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Hosted by Jeffrey Howard, editor-in-chief of Erraticus, Damn the Absolute! is a show about our relationship to ideas.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Pragmatist philosophy, fallibilism, uncertainty • truth, language, metaphor, postmodernism/metamodernism • democracy, polarization, trust, deliberation • race, historical trauma, beloved community • ethics, religion, Buddhism, Stoicism • climate, commons, localism, education, animal flourishingThis podcast explores how people relate to ideas and how intellectual frameworks shape moral, political, and everyday life. Across conversations with philosophers, scholars, and practitioners, it frequently draws on the pragmatist tradition—especially figures such as William James, John Dewey, Charles S. Peirce, Cornel West, and Richard Rorty—to question certainty, resist dogmatism, and treat inquiry as a practice grounded in lived experience and practical consequences.
A recurring theme is how communities navigate disagreement and pluralism: what “truth” can mean when worldviews collide, how language functions as a tool rather than a mirror of reality, and whether expertise (in areas like religion or science) can settle deep conflicts. The show also connects philosophical debates to contemporary civic strain, examining polarization, declining trust, democratic deliberation, and the emotional or psychological dimensions of politics, including collective trauma and the legacies of racism and economic injustice.
Another thread is ethics and human flourishing understood beyond abstract rules. Discussions range from Stoicism and Buddhist perspectives on liberation to phenomenological accounts of responsibility to others, and to questions about animals’ place in moral and political life. The podcast also engages environmental and place-based concerns—climate change, agriculture, commons governance, and urban design—often contrasting large-scale systems with local, experimental, community-centered approaches. Education appears as a practical site where theories of autonomy, democracy, and care are tested, including critiques of mass schooling and alternative models of learning and parenting.
