The topic for this week is... The Truth. The Nietzschean view of truth is one of the most difficult positions to convey, because the nature of the topic requires pushing language to its limits. To question the value of truth-seeking seems antithetical to the very activity of philosophy. Is Nietzsche just being obstinate? Is he an irrationalist? Is he a postm ... Show More
Feb 10
133: Baruch Spinoza - The Intellectual Love of God
There was much ado about Spinoza, at least amongst the German rationalists and romantics. In this episode, we're going beyond the metaphysics to talk about the entire purpose of Spinoza's Ethics: the path to human freedom, in which a human being can become liberated from dominati ... Show More
1h 33m
Feb 3
132: Daemonic, part 3 - Stefan Zweig & Nietzsche's Struggle with the Daemon
In the conclusion to the daemonic series, we're looking at Stefan Zweig's Struggle with the Daemon - specifically, the section on Nietzsche. Particularly helpful for our analysis will be Zweig's comparison and contrast of Nietzsche with Goethe: both men contain the daemoniacal dr ... Show More
1h 28m
Jan 27
131: Daemonic, part 2 - Herder's Substantial Forces & Goethe's Flame of Genius
In the second part of this series, we'll examine how it is that Goethe came to his conception of the Daemonic, involved as it is with Spinoza's pantheism. Goethe's introduction to Spinoza was largely through Herder, and his friendship with Herder he described as one of the most i ... Show More
1h 28m
Nov 2021
Ep. 282: Alain Badiou: What Is Philosophy? (Part One)
On Conditions (1992), Ch. 1 "The (Re)turn of Philosophy Itself." Against post-structuralists who deny Truth, Badiou argues that truths are generated by the truth conditions (politics, art, love, and science/math) which philosophy then thinks into a unified vision. Part two of thi ... Show More
49m 41s
Mar 2021
Twilight of the Idols | Friedrich Nietzsche
<p>Twilight of the Idols or How to Philosophise with a Hammer is one of Nietzsche’s last books, written in 1888. </p>
<p>As Nietzsche was starting to become recognised, he felt that he needed a short text that would serve as an introduction to his thought. In a letter, he wro ... Show More
10 m
Feb 2021
Ep. 262: Nietzsche on Self-Denial (Part One)
On Friedrich Nietzsche's The Genealogy of Morals (1887), "Third essay: what do ascetic ideals mean?" Self-regulation, where we tamp down certain aspects of our personality, is necessary for disciplined action, but it can clearly go too far. Nietzsche uses this concept of ascetici ... Show More
46m 6s