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Critiques of Jordan B. Peterson's ideas

In September 2016, JBP launched himself to fame and fortune (e.g. on Patreon) by going on a public transphobia bender. He attacked trans and nonbinary people, as well as other marginalized groups that conservatives like to pick on. I was one of the first to publically counter him.

In late 2017, JBP published a self-help book aimed at the alt-right market and went on a book tour. Here is a curated list of critiques of his scholarship, strategy, and ideology, listed chronologically by author. I have carefully studied each one.

If you only have time to read a few of them, perhaps try those by (in alphabetical order): Houman Barekat, Noah Berlatsky, Jacob Hamburger, Marina Hyde, Hari Kunzru, Nora Loreto, Kate Manne, Pankaj Mishra, Nathan J. Robinson, Bernard Schiff, and John Semley.

(See also: Noah Berlatsky's page and @killmeohana's page.)

  1. @LitAnscombe: Professor Against Political Correctness [Critical Transcription] (Google Docs, 27.Sep.2016)
  2. Nicholas Matte: How do we respond to Transphobia and Cisnormativity on the part of University of Toronto faculty? (SDS Blog, 29.Sep.2016)
  3. Brenda Cossman: Bill C-16 – No, its Not about Criminalizing Pronoun Misuse (SDS Blog, mid.Oct.2016)
  4. Tamara Khandaker: No, the Trans Rights Bill Doesn't Criminalize Free Speech (Vice, 24.Oct.2016)
  5. Alexander Offord: The Intellectual Fraudulence of Jordan Peterson (apropos of Daniel Karasik) (Alexander Offord blog, 14.Nov.2016)
  6. Lisa Cumming: Are Jordan Peterson's Claims About Bill C-16 Correct? (Torontoist, 19.Dec.2016)
  7. Siobhan O'Leary: When Transphobia Trumps Statistics (The Establishment, 16.Feb.2017)
  8. Patrick G. Watson: Jordan Peterson a little shy on proof (Hamilton Spectator, 25.Mar.2017)
  9. Canadian Bar Association: Letter to Senator Runciman in support of Bill C-16 (Canadian Bar Association, 10.May.2017)
  10. Egale: Open Letter – The Reality of Bill C-16 (Egale, 16.May.2017)
  11. Daniel Heath Justice: Demanding Kinder Classrooms Doesn't Make You a Snowflake (The Walrus, 23.Aug.2017)
  12. Florence Ashley: No, pronouns won't send you to jail (McGill Daily, 18.Sep.2017)
  13. Morgane Oger: Peterson's Petulance Problem (Morgane Oger blog, 12.Nov.2017)
  14. Andy Holmes, Curtis Seufert, and Helen Wagner: The Post-Truth Politics of Jordan Peterson's Gender Nonbinary Pronoun Debate (The Talon, 14.Nov.2017)
  15. Tabatha Southey: Is Jordan Peterson the stupid man's smart person? (Macleans, 17.Nov.2017)
  16. Florence Ashley: Professorship versus censorship: Should Jordan Peterson continue to be given a platform on trans rights? (NOW Toronto, 02.Jan.2018)
  17. Brenda Cossman: Gender identity, gender pronouns, and freedom of expression: Bill C-16 and the traction of specious legal claims (University of Toronto Law Journal vol.68 no.1 pp37-79, 11.Jan.2018)
  18. Hari Kunzru: 12 Rules for Life - a self-help book from a culture warrior (Guardian, 18.Jan.2018)
  19. Julian Baggini: 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson — back to basics (Financial Times, 19.Jan.2018)
