On Becoming

In this episode, Dr. Benson goes into more details about the variety of options provided to students at different types of schools, and how these impact their experiences. Utilizing his years of experience as a professor, Dr. Benson discusses the elements of a college education that are perhaps less tangible and less directly-connected to financial outcomes. 

Is college worth it? With tuition prices at stratospheric highs, and the burden of student loans constantly in the news, Dr Benson discusses the perceptions of college's value, as well as the financial considerations one must make. This is part one of a two-part series. In the next episode, Dr Benson will consider the value of higher education that goes beyond the finances. 

This episode is part of a new series from On Becoming. These shorter episodes — which we will call ‘Pensées, after the work of Blaise Pascal — will serve as ‘reflections’ on the general themes that will be addressed at greater length in our standard, full-length episodes each week. In this pensée, Dr. Benson discusses the idea of what the future of higher education may be, and outlines a few of th...

After a brief holiday break we are back with part three of the 'Religion as a Way of Life' series!

In this episode, Dr. Benson continues his discussion of Ross Douthat's New York Times op-ed 'Where Does Religion Come From?'

In this episode, Dr. Benson discusses Ross Douthat's recent New York Times op-ed 'Where Does Religion Come From?,' offers his take on where Douthat goes wrong, and gives his own take on the question. 

This short episode on conversion is an example of the bonus content that is made available to those who support the podcast on Patreon. If you are interested in more, please subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/onbecomingpodcast !

In this episode, Dr. Benson continues to explore the context and implications of one of the best-known statements in the history of philosophy: "God is dead."

In this episode, Dr. Benson discusses his experience at last week's conference, Theology Beer Camp, and further examines Nietzsche's critique of Christianity. 

In the final episode of our Nietzsche series, Dr. Benson discusses his final thoughts on Nietzsche's life and work, and adds a bit of detail about how his own philosophical itinerary brought him to Nietzsche's thought. 

In this episode, Dr. Benson continues the series on Nietzsche, and goes in-depth on Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra."

In this episode, Dr. Benson begins a discussion of theological elements in Nietzsche's life and work. 

If you've already signed up for the Gadamer course, you might be interested in hearing what we'll be discussing. For those of you who have been meaning to sign up (but just haven't gotten around to it yet), you might find it interesting too. If you're interested in signing up, don't forget that the deadline is October 1st. To sign up, you can contact us at onbecomingpodcast@gmail.com or send us a...

In this episode, I share a recent presentation on Kierkegaard. I was part of a workshop on contradictions in theology and my assignment was to present on Kierkegaard and the paradox. The context for the workshop was the problem of contradiction in two major doctrines in Christianity: the trinity (3 in 1) and the incarnation (fully human, fully divine). While Kierkegaard is aware of (and wants to a...

In this episode, Dr. Benson further elaborates on loneliness, and addresses strategies that we can use to regain a sense of community. 

In this episode, Dr. Benson talks about loneliness. After the Covid-19 pandemic, loneliness is certainly a topic that many feel well-acquainted with, yet putting a finger on exactly how it affects us and how we can deal with it is a challenge. 

In this concluding episode, we consider how Derrida's thought was received. Unfortunately, many people came to think that Derrida was a relativist or skeptic or some other bad thing. Yet Derrida strongly rejected any such reading of his work. And then he went on to say that justice cannot be deconstructed since justice is an absolute ideal. We finish the episode by considering some 'aporias' of ju...

It's not everyday that a technical term used by a philosopher becomes a common word that most everyone knows. But, as is often the case when things get disconnected from their original context, the meaning can change or even become something quite different than the philosopher intended. Such is the case with 'deconstruction'. In this episode, you'll finally discover where this word comes from and...

In this episode, we conclude our exploration into Husserl’s idea of how communication is possible by considering the distinction between text and context, or meaning and significance. Husserl insists that all meaning is set within a horizon. However, if the text’s or person’s horizon is different from ours, then that significantly affects the possibility of communication.

In this episode, I consider what makes communication possible by way of turning back to Edmund Husserl, the famed founder of phenomenology. Then we turn to questions posed by Derrida regarding whether Husserl is right about how communication works and the extent to which direct and complete communication is possible. 

In this second half of our interview with Liz Edman, we turn explicitly to her book. To get a bit more context for this second half of the interview, you may want to listen to that part first. As you'll hear, Liz speaks very powerfully about what the church can learn from queer people. Liz contends that the Bible is deeply queer, though you'll discover that this turns out to be one of its best att...

It's with great delight that I present our first anniversary episode! We've already had many interesting and, I hope, helpful episodes on big philosophical and theological questions. In this episode, I consider the various themes we've discussed and how they relate to the continuing development of the podcast. But I also have a surprise announcement: I'm planning to offer a short course on Gadamer...

This episode begins a two-part series with The Revd Liz Edman, author of Queer Virtue. Liz (she/her) is an Episcopal priest and political strategist who has been igniting people's understanding of Christianity and queer life for more than 25 years. She has served as an inner city hospital chaplain to people with HIV/AIDS from 1989 to 1995, helping craft political and communications strategies for...

In this episode, I continue our discussion of the thought of Hans-Georg Gadamer. We explore how coming to think like Gadamer makes one open to new ideas. He speaks of being 'radically undogmatic' and, as I point out in this episode, that was the way he did philosophy. I also talk about how the students whom I've taught Gadamer found that they changed significantly--for the better.