Episode 83: Bob Simpson discusses genealogical anxiety
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What is genealogical anxiety and why does it matter?
Hey, Matt Teichman here from Elucidations. Before we get going today, I just thought I'd ask if you're a fan of the show to maybe go to our iTunes page and leave a rating and a review, and that way more people can discover it. All right, thanks.
Hello, welcome to Elucidations, a philosophy podcast recorded at the University of Chicago. I'm Matt Teichman. And I'm Natana Lipschitz. With us today is Bob Simpson, lecturer in philosophy at Monash University and visiting assistant professor of law at the University of Chicago. And he's here to discuss genealogical anxiety. Bob Simpson, welcome.
Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me.
So genealogy is a term that a lot of contemporary philosophers borrow from the 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. What are they talking about when they talk about genealogy? They're talking about like genetics and evolution or something? Or what does that term mean?
Well, in the context of the sort of things that I'm interested in talking about today, genealogy is just referring to the causal backstory of how you came to believe the various things that you believe or how you came to have the sorts of commitments and practices that you endorse. So you might have inherited them from your culture. You might have inherited them from your family or from your education background. Or you might have inherited them from some very general features about the kinds of creatures that we are and the sorts of commitments that creatures like us tend to have. And then this idea of genealogical anxiety, this is a term that's coined by Amir Sreenivasan to refer to the anxiety that happens when you reflect upon the genealogy of your belief.
So you think about the fact that In a sense, it's just a complete accident that you were born into the country that you were born or the family that you were born or the community that you were born. If you were born into a different country or community or family, chances are you would have had very different beliefs about a whole lot of questions, very different moral commitments. And reflecting on this accident, can trigger a sort of anxiety, a feeling of unsureness or skepticism or suspicion about the credibility of these beliefs and commitments.
Right. OK. So, for example, I grew up in New Jersey in the New York metropolitan area. And just statistically, most people who grow up in that area are not super worried about the right to bear arms. Perhaps that raises the question, is it just because I'm from New Jersey that I don't really care that much about the Second Amendment? Or is there really something to my belief?
Yeah, and you would think about the person who grew up in, I don't know, Alabama, and the fact that they do have this very strong belief in the right to bear arms, and they would think, in a way, a thought that's symmetrical. they know that if they were brought up in New Jersey or Boston, the likelihood is that they would have beliefs that are much more typical for people who live in sort of middle class urban communities. So both of you are in the same position of thinking, it's just an accident that I have the beliefs about this question that I do. And if I think that it's just an accident, does it actually make sense for me to hold on to those beliefs or to be as confident in those beliefs as I was before?
Yeah, so I think just if we think about the term brainwashing or indoctrinated, they tend to have this negative connotation, which seems to suggest that when we are just caused to believe in a brainwashy way or indoctrinating way, then we believe it not for a good reason, so maybe we should not believe it. That's how we seem to use it in our day-to-day conversations. Nietzsche himself, the idea of genealogy came as a critical idea. The thought was that if he can show us the history of some of our most deeply held beliefs, we will come to see that they don't track anything real about reality. And this is still used to this day. I mean, if you think about, for example, feminist critiques of gender roles, often what they show us is how
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is genealogical anxiety and why does it matter?
0:00–6:17
2
How does Nietzsche’s concept of genealogy relate to our beliefs?
6:17–12:14
3
Why does realizing our beliefs are accidental create anxiety?
12:14–17:45
4
How do regional examples (e.g., gun‑rights in New Jersey vs. Alabama) illustrate genealogical anxiety?
17:45–30:20
5
What role do brain‑washing and indoctrination play in shaping our convictions?
30:20–35:39
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Elucidations
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