logo
episode-header-image
Aug 12
1h 44m

120: Erich Heller, The Disinherited Mind...

Untimely Reflections
About this episode

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 of intellectual culture, and Nietzsche's echo of Goethe in his history of European nihilism, and how he comes to differ from Goethe, Schopenhauer and all his influences in his proclamations about history, in which the Overman shall transcend the cyclical, unchanging stagnation of human history by changing the nature of man himself. Finally, we consider what the hazard of modern poetry means for us in the present day, what each figure's answer to this divorce between symbol & real means, whether they succeeded or not, and what we can learn from them.

Up next
Oct 7
Q&A #13
If you would like to have your own questions answered on The Nietzsche Podcast, no matter how unusual, niche, or rambling, then join the Patreon and participate in our regular Q&As that happen about twice per season. Season six starts next week! 
2h 12m
Sep 23
The Gay Science #20 (IV.328-342)
The conclusion of the main books of The Gay Science! We'll cover some of the best aphorisms so far: the greatest weight, the dying Socrates, long live physics, and many more. Thus begins Zarathustra's down-going. Episode art: Nicholas Roerich - Zarathustra (1931) 
2h 25m
Sep 16
The Gay Science #19 (IV.311-327)
More aphorisms concerning drives, the way that impulses appropriate thought for their own ends, "moral pluralism", means of finding happiness, pleasure and pain as means rather than ends, and experimentation as method.Episode art: The Two Crowns (1900) by Frank Dicksee 
2h 14m
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2024
Dostoevsky vs Nietzsche | Kathleen Higgins, Janne Teller, Oliver Ready
Doestoevsky vs Nietzsche - where do we find meaning in life?Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesDostoevsky and Nietzsche both regarded the creeping nihilism and meaninglessness of their time as a fundamental threat to humanity. Wh ... Show More
43m 58s
Feb 2024
Class 2: The Heritage of the Enlightenment
“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 mo ... Show More
47m 7s
Jan 2019
Episode 53, Friedrich Nietzsche (Part IV - Further Analysis and Discussion)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), a man who suffered greatly from bodily ills, considered himself somewhat of a physician. Yet, his remedies were not aimed towards physical conditions of the body, but rather the personal and societal ills of his time. Nietzsche, often poetically a ... Show More
54m 15s
Feb 2024
Class 5: Marxism
“A specter is haunting Europe—the specter of communism.”—Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto. HIST 271/HUMS 339: European Intellectual History since Nietzsche is a survey course designed to introduce students to the dominant trends in modern European intellect ... Show More
50m 27s
Jan 2019
Episode 53, Friedrich Nietzsche (Part II - Thus Spoke Zarathustra)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), a man who suffered greatly from bodily ills, considered himself somewhat of a physician. Yet, his remedies were not aimed towards physical conditions of the body, but rather the personal and societal ills of his time. Nietzsche, often poetically a ... Show More
1h 2m
Jan 2019
Episode 53, Friedrich Nietzsche (Part III - Beyond Good and Evil)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), a man who suffered greatly from bodily ills, considered himself somewhat of a physician. Yet, his remedies were not aimed towards physical conditions of the body, but rather the personal and societal ills of his time. Nietzsche, often poetically a ... Show More
43m 41s
Dec 2018
Episode 53, Friedrich Nietzsche (Part I - The Life of Nietzsche)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), a man who suffered greatly from bodily ills, considered himself somewhat of a physician. Yet, his remedies were not aimed towards physical conditions of the body, but rather the personal and societal ills of his time. Nietzsche, often poetically a ... Show More
1h 5m
Feb 2024
Class 13: French Existentialism
“Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself.”—Jean-Paul Sartre, “Existentialism is a Humanism.” 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 hi ... Show More
51m 33s
Jan 2025
Philosophy Series: Nietzsche and the Death of God
Breht listens to, reflects on, and critically engages with a public lecture by the late philosopher Michael Sugrue entitled "Nietzsche and the Death of God". He discusses the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, the politics of modern day Nietzscheans, the death of god and consumer ... Show More
2h 32m
Apr 2025
Auto-Exploitation, Positive Violence, and the Palliative Society: A Modern Philosopher’s Ideas for Making Sense of the Present Age
Feelings of burnout and boredom have become prevalent in modern life. To understand the roots of and solutions to these issues, we can turn to both ancient philosophers and contemporary thinkers. Among the latter is Korean-German philosopher Byung-Chul Han, whose thought-provokin ... Show More
58m 6s