Overthink

Should we be sympathetic towards manipulators? In episode 157 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about manipulation. They discuss what makes up a manipulative personality, why manipulators see social interaction as inherently combative, and what you can do when you find yourself entangled with a manipulator. They also explore what Niccolo Machiavelli tell us about the role of manipulation in politics. Should political leaders always be kind? Or, as Machiavelli says, do they need to learn to “be bad”? And what can we say about manipulation outside of politics? Does manipulative behavior require awareness and intention? Are all forms of manipulation inherently bad? And where do we draw the line between manipulation and other types of social influence? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss how manipulators perform on the ultimatum game and whether philosophy is the only form of non-manipulative discourse.

Works discussed:
Anne Barnhill, “How philosophy might contribute to the practical ethics of online manipulation”
Robert Greene, 48 Laws of Power
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
George Simon, In Sheep’s Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People

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How do new forms of social control under capitalism foreclose the possibility of social critique? In episode 156 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a deep dive into Herbert Marcuse’s 1964 classic, One-Dimensional Man. Marcuse analyzes how 1950s conformism narrows the private space of human thinking, turning us into one-dimensional beings. Your hosts talk about Marcuse’s diagnosis of life under capitalism, and his assessment of how analytic philosophy’s obsession with formal logic encourages conservatism and prevents us from subversive thought. In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss what freedom looks like for Marcuse and how critical Marcuse would be of Overthink.Works Discussed:
Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man
Stephen Whitfield, “Refusing Marcuse: 50 Years After One-Dimensional Man”
Paul Mattick, "One Dimensional Man In Class Society"

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Do we ever have a duty to commit treason? In episode 155 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about “the crime of crimes.” They look at the emergence of this legal concept and its evolution over time, and discuss some of the most important historical cases involving treason: Benedict Arnold, Aaron Burr, and John Brown. Can we say that treason is always bad when America's founding itself depended on an act of treason? Who is capable of committing a treasonous act? And is treason ever morally permissible? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss how treason is seen in Hobbes’ political philosophy and whether we need to recover insurrection as a political possibility.
Works Discussed:
Neil Cartlidge, “Treason,” The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Law and Literature
Cécile Fabre, “The Morality of Treason”
George P. Fletcher, “The Case for Treason”
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish
Phyllis Greenacre, “Treason and the Traitor”
Leonard Harris, “Honor and Insurrection or A Short Story about why John Brown (with David Walker’s Spirit) was Right and Frederick Douglass (with Benjamin Banneker’s Spirit) was Wrong”
Lee McBride, “Insurrectionary Ethics and Racism”

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Content warning: this episode extensively discusses rape, sexual violence, and incest.
In episode 154 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk to philosopher Manon Garcia about her book, Living with Men: Reflections on the Pelicot Trial. They discuss the rape case of Gisèle Pelicot and how the subsequent trial of her husband and fifty additional men sheds light on the normalization and acceptance of sexual violence in what is known as 'rape culture.' In what ways is the current understanding of consent as ‘permission giving’ harmful? How is heterosexual love often tied to objectification? Why does the ‘boys will be boys’ mentality make it difficult for us to rely on the criminal justice system? And how do we live with men knowing that cases such as these are incredibly common? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss the politics of language and the risk of eroticization in recounting stories of sexual violence, and they think through where we should go from here in terms of sexual and romantic attachments to men.

Works Discussed:
Manon Garcia, Living with Men: Reflections on the Pelicot Trial
Simone de Beauvoir and Gisèle Halimi, Djamila Boupacha

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What do Labubus, Beanie Babies, Hello Kitty, and Furbies have in common? They’re all cute! In episode 153 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss cuteness. From the idea of cuteness as a logic of contagion to the evolutionary explanation for why we find babies so adorable, this episode has it all. How is the increasing demand for shortform content a symptom of cuteification? What are the harms of categorizing certain animals as cute? In what ways is cuteness tied to consumption? And is society heading towards a future of cuteness? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts talk about the emergence of cuteness in Kawaii culture and what is so cute about Paddington bear.

Works Discussed:
Amy Ireland and Maya B. Kronic, Cute Accelerationism
Sianne Ngai, Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, and Interesting
Sianne Ngai, The Cute
Dylan Wittkower, “On The Origins of the Cute as a Dominant Aesthetic Category in Digital Culture”
Sarah Wolfensohn, “Too Cute to Kill? The Need for Objective Measurements of Quality of Life”

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