In Praise of Slippery Slopes

Dr. Beckeld discusses why the "slippery slope"-argument is often true and not a fallacy.
"Western Self-Contempt" at Amazon:
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"Causality and 'Rape Culture'"-video:
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Edit on September 6, 2022: City Journal just published a radically shortened version of this presentation, available here: www.city-journ...

[@CHIEFTATELLI]

Thank you for these helpful explanations. I will be passing it on. I had gotten your book on pre-order but as of yet have not read it. It sits in my cue with others that came before it but I look forward to it. May you have a great weekend and July 4TH.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you! And I hope you'll enjoy the book when you get to it. Happy 4th!

[@O.G.Rose.Michelle.and.Daniel]

Another great video, and I particularly liked the point that “progressivism” and “slippery slopes” easily connect, precisely because “progress” necessarily entails some kind of trajectory. I also liked the points on how two issues must be “on the same slope” for there to be the possibility of a “slippery slope”-that was a great clarification. Lastly, I appreciated you defending the idea of “correlation can imply causation,” for though it is perfectly true that we cannot assume causation where we encounter correlation, we also shouldn’t assume they “cannot” overlap. A time variable can help, I think: if x and y correlate but x occurs Monday while y occurs Wednesday, there would be reason to think they don’t relate causally; however, if x and y both occur Monday at noon, there would be reason to think they do so relate. No, not necessarily, but considering temporarily can prove helpful. Anyway, just wanted to say that this was a great video and to wish you a Happy 4th as well!

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you, I’m glad! The point about correlation/causation is especially important to me, since people seem to think that the two not being identical means they are somehow in opposition. The time variable is certainly a useful addition, yes.

[@LSV.Delight]

🧐 I'm scrolling through your channel.. I appreciate your perspective whether I agree or not, the way you speak,the words you choose to convey your thoughts and points, as well as your mannerism and tone are very attractive.🌷 it's just an observation..🙂

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you, I really appreciate your kind words!

[@LSV.Delight]

🎨@@BenedictBeckeld and I love the piece you did on what is art 🎭🎨 .. I've been looking up on different civilizations and the difference in Renaissance versus Baroque and it's transition to Victorian and today. I am fascinated by these time. Art architecture music and true independent thinking not guided by some type of movement although the movement was there. I find all this so fascinating. Granted, a lot of movements were very religious in nature and you can see the character of the paintings artists and attire. Just rich culture. Airport a rich. Anyhow thank you again for your content 🌿

[@LSV.Delight]

Typo.. Not airport.. even poor, That would take an entire discussion to elaborate on so I'll leave it there

[@ViriatoII]

Just found you out and enjoyed the video, I'll buy the book. A note on progress. I do not subscribe to the widespread notion that progress is a trademark of the left and more rights for everybody. Progress is the steady development into more efficiency on understanding and using reality, to the benefit of most people. That can be illustrated by our use of the word in technological/scientifical progress. The same should be applied socially. Progress often goes the way of minimizing destructive conflict, or at least replacing it with competition. It is through competition that better alternatives prove and enhance themselves, thus leading to progress. More crazy rights for everybody does not necessarily bring benefit to most people. If they benefit 0.1% of the population very much while alienating 30% of the population, then they have a net negative impact. Progress can also be done on a right-wing perspective: Developing into a society that values Truth over Niceness, Merit over Victimization, that accepts certain borders if they promote stability, positive competition and if they protect the heritage of human diversity. The right should start defining goals, and work to progress towards them. Not through revolution, progress builds slowly on itself. The notion of progress was not tied to the left in the past. Eugenics, which is seen as a extreme right-wing idea, defined itself as progressive. Progress can be dangerous if followed blindly and without opposition. Likewise, driving a car is more efficient than walking, but reckless driving gets you crashed, and without a correct goal point, a car won't bring you anywhere better than walking. I hope we find a way, but I'm increasingly disillusioned and defeated.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Hi, and thank you. The kind of progressivism I talk about in this video - mainly the expansion of so-called human rights - is a leftist phenomenon, but yes, as a general matter I agree with you that progressivism can also appear on the right. In the book, as you'll see, I draw a sharper contrast between progressivism and conservatism than between left and right, especially for the ancient world, but also in modernity. I also don't condemn all forms of progressivism. It's just that a lot of progressive cheerleaders (like e.g. Steven Pinker, as you'll see in the book) fail to distinguish between different areas of progress (technological, medicinal, moral, etc.), and they don't see that the progress of one area can be related to the regress of another.

[@ViriatoII]

@@BenedictBeckeld thank you for the answer, looking forward for the read! Super curious about the ancient historical parallels. Sir Scruton was dead right coining Oikophobia, I was so happy to find a word to describe this that I had observed: "the easiest way to find someone that hates either Britain, France, Germany or the USA, is searching for either a British, French, German or an American." All of that condensed into a word. We need good words to have good discussions. Cheers and Merry Christmas!

[@BenedictBeckeld]

That's a true and pithy observation. Merry Christmas!

[@baltvdb]

Please accept my question is asked in good faith; unless you make additional moral judgments about how you believe women should be dressed isn’t your correlation argument about sexual assault on women who dress in a particular way analogous to saying “there is a correlation between Jewish men wearing yarmulkes and antisemitic attacks, therefore, in choosing to wear them in certain areas they are themselves partially culpable”? Thanks, always thought provoking content.❤️🇬🇧

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you for commenting! Yes, it is analogous. And in fact you'll find plenty of orthodox rabbis who will say that if a Jew found himself in a bad area where he is likely to be the victim of an anti-Semitic attack, it would be permissible to remove his yarmulke temporarily in order to be safe. (By the principle of Pikuach Nefesh in Judaism, most rules may be broken for the sake of preserving a specific life.) One important correction, however: The woman who drinks excessively and the Jew who wears a yarmulke in a bad neighborhood are not "culpable" in their rape or attack. In the video to which I link, I draw a very important distinction between "cause" and "blame". While the woman added a contributing cause to the event of her being raped, the fault of the rape lies entirely with the rapist, and thus also in the case of the Jew.