Mockery, conspiracy theories and scapegoating are just too much fun. This is the Charles Blattberg encore where the political philosopher and I go deeper into the threats for meaningful, political, `patriotic` conversation by untangling the dangers of fun. We discuss the derailment play causes here, and tease out other aesthetic forms, such as idealizing beauty, spectacle, and fantasy. Then we examine how enjoyment and fear interact in motivating these fun modes of dialogue. Finally, we put each others` feet to the fire as we take up the aesthetic lurking in each other’s titles: both his book title, Shall We Dance?, and the name of this podcast, Flow.
Check out Charles` article on how antisemitism is fun: “Antisemitism and the Aesthetic” in Philosophy Forum (2021).
