The Wisdom Of

Should we lie to children about Santa? What about Santa's exchange of gifts for good behaviour? These are some of the questions I reflect on in this episode! Happy holidays! 

Alexander Nehamas is a professor of philosophy and comparative literature at Princeton University. In this episode, we discuss some of the main themes of his book Only a Promise of Happiness . 

In this first of two episodes, I discuss the big bad A word - Atheism! 

Pensées was written by the 17th century French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. In this episode, we talk about Pascal's famous quote that "the heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of" and his criticism of living the distracted life! 

Why are mystery novels so popular? Maybe it's because, unlike real life, they promise to explain everything! 

The Iliad is one of the two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, the other being The Odyssey . In this episode, we discuss the prophecy about Achilles: that either he'll live a long but uneventful life , or he'll live a short but glorious one!

In this episode, I talk about our attitude or approach to future generations and to climate change. 

Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion. In this episode, we talk about his book The Sacred and the Profane,  which is about how archaic and religious people experience the sacred and how it is we modern nonreligious people don’t! 

According to the psychologist Rollo May, anxiety and despair isn't as bad as we might think. Facing up to these emotions can be vitalizing and the beginning of genuine freedom! 

Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher, born 470 BC, who’s often seen as the founder of western philosophy. In this episode, we discuss how it is Socrates is still relevant or topical today!  

Erich Fromm was a German psychologist. Among other great works, he wrote The Art of Loving , published in 1956. The central message: love is active not passive! 

Happiness isn't about pleasure, says Nietzsche, it's about meaning and overcoming resistance! 

Mary Wollstonecraft was a British philosopher and writer. She’s maybe most famous for her seminal work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman , which was published in 1792, and is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In this episode, we discuss how it is she understands independence and what she thinks education should be about! 

In this brief episode, I reflect a bit on what genuine morality requires. It requires, not that we maintain a pure conscience, but that we accept getting our hands dirty!  

Carl Jung, born 1875, was a Swiss psychoanalyst whose work has been enormously influential. In this episode, we discuss why it is he thinks there's a crisis of meaning today and what we can do to fix it! 

In this brief episode, I reflect a bit on the Copernican Revolution and its influence on us! 

In this brief episode, I reflect a bit on Plato's view of education! 

Candide is a satirical novel written by Voltaire, a French writer and philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. In this episode, we discuss Voltaire's criticism of Leibniz's optimistic theodicy and also what he meant by his famous ending, that "one must cultivate one's garden".  

In this brief episode, I talk about Nietzsche and Camus' views on hope! 

In this episode, we discuss the history of rationalism and irrationalism within philosophy. We also talk about the perils of being overly rational! 

In this brief episode, I reflect a bit on Tolstoy's short story How Much Land Does a Man Need?  It's pretty topical or relevant for us today! 

In this episode, we discuss the Stoic philosopher Epictetus' quote, "What upsets people is not things themselves, but their judgements about these things", and the French philosopher Camus' quote, "I do not believe in God and I am not an atheist". 

Fathers and Sons is a novel written by the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. It was published in 1862. The story centres around Bazarov—a self-proclaimed nihilist. In this episode, we discuss some of the perils of being a nihilist! 

In this brief episode, I discuss Nietzsche's Three Metamorphoses of the Spirit as described in his masterpiece Thus Spoke Zarathustra!