  20. Shuja Haider: Postmodernism Did Not Take Place: On Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life (Viewpoint, 23.Jan.2018)
  21. Leonor Gonçalves: Psychologist Jordan Peterson says lobsters help to explain why human hierarchies exist - do they? (Phys.org, 25.Jan.2018)
  22. Aaron Huertas: A Field Guide to Jordan Peterson's Political Arguments (Medium, 29.Jan.2018)
  23. P.Z. Myers: Jordan Peterson & the Lobster (YouTube, 29.Jan.2018)
  24. John Semley: The Jordan Peterson paradox: high intellect, or just another angry white guy? (Globe and Mail, 31.Jan.2018)
  25. Jack Smith IV, Jordan Peterson is the rising self-help guru of young conservatives. Here's what he's telling them (Mic, 03.Feb.2018)
  26. Harrison Fluss: Jordan Peterson's Bullshit (Jacobin, 06.Feb.2018)
  27. John Ganz and Steven Klein: A Serious Man (The Baffler, 07.Feb.2018)
  28. Dorian Lynskey: How dangerous is Jordan B Peterson, the rightwing professor who 'hit a hornets' nest'? (Guardian, 07.Feb.2018)
  29. Danyl Mclauchlan: A self-help book by an alt-right hero who calls women 'chaos' (The Spinoff, 08.Feb.2018)
  30. P.Z. Myers: PZ Replies to the Lobsterians (YouTube, 11.Feb.2018)
  31. Jacob Bacharach: The Right's Favorite New Intellectual Has Some Truly Pitiable Ideas About Masculinity (AlterNet, 13.Feb.2018)
  32. Paul Thagard: Jordan Peterson's Flimsy Philosophy of Life (Psychology Today, 14.Feb.2018)
  33. Grant Maxwell: Why Are So Many Young Men Drawn to Jordan Peterson's Intellectual Misogyny? (American Philosophical Association blog, 20.Feb.2018)
  34. Josh Horwitz: An anti-Marxist, pro-free speech YouTuber is gaining a following in China (Quartz, 23.Feb.2018)
  35. Noah Berlatsky: How Anti-Leftism Has Made Jordan Peterson a Mark for Fascist Propaganda (Pacific Standard, 02.Mar.2008)
  36. Houman Barekat: A Messiah-cum-Surrogate-Dad for Gormless Dimwits: On Jordan B. Peterson's "12 Rules for Life" (Los Angeles Review of Books, 08.Mar.2018)
  37. Paul Thagard: Jordan Peterson's Murky Maps of Meaning (Psychology Today, 12.Mar.2018))
  38. Nathan J. Robinson: The Intellectual We Deserve (Current Affairs, 14.Mar.2018)
  39. @Tisias: Historicizing with a Bulldozer (Medium, 15.Mar.2018)
  40. Pankaj Mishra: Jordan Peterson & Fascist Mysticism (New York Review of Books, 19.Mar.2018)
  41. Nesrine Malik: Sorry, Jordan Peterson: rage isn't a great look for a self-help guru (Guardian, 23.Mar.2018)
  42. Robert Jago: The Story Behind Jordan Peterson's Indigenous Identity (The Walrus, 23.Mar.2018)
  43. James Fell: The Unbearable Whiteness of Being Jordan Peterson (BodyForWife, 24.Mar.2018)
  44. Zack Beauchamp: Jordan Peterson, the obscure Canadian psychologist turned right-wing celebrity, explained (Vox, 26.Mar.2018)
  45. Derek Schimanski: Jordan Peterson (Daily Screed, 03.Apr.2018)
  46. Adam A.J. DeVille: Jordan Peterson's Jungian best-seller is banal, superficial, and insidious (Catholic World Report, 03.Apr.2018)
  47. David Livingstone Smith and John Kaag: Thus Spoke Jordan Peterson (Foreign Policy, 04.Apr.2018)
  48. Richard Poplak: Richard Poplak sets Jordan B Peterson's house in order: a (scorching) review of 12 Rules For Life (Johannesburg Review of Books, 04.Apr.2018)
