The Wisdom Of
In this podcast we explore great works of philosophy and literature and art, and try to pull out of them what’s most interesting and inspiring! Whether they come from the works of Plato, or Dostoevsky or Picasso, here we explore ideas that move mountains and rock the soul! So, come join us, won’t you? Come worship at the alter of ideas, and come celebrate the dancing of thought. Welcome to the Wisdom Of!
Episodes
373 episodes
Karl Jaspers - What does it mean to be a hero in the modern age?
The philosopher Karl Jaspers wrote a little book called Man in the Modern Age, where, among other things, he talks about what it means to be a hero in our modern age, something, I think, we’d do well to reflect on a bit! ... Check out ...
Byung-Chul Han - The disappearance of thinking!
The philosopher Byung-Chul Han doesn't view our contemporary society as one that's conducive to genuine thinking. We need to recover a deeper form of thinking! ... Check out my new books! This one is called: The Last Human: How Technology i...
Freedom, Happiness, and Control: Dostoevsky’s The Grand Inquisitor and Huxley's Mustapha Mond!
Through these two seminal fictional characters, Dostoevsky and Huxley offer us a stark warning about our future! ... Check out my new books! This one is called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanht...
Stop deferring - Choose yourself into existence!
Kierkegaard on how to avoid a life never fully lived and a self never fully realized! .. Check out my new books! This one is called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhttps://www.amazon.com/L...
Nietzsche and van Gogh - The significance of the year 1888!
The trajectories in the lives of Nietzsche and van Gogh in the year 1888 reveal remarkable parallels! ... Check out my new books! This one is called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhttps://www.a...
Dostoevsky on the limitations of innocence!
In some of his novels, the great Russian Dostoevsky writer explores the limitations of innocence in a complex world. I think he might be helpful to the younger generation today! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Te...
Boccaccio's DeCameron - Escaping the chaos and living rightly again!
In his The Decameron, written in 1353, Giovanni Boccaccio responded to the devastation of the Black Death by imagining a small group of young people who flee plague-ridden Florence and escape to the countryside. Can this be made releva...
Hegel and Plato - The Problem of Democracy
In their own ways, both Hegel and Plato criticize democracy. But their criticisms might be useful because they can push us to identify some of democracy’s vulnerabilities and get us to see how it is it might be improved.... Check out my new boo...
Simone Weil - Gravity, Grace and Love!
Simone Weil was a French philosopher and mystic! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhttps://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/...
The Great Gatsby, CARELESSNESS and AI
A major theme in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is carelessness. It's more relevant than ever today... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhttps://www.amaz...
The Rise of the Emoticons
Are emoticons and emojis as benign as they seem? ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhttps://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/10695...
Kaufman's The Faith of a Heretic - The dissent that keeps knowledge alive!
Walter Kaufman was a German-American philosopher. Let's see what he has to say about intellectual heresy! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhttps://www.amazo...
The Personal Journals of Camus and Kierkegaard!
The philosophers Kierkegaard and Camus left us more than just their formal works! Let's explore their private journals! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhtt...
The Samurai Sword and AI
In wielding our dangerous technology, we could learn from the Samurai.
Max Weber - The age of the disenchantment of the world!
The German sociologist Max Weber uses the word disenchantment to describe the character of a highly modernized, secular and bureaucratic society. Couldn't we all do with some re-enchantment! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last ...
Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death
Neil Postman was a media theorist and a prophetic critic of modern technology... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhttps://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Techno...
Heidegger - The Disappearance of the World!
The German philosopher Martin Heidegger argued that human existence is grounded in meaningful relationships to things. When we lose these relationships, we lose nothing less than the world.... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Hu...
Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet - Writing as an existential necessity!
The great poet Rainer Maria Rilke advises all aspiring artists to ask themselves one question: Are you prepared to sacrifice everything? Because that's what it takes! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is...
Epicurus on Gratitude
What Epicurus has to say about gratitude deserves our attention, especially today... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhttps://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technolo...
William James - Pluralism and Free Will!
James argues for a world where we actively participate in the building of reality and where there are multiple sources of transcendence! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be ...
Let's bring back the language of the SOUL!
We really need to revive a character-based account of the soul!... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhttps://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/...
Rousseau and Han - Today's Loneliness Epidemic!
Why is there such a large increase in loneliness around the world? I think the philosophers Jean-Jacque Rousseau and Byung-Chul Han might be helpful here! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing Wh...
The Spirit of Ancient Greek Tragedy - Why we need it so badly today!
Reviving the spirit of Greek tragedy can offer us a powerful corrective against today's lack of humility and moral polarization.... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human
La Mettrie's Man the Machine - From Cartesian Dualism to Joyful Materialism!
This French philosopher argues that there is no immaterial soul, and that this doesn't strip life of its value! .... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Humanhttps://ww...
Edmund Burke - Inherited Wisdom and the Perils of Starting Anew!
Edmund Burke is the founder of cultural and political conservatism. Dostoevsky, Aristophanes and T.S. Eliot also share in a similar spirit. They all warn against dismissing the past! .... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: ...