Canadian academic and internet sensation Jordan Peterson has shot back at Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek’s recent criticisms of him. Apparently he wants to chat, heralding in a long-awaited debate between the two thinkers.
During an appearance at the Cambridge Union last month, Zizek savaged the Canadian’s “pseudo-scientific references” and purported inability to speak “about women and marriage without mentioning lobsters, apes or whatever.” Zizek’s comments elicited laughter from his audience, but apparently, Peterson doesn’t find his comments very funny.
“Any time, any place, Mr. Zizek,” Peterson tweeted on Monday, attaching a link to RT’s write-up of Zizek’s provocative remarks.
His tweet launched a barrage of meme-stuffed tweets, with many suggesting that a Peterson vs. Zizek matchup would be the best UFC fight ever – or at least a memorable battle of the minds. Peterson is an outspoken critic of the left and what he terms “cultural Marxism,” while Zizek is known for his radical left views.
“Live on pay per view! In a steel cage!” one Twitter user joked.
Meanwhile, some have apparently started taking bets.
“Zizek’s room is cleaner than yours. He will destroy you,” one netizen tweeted back at Jordan, alluding to the Canadian’s well-known advocacy for orderliness.
Others have questioned whether a Peterson-Zizek debate would even accomplish anything.
“They'll talk past each other, no one will have their minds changed and both sides will claim to have 'won' regardless of what actually gets said. Maybe I'm just a pessimist, and I don't think some sort of engagement between the two would be totally worthless, but I don't think a traditional debate-format would be all that great,” a Reddit user wrote about the hypothetical clash of intellects.
Peterson has previously expressed interest in going toe-to-toe with Zizek. In late November he told an audience in Slovenia that “it would be very interesting” to have a discussion with Zizek. “Perhaps if that can be arranged that could happen,” he added.
Before that, Peterson had challenged Zizek to expand on “the validity of my 'apparently' scientific theories.” The angry barrage of tweets were mistakenly directed at a Zizek quote bot on Twitter, however.
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