Cofnas’s take on that issue is ultimately based on his claim that “Jews are overrepresented in all intellectual movements and activities that are not overtly anti-Semitic primarily because they have high mean IQs” (Cofnas, p.1331). This is part of his view that there is “legitimate science on race differences” (Cofnas, p. 1332) in regard to intelligence (previously).
Cofnas characterizes MacDonald as claiming that “intelligent, ethnocentric Jews created liberal intellectual and political movements to promote Jewish interests at the expense of gentiles” (Cofnas, pp. 1330-31). MacDonald posits ethnocentric “ethnic networking” (MacDonald, p.2), “Jewish hypocrisy” (p.9), “Jewish activism” (throughout), and efforts to “recruit gentiles as ‘window dressing’ to conceal the extent of Jewish dominance” (p.3) in leftwing organizations, among other things, as elements of the Jewish conspiracy.
Welcome to 2022.
Both MacDonald and Cofnas are preoccupied with the question: “Did Jews create liberal multiculturalism to advance their ethnic interests?” (Cofnas, p.1332).
Did I mention that Philosophia‘s subtitle is “Philosophical Quarterly of Israel“? One might wonder to what extent Cofnas and MacDonald consider the publication of their articles in an Israel-based journal evidence against the presumptions of their debate.
Philosophia is edited by Asa Kasher (Tel Aviv). In response to questions about the publication of these articles, he wrote that the papers were refereed prior to publication, but that it was “a mistake” to publish them, explaining that he was “not aware of the general background of the debate” and that he is “sorry for treating the discussion as an ordinary philosophical debate.” He added that further comments from him may be forthcoming.
Have Jews insinuated themselves into positions of power and influence, “transforming America contrary to white interests,” because they are innately gifted with higher IQs and are reluctant to join forces with anti-Semitic groups, or is it also because they are ethnocentric and hypocritical networkers good at using non-Jews to pursue their own interests? Race science and/or conspiracy theory? This—pardon the editorializing—outrageous question is currently under discussion in the pages of the academic philosophy journal Philosophia.
Readers may recall that Philosophia was in the news in 2020 for another paper that was published by “mistake.” Dr. Kasher informs me that he “asked Springer to start a procedure of retracting” that paper, though it remains online.
Yesterday, Moti Mizrahi (Florida Institute of Technology) who was until last night the associate editor of Philosophia, wrote on Twitter: “I had nothing to do with the publication of this [McDonald’s] paper in Philosophia. I’ve asked the EiC to reconsider its publication in Philosophia.” Later in the day, he announced his resignation from the journal.
January 1st saw the online publication of “The ‘Default Hypothesis’ Fails to Explain Jewish Influence” by Kevin MacDonald, who is described on Wikipedia as an “anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist, white supremacist, and retired professor of evolutionary psychology.” MacDonald’s 32-page article is a response to a piece by Nathan Cofnas, “The Anti-Jewish Narrative,” that Philosophia published last February, and which is one of a series of pieces in which Cofnas critiques McDonald.
MacDonald also takes up the question of whether Jews should be welcomed by white supremacists. Here is his answer, which I reproduce as a screenshot for those who might otherwise be incredulous that an academic journal published these words:
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