The French have this wonderful word, amour-propre, so much better than our English “self-love.” It comes, with its edge, from La Rochefoucauld, his urbane and scintillating Maxims in the seventeenth century. It is the arch-flatterer, “more artful than the most artful of mankind.” In parallel, it comes from Blaise Pascal, who observes that Christianity is the only cure. Then it comes again through Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in the “enlightened” eighteenth century, who thought the primitive savages incapable of amour-propre, because they lacked the gilt-framed mirrors of sophisticated society, in which their pride might be reflected. He imagines it the source of all corruption; and with some authority, for he was himself among the most corrupt of men — this Rousseau who taught us all to “blame society.”
Really there is nothing new under the sun, and the concept comes much earlier from Saint Augustine of Hippo who in his City of God calls it in Latin, amor sui, and puts it about the centre of his review of human tawdriness. That, in turn, is how it came to Pascal: via the French Augustinians, with whom Pascal was in thick, about the time he was writing his Lettres provinciales. One might add, contre Rousseau (and perhaps with Joseph de Maistre) that it goes back farther, to Adam and Eve.
Ye devill appeals to Eve’s amour-propre. She then appeals to Adam’s. That’s how this whole wretched mess got started. Note that this couple predeceased all Rousseau’s noble savages, and that the field anthropologists have since discovered that the primitive tribal types are a lot like us. Which is to say, bad, in many colourful ways, and quite invariably self-regarding.
David Warren, “Amour-propre”, Essays in Idleness, 2016-06-01.
May 19, 2020
QotD: Amour-propre
May 6, 2020
QotD: The French philosophes and the “lower orders”
The French philosophes thought the social classes were divided by the chasm not only of poverty but, more crucially, of superstition and ignorance. They despised the lower orders because they were in thrall to Christianity. The editor of the Encyclopédie, Denis Diderot, declared that the common people had no role in the Age of Reason: “The general mass of men are not so made that they can either promote or understand this forward march of the human spirit.” Indeed, “the common people are incredibly stupid,” he said, and were little more than animals: “too idiotic — bestial — too miserable, and too busy” to enlighten themselves. Voltaire agreed. The lower orders lacked the intellect required to reason and so must be left to wallow in superstition. They could be controlled and pacified only by the sanctions and strictures of religion which, Voltaire proclaimed, “must be destroyed among respectable people and left to the canaille large and small, for whom it was made.”
Keith Windschuttle, “Gertrude Himmelfarb and the Enlightenment”, New Criterion, 2020-02.
April 30, 2020
QotD: Nietzsche’s criticism of Christianity (and Judaism)
H.L. Mencken, “Transvaluation of Morals”, The Smart Set, 1915-03.
April 29, 2020
Haile Selassie – The New Messiah – WW2 Biography Special
World War Two
Published 28 Apr 2020Haile Selassie was the Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire. He led the country against the Italians in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War after which he is exiled to Britain.
Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TimeGhostHistory
Or join The TimeGhost Army directly at: https://timeghost.tvFollow WW2 day by day on Instagram @World_war_two_realtime https://www.instagram.com/world_war_t…
Between 2 Wars: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…
Source list: http://bit.ly/WW2sourcesHosted by: Indy Neidell
Written by: Isabel Wilson
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Isabel Wilson
Edited by: Karolina Dołęga
Sound design: Marek KamińskiColorizations by:
Dememorabilia – https://www.instagram.com/dememorabilia/
Adrien Fillon – https://www.instagram.com/adrien.colo…
Klimbim – https://klimbim2014.wordpress.com/Sources:
National Museum of the U.S. NavyMusic:
“Other Sides of Glory” – Fabien Tell
“The Unexplored” – Philip Ayers
“March Of The Brave 10” – Rannar Sillard
“Deviation In Time” – Johannes Bornlof
“Epic Adventure Theme 3” – Håkan Eriksson
“Heroes On Horses” – Gunnar Johnsén
“Deviation In Time” – Johannes BornlofArchive by Screenocean/Reuters https://www.screenocean.com.
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
Feudalism: A Brief Explanation
Thersites the Historian
Published 26 Oct 2017In this video, I try to bring order to the chaos that is feudalism and render it comprehensible.
April 27, 2020
Spoils of War for Britain and France – Redrawing the Map of the Middle East I THE GREAT WAR 1920
The Great War
Published 25 Apr 2020Sign up for Curiosity Stream and Nebula – and get 40% off annual plans right now: https://curiositystream.com/thegreatwar
100 years ago at the conference of San Remo, one thing became clear: Great Britain and France wanted control over the Middle East. Justified by the fighting in the previous years and painted as “liberators” of the Middle Eastern minorities, the new map of the Middle East emerged – under the cover of the League of Nations Mandate system.
