You’ve heard of Jordan Peterson, the man whose books, 12 Rules for Life – subtitled An Antidote to Chaos – and 12 Further Rules for Life were the most unlikely bestsellers of the millennium?

You’ve heard of Jordan Peterson, the man whose books, 12 Rules for Life – subtitled An Antidote to Chaos – and 12 Further Rules for Life were the most unlikely bestsellers of the millennium? The Canadian psychologist who came into prominence for taking a stand against obligatory gender neutral pronouns and became a kind of Pied Piper – or rather, a father figure – for what looked like a generation of young men looking for models of masculinity? The self-help guru who bandies around terms like “goodness” and “virtue” and whose admonitions include the invitation to Stand Up Straight With Your Shoulders Back and Tell the Truth – or at least, Don’t Lie? That Jordan Peterson.

Anyway, I was invited to a dinner last week by Philippa Stroud, whose think-tank engages with social issues, where Peterson and his wife were guests, and got to hear the great man address the issues raised around the table. He seemed very decent and does indeed strike you as having quite a bit of the evangelist, or evangelical, about him. At one point, he observed that the best return for being privileged – socially and economically – was to be virtuous. “Be Good”, he told the gathering – which included Charles Moore, former Telegraph editor. Well, yes. And how many times do you encounter that kind of exhortation, in or out of church? Not often, I’d say.

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