The Problem of Respectability

It was a pleasure to speak with Johann Kurtz! You can find his excellent substack, Becoming Noble, and the essay of his that we discuss here. You can find his discussion on the Exit podcast here.

Here is an outline of the conversation:

1. Johann introduces his project and the challenge of thinking of practical solutions to our contemporary problems.

2. We discuss what respectability is and why it is a problem.

3. We discussed three articulations of the problem with attendant ways to manage it: classical, Christian, and Nietzschean.

4. Concluding thoughts on self-knowledge—can we know what really moves us when we do something?