Here, I continue my discussion of Michael Allen Gillespie's book "The Theological Origins of Modernity," this time centering on the poet Francesco Petrarch and his role in the emergence of Italian Humanism. Petrarch was essential in the eventual development of the concept of individualism, of the individual as a unique and special being with his own powers and potentialities that he, through private contemplation, study and thought, could realize and develop. He broke completely with the Medieval concept of the human and saw each person, not as a rational animal, not as simply a member of a larger class, but as a unique and particular individual with his own wants, dispositions, passions and desires. By studying Augustine and taking a cue from Augustine's 'Confessions,' Petrarch saw deep and relentless self-examination and self-discovery as the way to discover how to live the good life and enjoy one's own individuality. Petrarch was the first major thinker to begin to see the world as self-creating. This notion of individuality is now central to much of modern political thought. Without Petrarch, there could have been no individualist political theory. Libertarians and anarcho-capitalists thus owe much to Petrarch. But so do many others, as will be see in the future. Therefore, insofar as Petrarch was influenced by the radically individualist ontology of the nominalists (and he was), modern political individualism and theories of individual rights, in all of their many forms, owe a debt to the nominalist revolution. P. S. Yes, I am aware of the background noise. It is from my laptop fan. I am sorry about this. There is nothing I can do about it. The laptop on which I recorded this is quite old. Part 1 of this series, for those who have not watched it: https://youtu.be/c8moDWkPkic Michael Allen Gillespie's book: http://amzn.to/2memEpD Augustine's 'Confessions' on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2DbEhhL Alternatively, here's a .pdf of Augustine's 'Confessions'. This has the Latin original on one page, and then an English translation of the Latin on the next: https://ryanfb.github.io/loebolus-data/L026.pdf ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG8Xued6mtY

This is an expanded talk on something that I mentioned in my last video. There is increasing fracturing and division everywhere in American society, fracturing in all sorts of respects - political, racial, educational, ideological, cultural, philosophical. This trend shows no signs of abating. Attempt to stem the tide will likely fail. This fracturing, although we see it especially starkly now, has deep origins. On one side of this fracture, we have the SJW and his ilk. The SJW is the apotheosis of modernity because he represents the culmination of all of modern thought's attempts to deify and give pride of place to the will. Like the radical Protestants, the SJW is an incorrigible moral fanatic, insistent that he, and he alone, has a pipeline to the truth and utterly and unshakably convinced of the ultimate virtue of his cause. His particular brand of self-assured snobbery and disdain for those with the temerity to disagree with him has a long history in American culture. It was born out of the Yankee strain of New England Puritanism and has been an indelible fixture of American culture and life from the very beginning. This is doubly true regarding American intellectual life. Like the German Romantics and idealists, the SJW insists on giving his will and subjective emotions unlimited freedom to assert themselves upon reality. If reality does not agree to this, it is reality and its limitations that are to blame. Like the Postmodernism that has its roots in idealism, he does not really believe in an objectively ascertainable truth or reality independent of subjective experience, and so, when pushed, will dismiss rational arguments against his views as simply rationalizations for his oppression, or for the oppression of certain designated marginalized groups. To the SJW, there is no truth; there is only will to power. There is no rational argumentation or discourse; there is only politics. Like the Russian nihilists (and the German Romantics to whom they are indebted), the SJW is a distructionist. He believes that he must utterly smash and upend the existing order because of the (allegedly) unjust restrictions that it imposes upon the wills of others. Out of the flames of this revolutionary destruction, there will emerge a glorious and and free utopia. This belief that something wonderful is bound to replace the old order if only the old order is destroyed is held with a naive but fanatical faith, and explains why those on the far left are generally not keen on presenting specifics for how their proposed utopias will function. There can be no reasoning with such a person, as there can be no reasoning with anyone who rejects the power of reason to settle things and (at least eventually) arrive at or approximate truth. Such a person sees his enemie ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ET3d95uB1w