George Janko

I had the opportunity to visit Hillsdale last year and give a lecture up there at the invitation of President Arnn. And I was so impressed by the students as well as by the faculty. And of course, President Arnn himself has just done an amazing job in building Hillsdale into such a powerhouse intellectual institution. So Bravo to Hillsdale. I'm delighted that you're associated with them, Charlie.

I had the opportunity to visit Hillsdale last year and give a lecture up there at the invitation of President Arnn. And I was so impressed by the students as well as by the faculty. And of course, President Arnn himself has just done an amazing job in building Hillsdale into such a powerhouse intellectual institution. So Bravo to Hillsdale. I'm delighted that you're associated with them, Charlie.

I didn't know that. All right. So the belief that it's really just all about power and that reason is impotent, that reason's role is merely to help you to figure out how to get what you want, whatever it is you happen to want, by whatever means necessary.

I didn't know that. All right. So the belief that it's really just all about power and that reason is impotent, that reason's role is merely to help you to figure out how to get what you want, whatever it is you happen to want, by whatever means necessary.

And that at the end of the day, all of our aims, goals, objectives are given not by rational reflection, deliberation, judgment, but rather by desire, by the will, the will to power. We find this in Plato's Republic, in the figure of Thrasymachus, arguing essentially that makes right. So first thing we should notice, and this is why I bring it up, is there's nothing new here.

And that at the end of the day, all of our aims, goals, objectives are given not by rational reflection, deliberation, judgment, but rather by desire, by the will, the will to power. We find this in Plato's Republic, in the figure of Thrasymachus, arguing essentially that makes right. So first thing we should notice, and this is why I bring it up, is there's nothing new here.

This didn't just arise in the 1980s or 1990s or 1960s. It's a very old view. Socrates is contending with it in the discussions with Thrasymachus and others. Now, what's wrong with the view? What's wrong with the view is that it's false.

This didn't just arise in the 1980s or 1990s or 1960s. It's a very old view. Socrates is contending with it in the discussions with Thrasymachus and others. Now, what's wrong with the view? What's wrong with the view is that it's false.

We can reason our way to judgments even judgments about very important deep matters questions of human nature, the human good human dignity human rights human destiny but it's hard. And we're fallible, which means we can get it wrong, but the fact that we're fallible and can get it wrong. doesn't mean that there is no truth there.

We can reason our way to judgments even judgments about very important deep matters questions of human nature, the human good human dignity human rights human destiny but it's hard. And we're fallible, which means we can get it wrong, but the fact that we're fallible and can get it wrong. doesn't mean that there is no truth there.

It's simply a non sequitur to suppose that you can infer from our fallibility the absence of truth, or even that it's impossible for us to get at the truth. Now, we can't get at the truth fully. Nobody's going to know everything that there is to be known and know it perfectly.

It's simply a non sequitur to suppose that you can infer from our fallibility the absence of truth, or even that it's impossible for us to get at the truth. Now, we can't get at the truth fully. Nobody's going to know everything that there is to be known and know it perfectly.

And we all know that in our heads, even right now, all of us, every single one, every single person on this planet has some false beliefs in his head. But presumably, we don't want to have false beliefs. We want to have true beliefs in our head. We'd like to swap out the false beliefs for true beliefs.

And we all know that in our heads, even right now, all of us, every single one, every single person on this planet has some false beliefs in his head. But presumably, we don't want to have false beliefs. We want to have true beliefs in our head. We'd like to swap out the false beliefs for true beliefs.

And now this gets me, Charlie, to your question about why we should respect the freedom of speech of others. And not only respect their freedom of speech, but also listen to them and engage them in a truth-seeking spirit. And that's for this reason. Those false beliefs, they're going to stay right in our heads if we never allow them to be challenged.

And now this gets me, Charlie, to your question about why we should respect the freedom of speech of others. And not only respect their freedom of speech, but also listen to them and engage them in a truth-seeking spirit. And that's for this reason. Those false beliefs, they're going to stay right in our heads if we never allow them to be challenged.

The only way we have a hope of at least removing some of those false beliefs and replacing them with true beliefs being in touch with reality, getting the truth of matters, is if we allow ourselves to be challenged. We accept criticism. We don't shut down the critic. We don't punish him for challenging our cherished, deeply held, identity-forming convictions.

The only way we have a hope of at least removing some of those false beliefs and replacing them with true beliefs being in touch with reality, getting the truth of matters, is if we allow ourselves to be challenged. We accept criticism. We don't shut down the critic. We don't punish him for challenging our cherished, deeply held, identity-forming convictions.

And not just that, the only way we're gonna get those false beliefs out, at least some of them, is by listening to whatever the reasons and arguments and evidence is that our critic can produce in the hope of showing us that, in fact, we're wrong about something. We all have the experience of changing our minds, right? I certainly do. I haven't always believed exactly the same things.

And not just that, the only way we're gonna get those false beliefs out, at least some of them, is by listening to whatever the reasons and arguments and evidence is that our critic can produce in the hope of showing us that, in fact, we're wrong about something. We all have the experience of changing our minds, right? I certainly do. I haven't always believed exactly the same things.