Uncovers the irrational philosophy behind today's "confidence men" – from Jordan Peterson, to Elon Musk, Andrew Tate, and beyond.
Why do millions of Americans support a system that is making them poorer, sicker, and less secure every day? If modern capitalism routinely exploits working people, then why do so many flock to its most reactionary defenders in personalities like Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk, and Andrew Tate? Or, as the philosopher Baruch Spinoza asked, why do we fight for slavery as if it were our salvation? Confidence Men: The Duping of the American Mind provides a compelling answer to those questions.
Mere journalistic accounts of these hucksters have pointed out their many lies and inaccuracies, their personal failings and rank hypocrisy. Confidence Men does something different. Instead of treating these sensational figures as individual bad actors, it identifies a common philosophy that animates them all. Each of them are, in their own ways, irrationalists – believing in the power of a strong will to overcome ordinary reality (and ordinary people). Objective facts, nature, and even "human nature" melt away before the creative genius or the mystical hero. Today's "confidence men" are the cheerleaders of hierarchy and domination, where the supreme value is one of unhinged belief in oneself. As against reactionary forms of self-help, Confidence Men proposes a rationalist alternative – neither wishing our problems away, nor "manifesting" success – but instead, understanding the world so that we can change it for the better. Landon Frim is an associate professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. He focuses on ethics, politics, and religion, and the legacy of the Radical Enlightenment. He has written for popular outlets, including Inside Higher Ed, Radical Philosophy, and The New Republic.
Harrison Fluss is a philosophy professor at St. John's University in NYC. He is a corresponding editor for Historical Materialism, and his writing has appeared in Jacobin Magazine, The New Republic, and Salvage. He loves reading Hegel and spending time with his wife and cat.
