Description
Book SynopsisThe Canadian psychology professor Jordan Peterson burst into public awareness when he opposed the compulsory use of newfangled gender-pronouns. He has since published two best-selling books,
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018) and
Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life (2021), and has become the leading public intellectual on social media.
Although Peterson has an almost cult-like following, and arouses strong passions, both for and against, there has been very little focused, objective criticism of his provocative views on a wide variety of topics: the role of religion, the alleged need for more value and meaning in the modern world, the way young people should conduct their lives, the history of Marxism and postmodernism, male-female relations; the interpretation of Bible stories, the inevitability of hierarchy and inequality, and the application of Jungian archetypes.
Jordan Peterson: Critical Responses brings together new and searching criticisms of various specific aspects of Peterson’s ideas. Though on balance decidedly critical, the authors represent a range of different backgrounds and philosophical assumptions, and the criticisms are fair and temperate, eschewing the personal attacks which have marred many of the pronouncements of Peterson’s opponents.
Trade Review“Illuminating and provocative in equal measure, this fine collection of essays captures countless facets of one of the most refreshingly heterodox intellectuals of our time.”
—James Orr, author of The Mind of God and the Works of Nature (2019)
“In Jordan Peterson: Critical Responses, a remarkably broad range of writers compare and contrast Peterson’s thought with that of notables ranging from Karl Marx (Gordon and Tang) to Marcus Aurelius (Sandra Woien). Those looking for uncritical praise or debunking of the pronoun-reluctant Canuck should look elsewhere, but readers interested in a genuinely broad range of responses to a highly relevant contemporary thinker may have found an important text.”
—Wilfred Reilly, author of
Taboo: 10 Facts You Can’t Talk About (2020)
“Dr. Jordan Peterson holds forth eloquently on a rather wide range of topics and finds a huge, eager audience. I guess he must be right occasionally. This long overdue book is an excellent compilation of criticisms of Dr. Peterson’s ideas from many different angles. A much-needed contribution to cleaning up our intellectual discourse.”
—Dr. Jeffrey A. Schaler, author of
Addiction Is a Choice (2002)
“Most often, Jordan Peterson is either lauded as a hero or condemned as a villain. In contrast, Sandra Woien has assembled a fine collection of essays that take Peterson's work very seriously and provide intelligent critiques. Both fans and foes of Peterson will appreciate this volume.”
—Robert Murphy, author of Choice: Co-operation, Enterprise, and Human Action (2015)
"Supremely helpful! This collection of essays offers a critical analysis of Jordan Peterson in the very best sense. Mercifully, the authors address and transcend the polarized ideological spectrum of his haters and zealots to explore the meaning of his work in productive ways. They truly take him on (as in both pushback and engagement), using JP as a foil for further thought across a wide array of disciplines."
—Bradley Jersak, Dean of Theology and Culture, St. Stephen’s University
Table of ContentsChapters: 1. Jordan Peterson, Secular Priest, Alex Brocklehurst;
2. Confronting the New Puritans, Ron Dart;
3. What Jordan Peterson Should Have Said about Marxism, David Gordon and Ying Tang;
4. Does Jordan Peterson’s Appeal to Authenticity Make Him a Hypocrite? Madeline Shield;
5. Not an Anti-Feminist Per Se, Luis Felipe Bartolo Alegre and Fabiola Valeria Cárdenas Maldonado;
6. Clean Up Your Theory! David Ramsay Steele;
7. Stone, Stone-Soup, and Soup, Marc Champagne;
8. The Masculine and Feminine of God, Katie Skurja;
9. Biblical Lilliputians Meet Gulliver, Ron Dart;
10. Jordan Peterson’s Religious Facts and Values, Stephen R.C. Hicks;
11. We’re Science! We’re All about Coulda, Not Shoulda, Mark Garron;
12. Missing God, Esther O’Reilly;
13. Jordan Peterson on Postmodernism, Truth, and Science, Panu Raatikainen;
14. Are We Made for Happiness? Tristan Rogers;
15. How Jordan Peterson Explains Human Behavior, David Dennen;
16. Could Jordan Peterson Be a Stoic? Sandra Woien;
17. The Musical Mediation of Order and Chaos, David Cotter;
18. On Peterson’s Truth, Teemu Tauriainen.
