Nietzsche listed Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) among the best French writers of the Renaissance, and called him a link to classical antiquity. The personal seal of Montaigne read, “What do I know?” For Montaigne, doubting was no less pleasing than knowing, and he exemplified the philosopher’s proclivity to inquire about every proposition. In his work we fi ... Show More
Jul 28
The Gay Science #24 (V.364-371)
We incomprehensible ones - how our thought branches in every direction, how willing we are to shed our bark, to grow, to change! In this episode, we discuss, among many other sections, important passages such as "What is Romanticism" - in which Nietzsche explains how he departed ... Show More
1h 37m
Jul 21
The Gay Science #23 (V.356-363)
In this chapter of our readthrough, we confront "the problem of the actor". Nietzsche predicts that things shall become ever more "artistic" in Europe, as the actor's talent self-falsification becomes developed in all members of society. Whereas in the Middle Ages, the individual ... Show More
2h 21m
Dec 2019
Ep. 231: Descartes's "Discourse" on Wisdom and Certainty (Part One)
<p>On René Descartes's <em>Discourse on Method</em> (1637), an overview of his work that distills his method, outlines his famous <em>Meditations</em>, presents a provisional (Stoic) ethics, and considers whether he wants to be a public intellectual. This is all meant as a prefac ... Show More
39m 55s