Papers by Tom Hanauer
In this paper, I provide an interpretation of the American mockumentary-styled sitcom, The Office... more In this paper, I provide an interpretation of the American mockumentary-styled sitcom, The Office (2005-2013), as an instance of what Nietzsche calls an "aesthetic justification" of life. The Office offers an aesthetic justification of the life of lower-tiered North American white-collar workers under neoliberalism. The Office performs this function via an implicit endorsement of what Mark Fisher (2009) calls capitalist realism, or the idea that "it's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism." I focus on an illuminating scene in episode 16 of Season 3, "Business School" (2007), that exemplifies this especially well. The argument is that The Office orchestrates an aesthetic justification of those aspects of our existence that cannot be justified morally under capitalism, e.g., precarity, ruthless competition, etc. In section 1, I outline Nietzsche's conception of aesthetic justification. In section 2, I discuss the major themes of The Office, highlighting their resonance with the concerns and experiences of the workforce. In section 3, I bring these together in a Nietzschean analysis of the "Business School" scene. Finally, in section 4, I close by offering some open-ended but critical reflections on this analysis via Adorno and the Frankfurt School.
Trauma Counseling: Theories and Interventions, 2022
This chapter examines the construct of evil from the perspective of moral psychology. The chapter... more This chapter examines the construct of evil from the perspective of moral psychology. The chapter first discusses contemporary theories of evil and common misconceptions about evil. The chapter then draws on examples from social psychology in order to examine the psychological and situational causes of evil actions. The relation between trauma and evil is then explored with an emphasis on Primo Levi's account of Auschwitz and the concept of the "gray zone." Finally, the chapter discusses the nature and possibility of healing and reconciliation ("moral repair") after evil has been done. LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, the reader should be able to: 1. Understand issues related to evil from an interdisciplinary moral psychological perspective; 2. Develop awareness of contemporary theories of evil and common misconceptions about evil; 3. Distinguish between a "situationist" and "dispositionalist" explanation of evil, based on examples from social psychology; 4. Become familiar with the concept of the "gray zone" and the traumatic effects it has on its inhabitants; 5. Identify problematic areas and possibilities concerning healing and reconciliation that are associated with evil.
In Beyond Good and Evil 186, Nietzsche jokes, "Schopenhauer, though a pessimist, really played th... more In Beyond Good and Evil 186, Nietzsche jokes, "Schopenhauer, though a pessimist, really played the flute. Every day, after dinner … incidentally: a pessimist, one who denies God and the world but comes to a stop before morality-who affirms morality and plays the flute … [I]s that really-a pessimist?" At the heart of Nietzsche's joke is the suspicion that a fundamental tension is buried within Schopenhauer's system, a tension between his pessimism and his ethics. Sandra Shapshay's Reconstructing Schopenhauer's Ethics provides a compelling and first-of-its-kind confirmation of Nietzsche's (yet) unexplored, dormant suspicion. Like Nietzsche, Shapshay challenges the dominant interpretation of Schopenhauer as a consistent pessimist, a "Knight of Despair." Shapshay's thesis is that alongside the familiar curmudgeon there's another Schopenhauer, a "Knight with Hope," who (a) is preferable even on Schopenhauerian grounds to his pessimistic counterpart; and (b) provides a novel moral philosophy that, suitably reconstructed, should be of "significant contemporary interest" (41). Shapshay's book, in my estimation, mounts a successful argument and offers numerous original insights and clarifications
Nietzsche famously claims that “we knowers … remain of necessity strangers to ourselves” in the G... more Nietzsche famously claims that “we knowers … remain of necessity strangers to ourselves” in the Genealogy’s preface (GM P, 1). But the meaning of Nietzsche’s claim isn’t entirely clear; and it bears no obvious connection to the Genealogy’s historical or evaluative projects. The aim of this paper is to clarify Nietzsche’s claim and to connect it with the rest of Nietzsche’s projects in the Genealogy. With this goal in mind, I canvass three interpretations of Nietzsche’s claim: (1) the naturalistic interpretation; (2) the transcendental interpretation; and (3) the normative interpretation. Ultimately, I argue, the naturalistic and transcendental interpretations are unsatisfactory; it’s the normative interpretation that comes closest to capturing the meaning of Nietzsche’s claim. According to this interpretation, Nietzsche’s claim that we’re necessarily “strangers to ourselves” shouldn’t be understood descriptively, but rather normatively, i.e., as suggesting that lacking a certain kind of self-knowledge is good for “we knowers.”
Teaching Documents by Tom Hanauer
This "Handbook" is part of a project in a class I taught at UC Riverside in 2018. The entries wer... more This "Handbook" is part of a project in a class I taught at UC Riverside in 2018. The entries were written by undergraduate students (and edited by me).
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Papers by Tom Hanauer
Teaching Documents by Tom Hanauer