Trump and the philosophers

• What can the least philosophical person in history teach us about philosophy
• Lars Fr. H. Svendsen

View sample
Buy hard copy / 28,00 EUR
Buy e-book / 23,00 EUR
Borrow e-book / 18,00 EUR

Book is added to the cart - finish purchase.

The true, the good and the beautiful – philosophers have reflected on these concepts for thousands of years. Donald J. Trump embodies none of them. Yet the Trump phenomenon, viewed through the history of philosophy, can tell us a great deal about the times in which we live. Combining the history of ideas with an analysis of contemporary politics, one of today’s best-known popularisers of philosophy, Lars Fr. H. Svendsen, considers how the most important thinkers in the Western tradition might judge Trump, his associates and the political movement he has shaped. In doing so, he also raises broader questions about the crisis of liberal democracy, the erosion of trust in institutions, the place of truth in the public sphere, and the appeal of populist leadership in the 21st century.

In a kind of sequel to On Stupidity, Idiocy and Stupid Idiots, Svendsen draws on the ideas of the great philosophers, from Plato and Aristotle, through Machiavelli and Kant, to Friedrich Nietzsche and Hannah Arendt, to explore the qualities that have traditionally characterised a good ruler and to compare Donald Trump with that ideal. Is Trump the product of a civilisation in which love has lost its proper direction, as Saint Augustine might have argued? Why would Machiavelli have considered him an inept political leader? And in what way does the MAGA movement, according to Simone de Beauvoir, represent an escape from freedom?

Trump and the Philosophers is at once an accessible introduction to political philosophy, a witty and provocative analysis of one of the most influential political phenomena of our time, and an insightful attempt to understand the world in which we live.

* * * 

The state has no legitimate right whatsoever to determine how citizens should live their lives, what values they should hold, or which life choices are “right.” When Trump insists that certain groups of citizens are more “authentic” than others—religious conservatives over secular citizens, “patriotic” Republicans over progressives, the majority over minorities—he is in fact violating the principle of equal citizenship.

* * *

While the technocrat claims that knowledge provides one correct solution, Trump claims that he himself is the only correct solution: that his instinct is infallible, that his judgments surpass those of institutions, and that politics does not actually need pluralism or compromise. In Trump’s world, disagreement is not a fundamental premise of political freedom, but an obstacle that must be neutralized, while criticism is not a democratic necessity, but a sign of disloyalty. Trump seeks to turn political goals into something unambiguous and beyond dispute, thereby transforming politics itself into an arena dominated by one man and one vision.

* * * 

Philosophers say that I represent the “decline of the West.” COMPLETELY WRONG! I represent its resurrection. I have created more jobs than anyone, restored American pride, and even made Christmas fantastic again! That is the very embodiment of Western civilization. Some people told me that Nietzsche mentioned something called the “will to power.” Absolutely right! Smart guy, but he had a bit of a strange mustache. But never mind, I don’t read books like that. NOBODY READS THEM! Admittedly, I was told that this book is very unfair. FAKE PHILOSOPHY! FAKE NEWS! Maybe it will sell well because my name is on the cover. Everything with my name on it sells well. It will be a huge success for the publishing house—and THAT WILL BE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT THANKS TO ME!

From the “Fake” Afterword by Donald J. Trump

• ISBN: 978-953-369-079-7
• Dimensions: 136x210 mm
• Number of pages: 356
• Cover: paperback
• Year of the edition: 2026
• Original title: Trump og filosofene. Hvordan et studium av historiens minst filosofiske mann kan lære deg forbløffende mye om filosofi
• Original language: Norwegian
• Translation: Ante Sičić