Peter Boghossian is a philosopher and former assistant professor of philosophy at Portland State University.
According to Wikipedia,
Boghossian’s areas of academic focus include atheism, critical thinking, pedagogy, scientific skepticism, and the Socratic method.
And here’s the juicy bit:
He is the author of A Manual for Creating Atheists, released in 2013. Boghossian was involved in the Grievance Studies affair (also called “Sokal Squared” in media coverage) with collaborators James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose, in which they published several hoax papers in academic journals, as part of their criticism of a set of fields including gender studies.
But what primarily caught my eye is Peter’s brilliant book, How To Have Impossible Conversations, which is a scathing criticism of modern society’s preference for silencing those with different views. In a nutshell, the book highlights the importance of talking to people with whom you disagree.
Which isn’t easy, especially because of the profound problems cancel culture causes to general discourse.
Our conversation
It’s not just about talking to those with different opinions, but it’s about talking decently and respectfully and trying to understand their position.
You’re never going to persuade somebody to change his mind if you insult him or call him names. Which, admittedly, as a satirist who is intellectually superior to everybody, is difficult for me.