  49. Jesse Brown: Only a Country Like Canada Could Produce a Guy Like Jordan Peterson (New York Times, 06.Apr.2018)
  50. Elizabeth Sandifer: Jordan Peterson - Bumbling Cult Leader or Delightful Satire? (Eruditorium Press, 12.Apr.2018)
  51. Benjamin Doxtdator: Why does Jordan Peterson resonate with white supremacists? (Long View on Education blog, 14.Apr.2018)
  52. Jade Saab: The Sophism of Jordan Peterson and Popular Political Discourse (Jade Saab, 18.Apr.2018)
  53. Rich Smith: Seattle, Why Are So Many of You Going to See Jordan B. Peterson? (The Stranger, 30.Apr.2018)
  54. Natalie Wynn: Jordan Peterson | ContraPoints (YouTube, 02.May.2018)
  55. Nathan J. Robinson: The Real "Dangerous" Ideas (Current Affairs, 10.May.2018)
  56. Ari Feldman: Is Jordan Peterson Enabling Jew Hatred? (Forward, 11.May.2018)
  57. Adam Novy: Homer and Hatred: On Jordan Peterson's Mythology, (Los Angeles Review of Books, 12.May.2018)
  58. Sam Rocha: Book Review: Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life (Catholic News Agency, 14.May.2018)
  59. Vincent Clarke: Jordan Peterson: Shepherd of the Easily Freudened (American Affairs, 17.May.2018)
  60. Philip Dodd: Jordan B Peterson (BBC Radio Arts & Ideas, 17.May.2018)
  61. Robyn Pennacchia: Wonksplainer: Who Is Jordan Peterson And Why Is He The Worst? (Wonkette, 17.May.2018)
  62. Robyn Pennacchia: Jordan Peterson Somehow Worse Today Than Yesterday (Wonkette, 18.May.2018)
  63. Nellie Bowles: Jordan Peterson, Custodian of the Patriarchy (New York Times, 18.May.2018)
  64. Gilad Edelman: Jordan Peterson's Crackpot Sex Theories Are Pure Reagonomics (Washington Monthly, 18.May.2018)
  65. Jeet Heer: Jordan Peterson's Tired Old Myths (New Republic, 21.May.2018)
  66. Jonathan Foiles: Jordan Peterson Seems Like a Terrible Therapist (Slate, 22.May.2018)
  67. Jared Yates Sexton: Jordan Peterson's moment of fame — and the dangers of patriarchal pseudoscience (Salon, 22.May.2018)
  68. Hadley Freeman: Jordan Peterson may be a 'public intellectual', but his latest theory isn't very clever (Guardian, 23.May.2018)
  69. Kate Manne: Reconsider the lobster (TLS, 23.May.2018)
  70. Helen Lewis: Jordan Peterson and the rise of the cargo cult intellectual (New Statesman, 23.May.2018)
  71. Nora Loreto: What Jordan Peterson doesn't get about men and success in Canada (Washington Post, 24.May.2018)
  72. Bernard Schiff: I was Jordan Peterson's strongest supporter. Now I think he's dangerous (Toronto Star, 25.May.2018)
  73. Eric Levitz: Jordan Peterson Does Not Support 'Equality of Opportunity' (New York Magazine, 25.May.2018)
  74. Tabatha Southey: The context of Jordan Peterson's thoughts on 'enforced monogamy' (Macleans, 25.May.2018)
  75. Nathan J. Robinson: Two Ways Of Responding To Conservatives (Current Affairs, 27.May.2018)
  76. Përke Ndencën: Jordan Peterson: The Distortions of an Ideologue (Medium, 29.May.2018)
  77. Lita Gold: Current Affairs' Comparative Mythology Exam (Current Affairs, 30.May.2018)
  78. Davide Mastracci: Jordan Peterson Is The New Chief Lobbyist For 'Nice Guys' And Incels (Huffington Post, 31.May.2018)
