I first came across Peterson not in any political context but as a teacher of story. Peterson has largely been in the news for his blazing, outspoken opposition to much of the far-left political agenda, which he characterises as totalitarian, intolerant and a growing threat to the primacy of the individual – which is his core value and, he asserts, the foundation of western culture. But he also says – when challenged for being a reactionary – that “being reactionary is the new radicalism”.
He defines himself as a “classic British liberal”. This has led him to be branded a member of the alt-right – although his support for socialised healthcare, redistribution of wealth towards the poorest and the decriminalisation of drugs suggests this is far from the whole story. Apart from anything else, he believes most university humanities courses should be defunded because they have been “corrupted by neo-Marxist postmodernists” – particularly women’s studies and black studies. He certainly doesn’t sit well with the usually left-leaning academic establishment. More controversy followed when he publicly defended James Damore, the sacked Google employee who suggested there were innate gender differences, as being no more than the scientific consensus. Demonstrations broke out on campus, and he has been the subject of a campaign of protest by trans activists. Following this he was either hailed as a free-speech martyr or castigated as a transphobe. Peterson, 55, is a psychology professor at the University of Toronto who shot into the headlines in 2016 after refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns at the university which new legislation, Bill C-16, compelled him legally to. He is fast becoming the closest that academia has to a rock star Camille Paglia estimates him to be “the most important Canadian thinker since Marshall McLuhan”. But then Peterson is in a different intellectual league from the authors of most such books. I doubt it has the commercial appeal of The Secret (wish for something and it will come true) and it certainly strays markedly from the territory of How to Win Friends and Influence People.
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