» SUPPORT THE CHANNEL
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thegreatwar
Merchandise: https://shop.spreadshirt.de/thegreatwar/» SOURCES
Karsh, Efraim & Karsh, Inari, Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East 1789-1923, (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 1999)“Dans Le Levant” Le Temps, August 31, 1919 issue, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt…
Lloyd George, David, Memoirs of the Peace Conference, (New Haven : Yale University Press, 1939) vol. 2
“Mounted Rifles Units” New Zealand History, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/aucklan…
Paris, Timothy J. Britain, The Hashemites and Arab Rule 1920-1925, (London : Frank Cass, 2003)
Provence, Michael, The Last Ottoman Generation and the Making of the Modern Middle East, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2017)
O’Neill, Robert, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, Volume VII – The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914–1918, (Australian War Memorial, 1941)
“King-Crane Commission Digital Collection” Oberlin College Library. http://dcollections.oberlin.edu/cdm/s…
» SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: https://instagram.com/the_great_war
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WW1_Series
Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/TheGreatWarChannel»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com
Maps: Daniel Kogosov (https://www.patreon.com/Zalezsky)
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian WittigChannel Design: Alexander Clark
Original Logo: David van StepholdA Mediakraft Networks Original Channel
Contains licensed material by getty images
All rights reserved – Real Time History GmbH 2020
April 7, 2020
Leopold II of Belgium: The Biggest Coverup In European History
Biographics
Published 26 Sep 2018Credits:
Host – Simon Whistler
Author – Shannon Quinn
Producer – Jack Cole
Executive Producer – Shell Harris
March 31, 2020
Third Crusade | 3 Minute History
Jabzy
Published 25 Jul 2015Thanks to Xios, Alan Haskayne, Lachlan Lindenmayer, William Crabb, Derpvic, Seth Reeves and all my other Patrons. If you want to help out – https://www.patreon.com/Jabzy?ty=h
March 27, 2020
March 26, 2020
The Boxer Rebellion l HISTORY OF CHINA
IT’S HISTORY
Published 26 Aug 2015The Boxer Rebellion was one of China’s biggest uprisings against the unwanted European, US-American and Japanese imperialism. Distrust and tensions marked all contacts with foreigners. Secret societies were formed to propagate against the enemy. The Yihequan, also known as Boxers, quickly rose to one of the biggest organisations in Northern China. Masters of close combat, they mainly targeted converted Chinese Christians and attacks increased wildly in the 1880s. From 1900 Empress Dowager Cixi was less and less opposed to the Rebellion, as she hoped to fight back foreign influence. Shortly after, even the Chinese Army started helping the rebels and foreigners were fought, killed or driven out. Consequently, an alliance of the imperial powers sent in 50,000 soldiers to end the massacre. Tough reprisals and treaties followed. Learn all about the Boxer Rebellion on IT’S HISTORY.
» JOIN OUR COMMUNITY FOR MORE HISTORY KNOWLEDGE!
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thehistoryshow
Your photos on Instagram: https://instagram.com/itshistorychannel» SOURCES
Videos: British Pathé (https://www.youtube.com/user/britishp…)
Pictures: mainly Picture Alliance
Content:
Harrington, Peter: Peking 1900: The Boxer Rebellion, Osprey Campaign
Bodin, Lynn: The Boxer Rebellion, Men-at-Arms
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/…
http://www.chinafolio.com/chinas-last…» ABOUT US
IT’S HISTORY is a ride through history – Join us discovering the world’s most important eras in IN TIME, BIOGRAPHIES of the GREATEST MINDS and the most important INVENTIONS.» HOW CAN I SUPPORT YOUR CHANNEL?
You can support us by sharing our videos with your friends and spreading the word about our work.» CAN I EMBED YOUR VIDEOS ON MY WEBSITE?
Of course, you can embed our videos on your website. We are happy if you show our channel to your friends, fellow students, classmates, professors, teachers or neighbors. Or just share our videos on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit etc. Subscribe to our channel and like our videos with a thumbs up.» CAN I SHOW YOUR VIDEOS IN CLASS?
Of course! Tell your teachers or professors about our channel and our videos. We’re happy if we can contribute with our videos.» CREDITS
Presented by: Indy Neidell
Script by: Dan Hungerford
Directed by: Daniel Czepelczauer
Director of Photography: Markus Kretzschmar
Music: Markus Kretzschmar
Sound Design: Bojan Novic
Editing: Markus KretzschmarA Mediakraft Networks original channel
Based on a concept by Florian Wittig and Daniel Czepelczauer
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard-Olsson, Spartacus Olsson
Head of Production: Michael Wendt
Producer: Daniel Czepelczauer
Social Media Manager: Laura PaganContains material licensed from British Pathé
All rights reserved – © Mediakraft Networks GmbH, 2015
March 22, 2020
QotD: The notion of Hell
I know we all follow the theological debates within Catholicism about which saint got in touch with which angel to channel which biblical dead person — don’t they have a show on CNN that goes over each week’s highlights? — but one thing you never do, in Catholicism, Protestantism, or Pentecostal Snake-Handlingism, for that matter, is say there’s no hell.
