Episode 33: The Dream of Meritocracy Produces Monsters

Phil is joined by Eugene McCarraher, Professor of the Humanities and History at Villanova University, to discuss his article "A Providentialism Without God: The Case Against Meritocracy" as well as Goya's "The Dream of Reason Produces Monsters"

The Manifesto:

Eugene McCarraher, "A Providentialism Without God: The Case Against Meritocracy"

https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/providentialism-without-god (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/providentialism-without-god)

The Art:

Goya, "The Dream of Reason Produces Monsters"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleep_of_Reason_Produces_Monsters#/media/File:Francisco_Jos%C3%A9_de_Goya_y_Lucientes_-The_sleep_of_reason_produces_monsters(No._43),from_Los_Caprichos-Google_Art_Project.jpg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleep_of_Reason_Produces_Monsters#/media/File:Francisco_Jos%C3%A9_de_Goya_y_Lucientes-The_sleep_of_reason_produces_monsters(No._43),from_Los_Caprichos-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)

Other works discussed:

Eugene McCarraher, The Enchantments of Mammon

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674984615 (https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674984615)

Michael Young, The Rise of the Meritocracy

https://www.routledge.com/The-Rise-of-the-Meritocracy/Young/p/book/9781560007043 (https://www.routledge.com/The-Rise-of-the-Meritocracy/Young/p/book/9781560007043)

Michael J. Sandel, The Tyranny of Merit

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374289980 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374289980)

David Goodhart, Head, Hand, Heart

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Head-Hand-Heart/David-Goodhart/9781982128470 (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Head-Hand-Heart/David-Goodhart/9781982128470)

Fredrik deBoer, The Cult of Smart

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250200372 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250200372)

William Deresiewicz, Excellent Sheep

https://billderesiewicz.com/books/excellent-sheep/ (https://billderesiewicz.com/books/excellent-sheep/)

Alejandro Anreus, Shades of Suffering: Goya's Graphic Imagination

https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/shades-suffering (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/shades-suffering)

Nicholas Penny, The People's Goya

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v26/n18/nicholas-penny/the-people-s-goya (https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v26/n18/nicholas-penny/the-people-s-goya)

Julian Bell, Teeming With Things Unknown

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/10/08/francisco-goya-teeming-things-unknown/ (https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/10/08/francisco-goya-teeming-things-unknown/)