Pedantry with Arnoud Visser

Mansplainers, know-it-alls, and Grammar Nazis. In episode 166 of Overthink, Ellie and David think about the figure of the pedant with philosopher Arnoud S. Q. Visser about his book, On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All. They discuss the history of the pedant, how the charge of pedantry can promote anti-intellectualism, and the inherently gendered nature of the pedant. Why are pedants usually men? Who were considered pedants in antiquity, and how does pedantry show up nowadays? What are the moral flaws of the pedant? Is pedantry objective, or does it lie in the eye of the beholder? And what does it mean to say someone is pedantic? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts share their most pedantic takes and dive deeper into Montaigne’s essay “On Pedantry.”

Works Discussed:

Michel de Montaigne, “On Pedantry”

Arnoud S. Q. Visser, On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All

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