a discussion with Naomi Zack where we chat through my students' questions and criticisms. Here's the content:

Min 3:30 What are you thinking about identity politics right now?

Min 4: “The personal is political” became “the political is personal.”

Min 5: The culture wars encroached on politics

Min 8:30: why the politicization of identity and culture wars is dangerous

Min 10:20: how did you first get interested in identity politics?

Min 11: how “we all have a race” opened the door to oppressors asserting their identity

Min 13: why there was a need for identity politics after WWII.

Min 15:15: identity politics worked well as a “social movement” leading to anti-discrimination law.

Min 16:10: the problem is an “all out war of identities”

Min 18:30: the purpose of government is to solve problems

Min 20:30: “It’s not just the Right that’s problematic” (Biden: “save the soul of America”).

Min 23:30: What are your views on reparations?

Min 28:50: Does protest work? Does protest disrupt the purpose of the government?

Are there moral facts? Is morality simply a useful fiction? Philosopher Russ Shafer-Landau joins me in this episode to talk through some of the questions students have about morality...specifically, moral realism and moral nihilism. My students wanted to know why Russ is a moral realist (someone who believes that moral facts are real and objectively authoritative). They also wanted to know whether he would be a fictionalist or an abolitionist were he a moral nihilist. There's a lot of good content here! Enjoy.