October 19, 2020

Political Economy Forum Podcast: Truth, Heidegger, and Totalitarianism

https://soundcloud.com/political-economy-forum-at-university-of-washington/10-17-uw-final-edit

In this episode of the Political Economy Podcast Nicolas Wittstock hosts Mark Menaldo and Victor Menaldo. They discuss Mark’s forthcoming piece on the existential philosopher Martin Heidegger and his influence on politics. They broach the different branches of philosophy, including metaphysics, namely, the study of reality, and the origins and consequences of postmodernism. One of the main topics they cover is whether the “Continental School” of philosophy tends to complement totalitarianism versus other schools of thought, such as classical philosophy or the so-called analytic approach inaugurated by the philosopher of language Ludwig Wittgenstein and represented by writers like George Orwell. They also discuss the political dysfunction that racks the United States and how it relates, if at all, to these issues.