  79. Tara Isabella Burton: The religious hunger that drives Jordan Peterson's fandom (Vox, 01.Jun.2018)
  80. Alexander Douglas: Review of Jordan Peterson's stupid lecture (Medium, 02.Jun.2018)
  81. Scott Oliver: The Fundamental Errors of Jordan Peterson (Vice, 04.Jun.2018)
  82. Miles Klee: We Get The Daddies We Deserve (MEL Magazine, 04.Jun.2018)
  83. Bailey Steinworth: Jordan Peterson needs to reconsider the lobster (Washington Post, 04.Jun.2018)
  84. Anne Thériault: Canada's niceness is the very reason its young men radicalize (Guardian, 05.Jun.2018)
  85. Richard Cooke: Christ on a bike: The strange case of Jordan Peterson (The Monthly, 06.Jun.2018)
  86. Sean Illing: A feminist philosopher makes the case against Jordan Peterson (Vox, 06.Jun.2018)
  87. Anthony Warner: Thermidor Part 1 (Angry Chef blog, 07.Jun.2018)
  88. Liza Featherstone: I Think My Friend Is a Jordan Peterson Fan. What Should I Do? (The Nation, 07.Jun.2018)
  89. Samir Chopra: Jordan Peterson is a sexist tool (Samir Chopra blog, 08.Jun.2018)
  90. Ben Libman: Dr. Peterson's Patent Snake Oil: Nothing New Under the Sun (Politics / Letters, 09.Jun.2018)
  91. Nirmal Dass: Jordan Peterson's Tragic Folly (Daily Caller, 11.Jun.2018)
  92. John Ganz: Why We Are So Vulnerable To Charlatans Like Trump (New York Times, 12.Jun.2018)
  93. P.Z. Myers: Reacting to Jordan Peterson's Anti-University Speech [& Prager U] (YouTube, 13.Jun.2018)
  94. Douglas Lain: Vaporwave Destroys Jordan Peterson (YouTube, 21.Jun.2018)
  95. Rich Smith: Jordan Peterson's Views on Gay Marriage and Child-Rearing Are Dumb (The Stranger, 22.Jun.2018)
  96. Anthony Warner: Thermidor Part 2 (Angry Chef blog, 23.Jun.2018)
  97. Bryan W. Van Norden: The Ignorant Do Not Have a Right to an Audience (NY Times, 25.Jun.2018)
  98. Bernard Schiff: Jordan Peterson toys with truth (Medium, 26.Jun.2018)
  99. Mark Hill: How Jordan Peterson Repackages Alt-Right Ideas As Self-Help (Cracked, 27.Jun.2018)
  100. Laura Bullard: Dear DPAC, We Really Need to Talk About Jordan Peterson (Indyweek, 28.Jun.2018)
  101. Matthew A. Sears: Hey Jordan Peterson, suing just makes you look like a hypocrite (The Conversation, 02.Jul.2018)
  102. Morgane Oger in a debate: Weaponizing Speech: The dilemma of free speech (Oger Foundation, 05.Jul.2018)
  103. Laurie Penny: Peterson's Complaint (Longreads, 12.Jul.2018)
  104. Jacob Hamburger: The "Intellectual Dark Web" Is Nothing New (Los Angeles Review of Books, 18.Jul.2018)
  105. William Davies: The free speech panic: how the right concocted a crisis (Guardian, 26.Jul.2018)
  106. Latham Hunter: Jordan Peterson's intellectual hucksterism (Hamilton Spectator, 30.Jul.2018)
  107. Onaje McDowelle: Jordan Peterson: The hollow lessons of his summer tour (Daily Dot, 01.Aug.2018)
  108. P.Z. Myers: Wait, what? Jordan Peterson says he's an evolutionary biologist! (Pharyngula blog, 12.Aug.2018)
  109. Rachel Wetzler: Who's the Real Ideologue? On Jordan Peterson's Communist Art Collection (Frieze, 16.Aug.2018)
  110. Katja Thieme: Jordan Peterson and Citational Practice (Pyriscience, 22.Aug.2018)
