this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2026
202 points (84.8% liked)
CoupleMemes
984 readers
51 users here now
Community dedicated to memes that often hit a little too close to home. Respect the instance rules and remember that sharing these memes with your SO might 50/50 put you in the doghouse.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I feel mixed feelings. I don't think someone can silently be against war crimes and genocide. He seems less edgy. I like his new stuff. Still, he preaches about reading philosophy. He promotes reading books. You would think enlightenment would spark the desire to push change in the world. It's a deliberate silence from one of the most influential people of our time. I just think he's right wing at best.
kind of important what philosophy and books he's promoting, and the one i heard of was a japanese ultranationist
Which one? Watsuji?
If so, his philosophy is surprisingly transcendent (as in, not ultranationalist). Somehow he kept his politics separate from his philosophy.
Reading Rinrigaku, it's hard to understand how the person who wrote it could be a jingoist in real life. Unlike Sein und Zeit, where it's readily apparent that the author was an unapologetic fascist.
The places where Watsuji diverges from and critiques Heidegger are really quite eloquent and crucial. Most critically, he rejects the "carpenter in a toolshed" analogy for his own concept of "betweenness," using roads as the primary metaphor instead of tools. It's far less reductive and more socialized, which isn't surprising for someone from a collectivist culture.
Not sure how that turns into him supporting militant imperial fascism, but then again he didn't really have a choice. But it's not like he worked in secret to oppose it like those in the Kyoto School did, and even they got accused of supporting it...
i was thinking of yukio mishima, who pie called "controversial" but recommended his book (tbf that was quite a few years ago) but it's great to know there's more
I haven't read mishima's work personally but I know enough about him to say that ultranationalist is indeed an apt descriptor for him. He was a fascist. He wanted a fascist revival and attempted a coup to achieve it. He died by seppuku when it failed. There's even a movie about it. He kinda had a cult following too.
I've literally never heard of him. I mean I do live under a rock but if he was one of the most influential people of our time I would think even I've heard of him. Are you talking top 100 or top 1000?
And the thing about philosophy is that two people could have diametrically opposite opinions and both still be philosophers. There's good philosophy and there's bad philosophy, and even good philosophy can be wrong and bad philosophy can be right some times.
Philosophy isn't a religion, its entire raison d'etre is centered around disagreement.
He had the most subscribed and most viewed youtube channel in the world between 2013 and 2017. I think it’s fair to call the most popular person on one of the most popular online platforms one of the most influential people, and if you were online in any mainstream capacity during those four years I think it’s a fair assumption that you have heard of him, even if that’s not the case here.
Looking over this list of books (https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/121751.Pewdiepie_s_Literature_Club_) he has discussed, it seems most of the philosophy he has discussed is pretty standard stuff. Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche. At a glance the only problematic thing I see is Jordan Peterson’s book, 12 Rules for Life. If you were worried that he was discussing problematic ideas, why not look it up instead of just casting doubt?
Frankly, disagreement is not the basis for philosophy. The basis for philosophy is a love (philo) of knowing (sophy). Being critical of your own thoughts and the thoughts of others can be a valuable tool toward improving or refining one’s knowledge, but things like practice, observation, and curiosity are arguably even more important for learning new knowledge.
younger, but also in his 20s still using derogatives. if he wasn't called out, would probably still be doing it