Footnotes

1. I posted an early version of this essay to the Jordan Peterson Reddit board. The majority of responses said some variation of 'you should get your house in order before you criticise others'. One wrote '[Think] what you could have done to sort your own life out a little more or helped your family with the time you spent writing this slam piece. One could argue you spent your time […] trying to run Peterson through the mud.' My response is: what does my own life have to do with the things I write about Peterson? My attempt isn't to 'run Peterson through the mud' but to show all the places he runs himself through the mud. Does this mean Peterson fans never criticise anyone else (yeah right) because they're too busy working on themselves? Peterson, who certainly doesn't have his own house in order, drags thinkers like Derrida and Foucault - who aren't alive to defend themselves - through the mud by misinterpreting them and spreading his wonky interpretations to fans.

2. A Liberal-leaning dispenser of similar common-sense truths and advice underpinned by philosophy and psychology is Alain de Botton's School of Life - a YouTube channel and book publisher - who create short videos about everyday problems and link them to philosophical concepts and Freudian psychology. They are similar to Peterson only more amiable and progressive, and lack a Unifying Theory or narrative. It's no surprise they have a smaller and less rabid fanbase.