  111. Daniel Villarreal: Watch This Well-Known, Anti-Trans Intellectual Lose His Argument Defending Anti-Gay Bakers (Hornet, 24.Aug.2018)
  112. Sarah Berman: NXIVM, Jordan Peterson, and the Reincarnation of Ayn Rand's Cult (Vice, 05.Sep.2018)
  113. P.Z. Myers: No, Jordan Peterson, Genesis is not an accurate scientific summary of primate evolution (Pharyngula blog, 11.Sep.2018)
  114. Maura Forrest: I tried to live according to Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life. Here's what happened (National Post, 20.Sep.2018)
  115. Irin Carmon: Jordan Peterson Threatened to Sue Author for Calling Him a Misogynist (The Cut, 20.Sep.2018)
  116. Colleen Flaherty: Truth Teller, Guru, Hypocrite? (Inside Higher Ed, 24.Sep.2018)
  117. Marina Hyde: Pity Jordan Peterson. Can a giant lobster analogy ever replace a sense of humour? (Guardian, 01.Nov.2018)
  118. Jamie Wrate: The Shadow of Jordan Peterson: Snake-oil, lobsters and lazy-thinking (Medium, 29.Nov.2018)
  119. Rob Marchant: The dangerous arrogance of Jordan Peterson (Antidotesforchimps, 20.Dec.2018)
  120. Nathan J. Robinson: Dear Lobsters: There Is A Better Way (Current Affairs, 30.Dec.2018)
  121. Meg Hanson: Jordan Peterson and the Myth of the Modern Man (Pop Dust, 03.Jan.2019)
  122. Aisling McCrea: The magical thinking of guys who love logic (The Outline, 15.Feb.2019)
  123. Cécile Meier: I went to see Jordan Peterson and it was equal parts boring and terrifying (Stuff, 22.Feb.2019)
  124. Emily Pothast: Jordan Peterson Is a Poor Researcher Whose Own Sources Contradict His Claims (Medium, 22.Mar.2019)
  125. John-Pierre Maeli: 12 Rules for Social Totalitarianism (Political Informer, 27.Mar.2019)
  126. Alex Verman: Jordan Peterson has no idea what he's talking about (A Side, 09.Apr.2019)
  127. Omer Aziz: Masculine Chaos (Harper's, 04.May.2019)
  128. Aaron Freedman: Why Should We Care About Faux Free-Speech Warriors? Because the Koch Brothers Are Paying Their Bills (The American Prospect, 20.Jun.2019)
  129. Florence Ashley: Jordan Peterson is mistaken about gender identity (Medium, 24.Jun.2019)
  130. M.H. Ribeiro, R. Ottoni, R. West, V.A.F. Almeida, and W. Meira: Auditing Radicalization Pathways on YouTube (arxiv.org, 03.Sep.2019)
  131. Jared Holt: Thinkspot Might Be Jordan Peterson’s Best Grift Yet (Right Wing Watch, 27.Nov.2019)
  132. John Semley: What is Jordan Peterson's new anti-censorship website like? (Guardian, 04.Dec.2019)
  133. Mikael Nilsson: Exposing Jordan Peterson’s barrage of revisionist falsehoods about Hitler, the Holocaust and Nazism (Haaretz, 30.Jun.2020)
  134. Richard Poplak: Aggressively, almost wantonly unreadable - Richard Poplak reviews Jordan B Peterson's new book Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life (Johannesburg Review of Books, 15.Apr.2021)
  135. Brett Williams: What are the federalism issues in Canadian law with Jordan Peterson’s claims about C-16? (Quora, May/Jun.2021)
  136. Shree Paradkar: What Jordan Peterson's outdated argument shows us about meritocracy - A false debate shows the matter of equality of opportunity leading to equal outcomes is not settled (Toronto Star, 22.Jan.2022)