#84 Continental Philosophy: Genius or Gibberish? - Keegan Kjeldson

Keegan Kjeldson of the Untimely Reflections YouTube channel returns to the podcast to discuss the merits of continental philosophy. While he is largely in favor and I am not, we both agree that Hegel is abysmally obscure.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.Follow me on X because you’re awesome.EPISODE CHAPTERS00:00:00 Introduction00:00:18 Hegel vs Plantinga: obscurity and clarity00:03:07 Keegan’s defense of continental philosophy00:08:38 Why continental philosophy feels impenetrable00:11:15 Spinoza and intuitive knowledge00:14:25 Nietzsche, style, and philosophical insight00:18:07 Logical positivism and ethics00:22:21 What is metaethics?00:27:17 Utilitarianism and moral intuitions00:30:17 Do arguments bottom out in intuition?00:36:39 What is philosophy for?00:44:41 Moral realism and objective moral truth00:48:59 Judith Butler and the charge of gibberish00:54:10 Clear continental thinkers00:55:57 Heidegger and justified obscurity01:02:00 Is clarity always a virtue?01:06:49 Can poetry give us rational grounds?01:12:52 Moral knowledge vs moral persuasion01:15:29 Motivated reasoning in ethics01:25:21 Ethics, emotion, and objectivity01:28:14 The Nazi example and moral realism01:32:26 Abortion, personhood, and moral disagreement01:38:44 Objective truth in morality and science01:41:17 Has humanity made moral progress? Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe