Dalrymple has spent the last few days making the rounds in New York and Washington, D.C. promoting his new book, Admirable Evasions: How Modern Psychology Undermines Morality.
He spoke at the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday. The video is here. The action doesn’t start until the 21:30 mark. (Update: the video has now been edited.)
On Thursday he visited the Wall Street Journal and recorded two short video interviews. In this one he addresses Islamic extremism, and here he discusses his book’s thesis that psychology has been a generally useless attempt to avoid the reality that “the permanent condition of mankind is dissatisfaction”. (H/t Michael G.)
On Thursday evening the New Criterion hosted a launch party in New York City for the book, and your humble correspondents (along with Skeptical Doctor reader Adam) enjoyed seeing the good doctor once again. He spoke for a few minutes, humorously sharing the titles of the psychology-inspired self-help books he noticed in the bookstore of DC’s Union Station.
Other attendees included his old City Journal editor Myron Magnet, Roger Kimball and James Panero.
Is there anyway to find out where he will be in the US, that is where he will be publicly speaking?
It would be great if you could post in advance when Dr. Dalrymple will be in town. As a NYC resident I would have loved the opportunity to be present at this sort of event.
Thanks
Brian
Jim and Brian…Point well taken. We would have loved to have informed readers of this event in advance, but it was invitation-only. We almost never find out in advance when Dalrymple is going to be speaking. This time was an exception. In the future we will most definitely let you all know of these events when we know and when the general public is free to attend.
One other thing we have discussed doing the next time he is in New York is hosting some sort of a casual get-together with him and any readers in the area.
Invitation only!?!? How do we join the inner circle of super friends? Do we get a secret decoder ring?
Thanks for the reply. When you can, let us know where and when he might be in the CONUS.
Yes, I saw only Friends and Young Friends of the New Criterion were invited; to be honest, given what the Young Friends membership fee is, I would have joined just for this.
A casual get-together for NYC readers would be a great idea and I’m sure you would get a solid turnout. Might even be a good idea to have a casual get together when he’s not here; if we’re all interested in reading Dalrymple’s work then I wouldn’t be surprised if we enjoyed each others company and discussion!
Brian
That’s a great idea, Brian. Perhaps dinner and drinks in Manhattan? Our friend Gavin, who runs the Dalrymple forum, will be in NYC this summer. Perhaps we could plan it around his visit. I will work on that. Look for a post on this topic soon.
Oh, and on the New Criterion event, I really regret that we didn’t notify readers in advance, especially since Dalrymple makes few appearances in the US. But I highly encourage you to join the Friends (or Young Friends) of the New Criterion anyway. It’s a great experience for many reasons. All things considered, it’s probably one of the best entertainment deals in the city. The events are fairly small, and there is a high concentration of writers and intellectuals from the New Criterion, National Review, the Manhattan Institute and other such organizations, and they are all very happy to talk with you at length. Let us know if you do join, and we will make plans to see you at one of the events.
Thanks Steve, I’ll take a further look at the New Criterion membership and let you know if I do end up joining (how would I let you know btw? Other than commenting here I mean).
A dinner and drinks type event this summer sounds like fun, I’ll look out for a post.
Brian
Brian, you can always email us at webmaster@skepticaldoctor.com.
Yes, I saw only Friends and Young Friends of the New Criterion were invited; to be honest, given what the Young Friends membership fee is, I would have joined just for this.
A casual get-together for NYC readers would be a great idea and I’m sure you would get a solid turnout. Might even be a good idea to have a casual get together when he’s not here; if we’re all interested in reading Dalrymple’s work then I wouldn’t be surprised if we enjoyed each others company and conversation!
Brian
I have to say I’m sympathetic to any well-spoken critique of psychology, especially evolutionary psychology or behaviorism. Psych. has the power to distort how we think of ourselves and other people like no other science, and it’s nice to see strong-minded critics who refuse to let psychologists go unchallenged.
With that said, I think Dalrymple is overstating his point. I could show you psychology/neuroscientific research that advances our understanding of the human nature/psychology in ways that Shakespeare could not. The neuroscientist Michael Merzenich, for instance, has designed computerized brain exercises which have helped thousands of struggling children learn to read. This type of research does not lead us to new and profound insights into human identity or morality – but it does undoubtedly help unfortunate people who might otherwise have been “left behind” by the public school system. Surely this is a good thing, and not something that was known even fifty years ago.
I’m against psychoanalysis/behaviourism/evolutionary psychology. But I’m not against cognitive psychology/neuroscience.