Mythic Mind

As a reminder, the public podcast feed is on a hiatus during the current Patreon-exclusive series on the Grimm fairy tales. However, so the public feed isn't completely silent, I'm going to start dropping some recycled content over there. This episode is a lecture originally delivered for my "Philosophy and Christian Thought" course that surveys some important themes in the history of Western Thou...

In this episode, we continue our Patreon-exclusive series on Grimms' Fairy Tales with Hansel and Gretel. Far more than a mere cautionary tale about over-indulgence, this is story is a classic hero's journey that teaches us how to encounter the unexpected, defeat cannibalistic tyrants, and recover lost treasures that, justly earned, enrich our lives and those around us. To gain access to the rest o...

In this final episode of Mythic Mind's first public season, I review where we've been and finish out our discussion of Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death with the hope that can emerge from despair. Additionally, I discuss why Kierkegaard's legacy matters and how it might relate to modern empirical psychology. Finally, I discuss where we'll be headed next! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/andrew...

“The greatest hazard of all, losing the self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.” - Kierkegaard, The Sickness unto Death In this episode, coming to you about 3 months late, I continue our study of The Sickness unto Death with a survey of the forms that despair can seem to take. Through personal experience, people we know, and stories we've heard, it seems that there...

After falsely announcing this a few times, we're finally starting on Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death, in which he discusses the nature of despair and what it means to live as an authentic human self in harmony with our design and purpose. Additionally, in response to a listener's question, I share what I believe Kierkegaard would have to say about anxious attachment and avoidance in relation...

In this special episode, I look toward Good Friday as I discuss some Tolkienian wisdom and the true myth of the gospel. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mythicmind/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mythic-mind--5808321/support .

Happy Tolkien Reading Day! In this special episode of Mythic Mind, I'm joined by several podcasters, professors, authors, and other fans to discuss why we're drawn to Tolkien and to share some of our favorite passages. Whether you are already an insider in this community or you just want to know what all these nerds are up to, I hope you find this to be a fun, inspiring, encouraging show that lead...

I had said that we would begin with The Sickness unto Death today, but I decided to put that off one more time. As we prepare to discuss Kierkegaard's take on despair, I thought it might be helpful for me to talk a bit about my own experiences on the edge of hopelessness to give some personal application to the philosophical explorations that will follow. I sincerely hope that my journeys through...

In the previous episode, we concluded our study of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety. In this episode, in preparation for moving into The Sickness unto Death, we discuss Kierkegaard's relatively short discourse, To Need God is a Human Being's Highest Perfection, in which he argues just that. In this approachable, fairly straightforward discourse, he lays out some of the ideas that will be discu...

In this episode, I conclude our study of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety with the final chapter, "Anxiety as Saving Through Faith," which uses Augustinian and Boethian themes to demonstrate the educative potential of anxiety in relation to the human task of becoming authentically human. Also, I reveal my plans for Mythic Mind following the completion of Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death....

In this episode, we return to Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety with Chapter 4, in which he discusses, among other things, the psychology of evil and repentance. It's a longer, rather dense episode, so, if you have any questions or comments, definitely send me an e-mail at mythicmindpodcast@gmail.com and I will be glad to address them on the show. If you would like to support my work and gain a...

There was recently a post published to Medium, titled “No, the Lord of the Rings is not Christian.” This post, which made rounds throughout the internet, argued that, despite a popular understanding, Tolkien’s great work is not only not fundamentally a Christian work, but that it is actually fundamentally secular, and even philosophically "progressive." I provided a response post to my blog, which...

This is the second lecture from my course, "Philosophy and Christian Thought." I do a couple things in this lecture: first, I address the question posed by Tertullian, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" with reference to Origen, Augustine, and Aquinas. Second, I provide some thoughts regarding Plato’s Apology.  I hope this is of some use to you. If it is, I welcome you to leave me a positive...

As I previously mentioned, I currently have too much on my plate to regularly produce new episodes of Mythic Mind, but I still want to provide content on a regular basis. I've taught a few philosophy and theology courses, so I'm going to start uploading my course lectures whenever I'm unable to make new content for the podcast. We're going to start with a course titled "Philosophy & Christian...

It has been a while, but I bring you the ninth episode of the Mythic Mind podcast! In this episode, we return to Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety with the third chapter. Kierkegaard introduces the term of "the moment," which describes our willful mediation between past actuality and future potential in reference to the eternal. In the moment, we are separated from the rest of earthly existence...

In this episode, we take a break from Kierkegaard to examine the Grimm Tale of "The Frog-king, or Iron Henry" as we inaugurate a new series that, after this episode, will be a Patreon-exclusive journey through fairy-tales and folklore. At the moment, this series will be posted irregularly, but, once we hit the next goal of $400/month, they will be released every other week (on the off-weeks from M...

As we continue to enjoy parenthood with our newborn twins and make daily visits to the hospital to visit our son who is still in the NICU, our schedule has been a little heavy lately. In this episode, I just wanted to briefly check in with you, let you know that I'm still here, and update you on some changes I've made to my Patreon goals. If you want to see where I'd like to go in the future, you...

In this episode, we discuss Chapter 2 of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety. Kierkegaard describes anxiety as the dizziness of freedom which is inherent in human existence, but is consciously experienced as we become more or less conscious of our responsibility to properly relate to the worlds above, below, and within. Anxiety is a symptom of our yearning for fulfillment, but can result in corru...

In this episode, we finish our discussion of the first chapter of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety. We discuss Kierkegaard's understanding of what it means to be human, truly human, and the role that anxiety plays in shaping our identity, for better or for worse. Additionally, we further discuss what it means to use a mythic perspective to consider what matters rather than, first and foremost,...

In this episode, I provide some personal lessons I've learned during the gap since the last episode and we look at the first half of Chapter One of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety. We discuss the ethical relationship between the individual human and the history of the human race. As far as we are, or should be, concerned, where does guilt reside, how is it passed through generations, and what...

In this episode, we look at the introduction to Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety and discuss the importance of making sure we're bringing the right tools to bear on the project at hand. Additionally, and on a related note, we discuss the difference between authenticity and ideological possession. We all have perspectives, but are we using them as tools to rightly engage with the world or are w...

In this episode, we begin our discussion of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety with the preface. We introduce some important themes that will be expanded throughout this series, including the importance of the individual, authentic selfhood, and our relation to Truth. If you appreciate this podcast, please subscribe, share, and consider supporting me on Patreon! --- This episode is sponsored by...

Welcome to the first episode of Mythic Mind! Became a patron at patreon.com/mythicmind Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mythic-mind--5808321/support .