How to Philosophize with a Hammer and Sickle

Nietzsche and Marx for the 21st-Century

By: Jonas Čeika

Narrated by: Jonas Čeika

From the creator of the Cuck Philosophy YouTube channel comes this timely and explosive reevaluation of Marx and Nietzsche for the 21st-century left.

Modernity has been defined by humanity's capacity for self-destruction.

Over the last century, the means which threaten not only life's joy but its very existence have only multiplied. At the same time, as a new wave of nationalism and right-wing politics spreads across the world, fewer and fewer people are being convinced that socialism could improve their everyday lives, let alone save us from our own destruction.

In this timely and explosive book, philosopher and YouTuber Jonas Čeika (a.k.a. Cuck Philosophy) reinvigorates socialism for the 21st century. Leaving behind its past associations with bureaucracy and state tyranny, and its lifeless and drab theoretical accounts, Čeika instead uses the works of Marx and Nietzsche to reconnect socialism with its human element, presenting it as something not only affecting, but created by living, breathing, suffering human individuals.

At a time when ecological collapse is hurtling towards us, and capitalism offers no solution except more growth and exploitation, How to Philosophize with a Hammer and Sickle shows us the way forward to a socialism grounded in human experience and accessible to all.

©2021 Jonas Čeika (P)2021 Repeater

Delightful Consumption

NOTE: In Chapter 2, Part 2 there are some technical audio engineering related issue with overlapping voiceovers and presumably unintentional silences between the ~6:33 and 8:30 minute marks.

THAT aside.
A great and easily digestible situation of our favorite situators to misappropriate and their convergences.
Can recommend well enough as a corrective.

Based

This is a brilliant critique of so much that plagues the American left (asceticism, charity, resentment) and such a wonderful explanation of what is best and most brilliant in the thought of Marx and Nietzche. It's so good. It's so inspiring. It's also, I think, pretty accessible.

Tremendous

Rarely do I encounter a work which combines such deep philosophical analysis with a practical zeal for emanapatory politics, as well as simply an embrace of the fullness of human experience, as "How to Philosophize With a Hammer and Sickle: Nietzche and Marx for the Twenty First Century" by Jonas Čeika, published last month. Čeika, well known for his expansive video essays on YouTube exploring a range of philosophical topics, has made a valuable contribution to the contemporary literature of human emancipation.

Using Marx to examine Nietzche and Nietzche to investigate Marx, more so than any vulgar attempt to combine the two, Čeika uses one to uncover the other, to discover what is implicit in one by what is explicit in the other. In the process, he overcomes many of the shortcomings associated with previous interpretations of both, showing that Marx's philosophy at it's core is about the full expression of human potential and that Nietzche's philosophy logically demands radical emancipation from capitalism and the class system.

Čeika is able to explain complex ideas in a very straightforward and understandable way, really anyone without a philosophical background should be able to pick up this book and find much value in it. And for those versed in the literature surrounding these two thinkers, it is a breath of fresh air, at the same time radically departing from much of the traditional literature of Marx and Nietzche studies while returning to the sources, showing the true value of both. Most likely one of the most important books published this year, I recommend it to everyone.

Interesting project, well executed

If you enjoy any the content from Jonas Ceika's YouTube channel, CCK Philosophy, you will definitely enjoy this book. This book demonstrates Ceika's in depth knowledge of the reltated literature proving that he is much more than your average online content creator.

There are so many secondary sources on Nietzsche and Marx but not many that seek to synthesize the two. It is certainly a challenging project that I feel Ceika succeeded in. More time is spent with Nietzsche than Marx but rightly so; Marx is clearly a leftist thinker whereas Nietzsche is typically associated with the right wing. This book has changed how I think about Nietszche and piqued my interest in reading more of his material.

This book is written in such a way to be approachable and entertaining to the laymen. But it also has some references to lesser known source material from the writers as well as interesting historical references that will be of interest to more experienced philosophy readers.

Although there are many references and overviews of other thinkers, Ceika's voice resonates boldly through start to finish. His voice is exceedingly cogent; his years of practice in acedemy and writing video essays for a broad audience shows in the clarity of the prose. It is also refreshing that he narrates the audiobook and this is a huge plus to anyone who is a fan of his online content.

A very necessary and lovely-written book

“Čeika did a really good job making his arguments,” was the first thing I thought of when I finished this book. It’s not supposed to fuse or synthesize together Nietzsche and Marx, as the author himself says, and I think the book is made the better for it. This book is more measuring the size/distance of a far object (in this case revolution, the improvement of our modern social relations and de-confusing ourselves from modern socio-political-economic dogma) by seeing it from two separate points, Nietzsche & Marx’s philosophies. The best thing about this book is building a bridge for fans of one of these philosophers to learn about the other, as some circles of both philosopher’s fans think there is a conflict, when really that conflict is due to Nazi vibes confusing us on Nietzsche and Stalinist vibes confusing us on Marx. The answers for humanity moving forward aren’t all here, but a good amount of the book aims well and hits true. Very happy I bought this on the recommendation of my buddy Dack, check out his YT channel “The Overwritten Report,” where we will probably talk a bit on this book one day maybe haha.

Great Book (Ok Recording)

The book itself was great, and I particularly learned a lot about Nietzsche I didn’t know before. Overall, I think the author succeeded in making their point that (their reading) Nietzsche and Marx can be reconciled, in spite of Nietzsche’s problematic, reactionary politics, particularly his renouncing of the socialism he was aware of, and his belief that Greek style aristocracy was the preferable form of government/social organization. The author does a good job of showing that the socialism he was aware of was likely not Marxist, but the same socialists who Marx was critical of.

At any rate, I unfortunately couldn’t give the performance more than three stars, not because of the reader (the author), but because of some issues with the recording itself. These aren’t merely mistakes on the author’s part, but somehow certain parts were edited together in such a way where sections are being read together simultaneously, thereby making a few minutes of the book unintelligible. I planned on buying the actual text anyway, so I’ll find out what those sections actually said, but it was disappointing to run into the problem when it arose (two times I think, three at most). It didn’t prevent me from getting the gist of the chapters where it happened, so I wouldn’t let it be a reason to not get the audiobook, but I feel I would be a dishonest review to not point it out.