An undergraduate essay, which I recently revisited at the conclusion of my first postgraduate degree. If we are to formulate a theory of everything, the theory may come in (at least) two parts. The first theory addresses what is, and the second considers what ought to be. The first is the theory of history, and … Continue reading On history and morality: The two theories
Category: Power
On the Whole
It is common to see the world as fundamentally divided. We think that we are separate from other people, and that people are separate from the natural world. Some philosophers agree. Nature, as early-modern Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza put it, is divided between the properties of thought and matter. Plato thought that the natural world … Continue reading On the Whole
How capitalism ends
There are several dimensions to the supposed demise of capitalism. There are two developments and two critical contradictions behind the system’s present afflictions. Capitalism may end, however, in two different ways—one of which less an end to capitalism than a return to a different form of capitalism. Lastly, if capitalism is to truly end, it … Continue reading How capitalism ends
The revolution will be unified: How to fight climate breakdown
The capitalist social order both causes and exacerbates climate breakdown by misdirecting technological development and fragmenting what I call 'the social political economy'. As a social—not merely economic—order, capitalism restricts our ability to take the foot off the accelerator—let alone to slam on the brake. I advocate transitioning from capitalism’s disunified social political economy to … Continue reading The revolution will be unified: How to fight climate breakdown
Edmund Wilson 