Tag: power

William Blake, The Ancient of Days, 1794

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Part 14 of 14

(Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here, Part 7 here, Part 8 here, Part 9 here, Part 10 here, Part 11 here, Part 12 here, Part 13 here)

Editor’s Note:

I will conclude my commentary on the Gorgias with a second series of articles beginning in November. (more…)

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Part 13 of 14

(Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here, Part 7 here, Part 8 here, Part 9 here, Part 10 here, Part 11 here, Part 12 here, Part 14 here)

Power vs. Wisdom

We have seen that Callicles is more philosophical than Gorgias or Polus. So it comes as some surprise that the second part of Callicles’ speech is a critique of philosophy. (more…)

Plato’s Academy as depicted on tiles found at Pompeii, which dates to circa 100 BC.

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Part 11 of 14 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here, Part 7 here, Part 8 here, Part 9 here, Part 10 here, Part 12 here)

After beating Polus, Socrates continued to badger him with intentionally provocative and paradoxical arguments until Callicles cuts in. The conversation between Socrates and Callicles takes up the rest of the Gorgias. (more…)

A contemporary coin depicting Archelaus, King of Macedonia. (Image source: Wikipedia)

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Part 7 of 14 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here)

Doing Injustice vs. Suffering It

Polus grudgingly accepts Socrates’ argument that tyrants and demagogues don’t enjoy real power, since real power is the ability to attain well-being. Yet Polus doesn’t really believe it. (more…)

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Part 6 of 14 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 7 here)

Socrates the Pugilist

After Socrates outlines why he thinks that rhetoric is not an art but rather merely a “knack” for pandering and corrupting, he apologizes for lapsing into speech-making, but he explains that it was necessary because Polus was incapable of answering short questions. (more…)

Jusepe de Ribera, The Philosopher

2,417 words

Part 3 of 14 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 4 here)

When Socrates finally speaks directly to Gorgias, he asks a simple, straightforward question: ‘What is your art (techne)?’ To which Gorgias gives a simple, straightforward answer: “Rhetoric [rhetorike] is my art, Socrates.”

Socrates continues: “Then is it best to call you a rhetorician [rhetor]?” Gorgias agrees and amplifies: “Yes, Socrates, and a good one too, if you want to call me what, as Homer puts it, ‘I boast myself to be.’” Earlier Gorgias said nobody has asked him anything new in years. He’s heard it all. (more…)

Paul Delvaux, Waiting for the Liberation (1944)

2,216 words

Part 3 of 3 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here)

The simple answer to the question of how quixotism can be avoided is that we shouldn’t allow romantic idealism to dissuade us from practicality. This is easier said than done, however, as it’s often difficult to recognize quixotism in oneself. (more…)

You can buy Jim Goad’s Whiteness: The Original Sin here.

321 words / 2:02:40

Pssst — white people! There is no shame in being white. There is only shame in ever thinking there was. In the 50 short, sharp, incisive essays contained in his book Whiteness: The Original Sin, author Jim Goad examines why the idea of being white has become the modern version of the unpardonable sin. On the latest broadcast of Counter-Currents Radio, which was the fifth meeting of the Counter-Currents Book Club, host Greg Johnson was joined by author Jim Goad as well as John Derbyshire and Angelo Plume (Telegram, YouTube) to discuss the book and anti-whiteness more generally. It is now available for download and online listening. (more…)

Keith Woods

202 words / 1:35:22

Greg Johnson welcomed Keith Woods (Twitter, Substack) back to Counter-Currents Radio in the first part of our latest broadcast to talk about his debate with Neema Parvini, a.k.a. Academic Agent, on ideology vs. power. It is now available for download and online listening. You can read their exchange here: (more…)

181 words / 1:58:05

Greg Johnson and David Zsutty were joined by James Karlsson and Cyan Quinn of the White-Papers Policy Institute (Telegram, Substack). The Institute is a small, professional team of pro-white advocates centered on a single mission: bringing a pro-white perspective to the analysis of both foreign and domestic policy. The recording is now available for download and online listening.

(more…)

112 words / 1:04:24

The latest broadcast of Counter-Currents Radio featured guest hosts Pox Populi (Telegram, YouTube) and Endeavour (Substack, Telegram, YouTube), and the first half was a discussion of yet another migrant invasion in Lampedusa, Douglas Murray’s analysis of power, Substack versus videos, and much more. It is now available for download and online listening. (more…)

Ted Kaczynski teapot by Charles Krafft

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Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 here)

The following is an edited transcript of the conversation between Greg Johnson and Richard Houck on the subject of Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto, Industrial Society and Its Future, that was broadcast on Counter-Currents Radio in April 2021. You can listen to the recording here.

Greg Johnson: I’m Greg Johnson. Welcome to Ted Talk. I am joined here today by Rich Houck, and we’re going to be talking about Ted Kaczynski’s Industrial Society and Its Future. Rich, welcome to the show. (more…)

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This is a continuation of the debate on one white state or many between Greg Johnson and Gregory Hood. Greg Johnson’s opening statement is here. Gregory Hood’s is here. 

Dear Greg,

I decided to collect into a single document my responses to your debate statement together with some afterthoughts and treatments of issues we did not have time to deal with during the debate itself. (more…)