“Our Western heritage is reason—reason, analysis, action, progress!” –Settembrini the organ-grinder in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. HIST 271/HUMS 339: European Intellectual History since Nietzsche is a survey course designed to introduce students to the dominant trends in modern European intellectual history. The class aims to sketch a narrative arc fro ... Show More
Feb 2024
Class 3: The Legacy of Romanticism
“You see, gentlemen, reason is unquestionably a fine thing, but reason is no more than reason, and it gives fulfillment only to man’s reasoning capacity, while desires are a manifestation of the whole of life. . .”—Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground. HIST 271/HUMS 339: Eur ... Show More
48m 14s
May 2023
71: The History of European Nihilism
What does eternal recurrence mean in the historical sense? Nietzsche invites us to explore that question in his raising of the Problem of Science, and the notion of conflict as central to life. Today, in the penultimate episode of the season, we'll take a look into a section from ... Show More
1h 47m
Aug 12
120: Erich Heller, The Disinherited Mind, pt 2 - Burckhardt, Nietzsche & History
The conclusion of our two-parter on Erich Heller, and the conclusion to season five! We discuss Nietzsche's friendship with Jacob Burckhardt, and how Burckhardt's view of history can inform our understanding of Nietzsche's divergence from him. We also consider Goethe's four ages ... Show More
1h 44m
Jan 2025
Philosophy Series: Nietzsche and the Death of God
<p>Breht listens to, reflects on, and critically engages with a public lecture by the late philosopher <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smq5uRhM_IA">Michael Sugrue entitled "Nietzsche and the Death of God"</a>. He discusses the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, the poli ... Show More
2h 32m
Jan 2025
The Nature of All Things: Spinoza's Philosophical Odyssey
Professor of philosophy Colin Bodayle joins Breht to dive into the profound, unique, and almost mystical philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Together, they discuss the value of philosophy for all of us, Spinoza as a "philosopher's philosopher", his life and death in 17th century wester ... Show More
2h 43m
Jun 2025
Dialectics of Nature: Engels on Dialectical Materialism as a Worldview
<p>In this episode, Alyson and Breht explore Friedrich Engels' <em>Dialectics of Nature</em>, a bold and underappreciated attempt to apply dialectical materialism to the natural sciences. Often dismissed or misunderstood, this unfinished work offers a sweeping view of reality - f ... Show More
2h 35m
Aug 2024
Ludovico Silva, "Marx's Literary Style" (Verso, 2023)
In Marx’s Literary Style, the Venezuelan poet and philosopher Ludovico Silva argues that much of the confusion around Marx’s work results from a failure to understand his literary mode of expression. Through meticulous readings of key passages in Marx’s oeuvre, Silva isolates the ... Show More
1h 6m
Sep 2024
J. C. D. Clark, "The Enlightenment: An Idea and Its History" (Oxford UP, 2024)
Enlightenment studies are currently in a state of flux, with unresolved arguments among its adherents about its dates, its locations, and the contents of the 'movement'. This book cuts the Gordian knot. There are many books claiming to explain the Enlightenment, but most assume t ... Show More
30m 40s
May 2024
Episode 130, 'The Dialectics of Nothingness' with Gregory S. Moss and Takeshi Morisato (Part I - The Kyoto School)
<p class="">In the early part of the twentieth century, three thinkers – Nishida Kitarō, Tanabe Hajime, and Nishitani Keiji – founded the Kyoto School of Philosophy, a group of scholars working at the intersection of Japanese and European thought. The Kyoto School, deeply influen ... Show More
40m 42s