“My cure for Platonism has always been Thucydides.” Nietzsche saw in the first historian of Ancient Greece the will to adhere to realism, and to learn the lessons of the “harsh teacher” of war. Where he sees cowardice in Plato, Nietzsche sees courage in Thucydides, as well as the “practical justice” of allowing all the parties a fair representation of their ... Show More
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
Jan 20
130: Daemonic, part 1 - Ancient Spirits & The Pantheism Controversy
Part one of three. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe often spoke of a dangerous but invigorating life-force that he christened "the daemonic". In his conversations with Eckermann, and in his autobiography Dichtung und Wahrheit, he describes the daemonic by direct reference to Spinoza, a ... Show More
1h 19m
Jan 13
129: Ge Ling Shang - Liberation as Affirmation
Today we're considering Ge Ling Shang's book, Liberation as Affirmation, comparing Zhuangzi and Nietzsche. Shang sees both thinkers as putting forward a "religiosity" of life-affirmation. Major points of comparison: use of language (goblet words/zhiyan & Dionysian dithyramb), whe ... Show More
1h 31m
Nov 2023
Episodio 79 Platón su Vida, los Diálogos y Pensamiento
<p>Platón fue un filósofo griego antiguo nacido en Atenas durante el
período clásico, fundó la Academia, una escuela filosófica donde enseñó las doctrinas filosóficas que más tarde se conocerían como platonismo.</p>
<p>Junto con su maestro, Sócrates, y su alumno Aristóteles, Plat ... Show More
44m 49s
Mar 2022
109 Sokrates
In this episode, we discuss the life and death of Sokrates (ca. 470-399 BC), who is widely considered to be the father of Western philosophy, with in-depth overviews of Aristophanes' Clouds and Plato's dialogue Euthyphro, Apologia, Krito, and Phaido Show Notes: http://www.thehist ... Show More
1h 46m
Nov 2020
Genealogy of Morals | Friedrich Nietzsche
<p>This episode summarises Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals in 10 minutes. It is among Nietzsche’s most sustained and cohesive works consisting of three essays: “Good and Evil, Good and Bad”, “Guilt, Bad Conscience and the Like” and “What is the Meaning of Ascetic Ideals?”< ... Show More
9m 59s
Nov 2023
The Lesser-Known Philosophy of the Iron Age Greeks
<p>When we think of Western philosophers who pondered questions about the good life, we typically think of the classical era of Greece and the likes of Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. But my guest would say that the poets and philosophers who came out of the preceding period, Gre ... Show More
45m 12s