Sadler's Lectures

This lecture discusses key ideas from the early modern philosopher Francis Bacon's work Novum Organum, specifically the section in book 1 covering the "four idols of the human mind" This episode focuses specifically on his description of the first type of idol, those of the tribe, which have to do with our shared human nature, as members of the same human race. Bacon examines what distinctive sort...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Tranquility This episode focuses specifically on the topic of whether it is good or bad for us to compare ourselves and our lives with other people, particularly with those who are superior to us in some ways. He suggests that if we do need to compare ourselves to others, we be very re...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Tranquility This episode focuses specifically on an important component of having a tranquil life, which is dealing with the emotional states that other people have, display, talk about, and act upon. We will do well not to be too concerned with other people's negative emotions, like e...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Tranquility This episode focuses specifically on his discussion of one mistake that many people make that gets in the way of their enjoying their lives, namely desiring or attempting to do every kind of activity they consider important or valuable in their one life. Many activities are...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Tranquility This episode focuses specifically on our relation to time and the times of past, present, and future. Foolish people don't appreciate the present, because they focus too much on the future that may never come about. They also don't make good use of their memory of the past...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Tranquility This episode focuses specifically on his advice that we ought to direct our focus to what is actually good in our lives, and respond to those things with a sense of joy and appreciation (kharis). If we look at our lives, we actually have a number of good things either in th...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Tranquility This episode focuses specifically on the importance of recognizing that life will be a mix of good and bad things, rather than primarily good things, as some people unrealistically desire, hope, or expect it to be. He advocates for harmonizing the two together into an overa...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Tranquility This episode focuses specifically on his examination of how we make use of or deal with (khēsthai, in Greek) things or matters (pragmata) abd the circumstances we find ourselves in. He uses an analogy which he says derives from Plato (which perhaps goes back to Socrates) of...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Tranquility This episode focuses specifically on a mistake that a number of people make in thinking about what will produce happiness, tranquility, or contentment for them, namely living a certain lifestyle or having a particular occupation. If one does not have one's mindset, assumpti...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Being A Busybody This episode focuses specifically on he importance of developing self-control (enkrateia) in order to curb excessive and harmful curiosity. We do this in general through habituation, training, and to some degree learning or study. He also provides in-depth discussion o...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Being A Busybody This episode focuses specifically on his discussions bearing on the role lack or loss of self-control (akrasia in Greek) plays in the sort of problematic curiosity he criticizes in this work. Plutarch claims that lack of self control is just as evident in this curiosit...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Being A Busybody This episode focuses specifically on one of the general practices he suggests to wean oneself away from this vice, namely deliberately redirecting one's attention from the usual objects of morbid curiosity towards better, or at least less bad objects. A person ought to...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Being A Busybody This episode focuses specifically on one of the features of the sort of curiosity or inquisitiveness central to being a busybody, namely that the person exhibiting it attempts to dig into other people's secrets, to find out bad things they would rather keep private, mo...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Being A Busybody This episode focuses specifically on why the sort of curiosity, inquisitiveness, meddlesomeness, or being a busybody he discusses is actually a vicious disposition, rather than something good. It involves a desire to learn about the troubles, problems, or bad things (k...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th and 21st century philosopher and moral theorist, Alasdair MacIntyre's short address "Designing Our Descendants: Seven Traits for the Future", a presentation to the 1978 general meeting at the Hastings Center. MacIntyre first discusses how intentionally designing descendants is a matter that has political dimensions, then sets out seven key traits that...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on the mysterious and miraculous substance Ubik that gets referenced in advertisements at the start of every chapter of the work (except the final one) as well as by Runciter in a video Joe Chip sees in his apartment. Ubik turns out to...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on the city of Des Moines, Iowa, where Glen Runciter's body has been transported for his memorial. As it turns out, the team of surviving inertials (since by then Wendy and Al have died) are all there, and Joe Chip has to travel there...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on the many points in the novel, after the surprise attack on Glen Runciter, Joe Chip, and the entire team of the inertials, where a seemingly dead and in cold-pac Runciter breaks through into the "reality" of those who think themselve...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on the experience of bone-chilling cold, exhaustion and fatigue, and eventual death of a particularly gruesome sort that several of the characters experience once they are in cold-pac and in half-life. At first, they think that it is b...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on one main theme of the novel, which is the characters noticing a pattern of objects at first being spoiled or worn out, then reverting to earlier obsolete forms, eventually affecting not just individual objects or even rooms but enti...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on the ambush that Ray Hollis engineers, using Stanton Mick's company, based on the moon, as a potential new client for Runciter Associates. Glen Runciter, Joe Chip, and a team of 11 inertials (anti-psionic talents) fly to the location...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on the team of eleven "inertials," that is anti-psionic talents assembled by Glen Runciter to go to the lunar location of businessman Stanton Mick's company, and do a job eliminating the effects of various psionic talents, likely emplo...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on one of the seemingly background characters who turns out to be very important by the end of the story, Ella Hyde Runciter, who died at just 20 years old and has been in half-life for decades. She and other "responsible half-lifers"...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on one of the characters who is seemingly minor early on in the novel, but who turns out to be a character of major importance within the plot. Jory Miller is a young man in half-life who "eats" other people in half-life in the morator...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on one important character we meet early on in the work, Pat Conley, who has a seemingly new psionic talent, the ability to go back and change the past, which then alters the present, allowing her to nullify the talents of precogs in a...