anon_gyla

in thread "Book Club: Selective Breeding and the Birth of Philosophy.":

As the quote from Strauss (referencing Nietzsche) indicates, man's nature, unlike that of chimpanzee, extends beyond itself to nomos. There is no option to live without nomos. One can only work for a good one, one that harmonizes with and fulfills rather t... 1y ago

As the quote from St

He often refers to Critias, sometimes coyly, comparing him to the Austrian corporal. Is this defense?... 1y ago

He often refers to C

I think Plato's view of the good qualities to be sought can be readily inferred from his prescriptions for education, which focus on:... 1y ago

I think Plato's view

Unlike Nietzsche, I'd say that one's bet on what God will appreciate can turn out to be right or wrong. So there is a right and wrong in the betting.... 1y ago

Unlike Nietzsche, I'

In the context of Alamariu, we'd also want a metric of quality of the aristocracy, where "quality" is something like "propensity for productive action." Coordination might be an outcome of quality, but the quality itself is arguably more fundamental and re... 1y ago

In the context of Al

I'm a hereditarian and have only contempt for blank-slate nonsense. Most of the important traits seems to have a heritability of around 0.6, maybe 0.7.... 1y ago

I'm a hereditarian a

The two most important works of Plato for getting at his political philosophy in its esoteric/exoteric dimensions are Republic and Laws. (People overlook Laws, but it contains more directly about this than even Republic.)... 1y ago

The two most importa

Really good observations overall.... 1y ago

Really good observat

That's right. He practices esoteric writing even more than Plato, arguably to the point of futility.... 1y ago

That's right. He pra

This point is key. For both Plato and Aristotle, a polis needed to be small. In the Laws, Plato puts the ideal number of citizens at 5040. There are good reasons relating to coordination for favoring the small (think of Elon firing 80% of Twitter employees... 1y ago

This point is key. F

A key fact about the current CCP is just how deeply Westernized it is. They are attempting to manage China's ascent. They may simply manage its decline. But one thing is certain: they sure are managing (in Burnham's sense). The one thing I don't see from t... 1y ago

A key fact about the

It wasn't my statement, but I assume the thought is that it's like Augustus claiming to "restore the Republic" lest he be accused of becoming a monarch, or Lincoln claiming to serve the Declaration of Independence, lest he be accused of traducing the Const... 1y ago

It wasn't my stateme

It's tricky because esotericism suffers from the problem of the noble lie: that your successors may "lose the joke."... 1y ago

It's tricky because