Because that would be Jewish. The Jews have never cared that much about hell. They grudgingly admit that it’s probably there, but it’s just this place that, after you die, you feel intense shame before God for all the times you yelled at your wife or failed to stuff two dollars into the self-parking kiosk. The Hebrew word for hell is “Gehenna,” which is the name of the garbage dump outside Jerusalem that (a) smelled bad, and (b) was always on fire. I can imagine generations of parents using it as a threat to their unruly children: “If you don’t straighten up right this minute, I’m gonna throw you into the smelly garbage dump with the smoke cloud over it!”
So when the Christians come along, they take Gehenna and run with it. They use the name Gehenna to mean hell, and that’s not just trash burning out there, it’s demons and human souls, and it burns forever because it’s mixed with brimstone, which does indeed smell bad when you burn it. Actually brimstone turns red and burns blue, so if you’ve got brimstone out there, you’ve got a blood red gelatinous mass with a blue flame, or what the great preachers call …
The Lake of Fire.
[…]
At any rate, the reason the Catholic press got their cassocks in a bunch is that, over the past half century or so, a lot of theologians have been saying, “Maybe we got the whole hell thing wrong.” They’ve looked back over the appropriate scriptures and decided that, after you die, you don’t get thrown into the flaming garbage dump, you just vanish from all human history, as though you never existed. There’s no memory or trace of you, you’re erased from the universe.
And this might be what the Pope said he believes. After Eugenio reported their conversation, the Vatican scrambled around and issued statements saying that, no, the Pope didn’t go outside the catechism and they were just chewing the fat and please everybody let’s not get carried away. Yes, Gehenna is real. Yes, the Pope believes in hell. Yes, the Pope is Catholic.
Joe Bob Briggs, “Pope Forgets the Lake of Fire”, Taki’s Magazine, 2018-06-21.
March 19, 2020
Second Crusade | 3 Minute History
Jabzy
Published 14 May 2015Thanks for the 5,000 subs
March 18, 2020
A classic “dirty book” of the late Middle Ages
I’m not well read in the classics, being much more of a history reader myself, so I didn’t know anything about The Decameron. Arthur Chrenkoff provides a helpful thumbnail of the book:
“A Tale from the Decameron” by John William Waterhouse (1916).
Image from the Lady Lever Art Gallery via Wikimedia Commons.
Giovanni Boccaccio had written The Decameron in the aftermath of the Black Death pandemic of 1348, which carried away somewhere around one third of the European population. The book is set in a monastery, where seven young women and three young men, the Millennials of the day, self-quarantine themselves for ten days to avoid the plague and while away their days (there was no internet in those days, you see) telling each other stories, ten each day, all based around a chosen theme, such as love that ends happily or the tricks that women play on men. Many of the stories are a bit dirty, which is why The Decameron was put on the Catholic Church’s index of prohibited books; more interestingly, it was also banned in Australia until 1973, on pretty similar grounds.
March 17, 2020
QotD: The luck of the Irish
Dan Savage, “Welcome Black”, AndrewSullivan.com, 2005-08-08.
March 14, 2020
History Summarized: Ethiopia
Overly Sarcastic Productions
Published 13 Mar 2020Ethiopian History gets started early and just keeps on going. From the dawn of humanity itself through the medieval period and into the modern day, the history of the kingdom at the end of the Blue Nile is full of surprises.
SOURCES & Further Reading: Harold Marcus A History of Ethiopia and John Jackson’s Ethiopia and the Origins of Civilization, see also Kenneth Vickery’s lecture “Ethiopia: Outpost of Christianity” and William Cook’s lecture “The Rock-Hewn Churches of Ethiopia” via The Great Courses.
This video was edited by Sophia Ricciardi AKA “Indigo”. https://www.sophiakricci.com/
Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.
PATREON: https://www.Patreon.com/OSP
DISCORD: https://discord.gg/h3AqJPe
MERCH LINKS: https://www.redbubble.com/people/OSPY…
OUR WEBSITE: https://www.OverlySarcasticProductions.com
Find us on Twitter https://www.Twitter.com/OSPYouTube
Find us on Reddit https://www.Reddit.com/r/OSP/
