Johnathan Bi

Professor Eire’s book on levitation (affiliate): https://amzn.to/4gtHg6X Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com Transcript: https://www.johnathanbi.com/p/transcript-for-interview-with-carlos The Church where I witnessed the miraculous icon: https://stgeorgestaylor.homestead.com/ Get full access to Johnathan Bi at www.j...

You can support my work by becoming a paid subscriber on my Substack: johnathanbi.com Some links to further guide your study: * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: greatbooks.io * Full transcript: https://www.johnathanbi.com/p/transcript-for-interview-with-stephen-greenblatt-on-shakespeare-creative-genius Companion lectures and interviews: * Lecture on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar...

An interview with Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare's social ambition. You can support my work by becoming a paid subscriber on my Substack: johnathanbi.com Some links to further guide your study: * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: greatbooks.io * Full transcript: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-interview-with-stephen-greenblatt-on-shakespeare-social...

An interview with Christopher Kelly on Rousseau's case for censorship You can support my work by becoming a paid subscriber on my substack: johnathanbi.com Some links to further guide your study: * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: greatbooks.io * Full transcript: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-interview-with-christopher-kelly-on-censorship Companion...

Interview with Brian Leiter on Nietzsche's Moral Antirealism Some links to further guide your study: * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: greatbooks.io * Full transcript: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-interview-with-brian-leiter-on-moral-antirealism Companion lecture: * Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality Explained: https://youtu.be/M0w2eQ-FcE P...

A lecture on Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com Some links to further guide your study: * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: greatbooks.io * Full transcript: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-rousseau-second-discourse Compa...

An interview with Katharina Volk on Roman Epicureanism Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com Some links to further guide your study: * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: greatbooks.io * Full transcript: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-interview-with-katharina-volk-on-epicu...

Interview with Katharina Volk on the intellectual life of Cicero & Caesar Some links to further guide your study: * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: greatbooks.io * Full transcript: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-interview-with-katharina-volk-cicero-caesar Companion lectures and interviews: * Lecture on Shakespeare's Caesar: Coming soon. * Katharina...

An interview with Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare's views on love. Some links to further guide your study: * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: greatbooks.io * Full transcript: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-interview-with-stephen-greenblatt-on-love Companion lectures and interviews: * Lecture on Shakespeare's Caesar : Coming soon. * Stephen Greenbl...

An interview with Katharina Volk on the Stoicism of Cato. Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com Some links to further guide your study: * Join my email list to be notified of future episodes: greatbooks.io * Full transcript: https://www.johnathanbi.com/p/transcript-for-interview-with-katharina-volk-on-stoicism Compani...

A lecture on the intellectual history of “Innovation” Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com I drew heavily from Benoît Godin's Book (affiliate): * Innovation Contested: https://amzn.to/3Wpp8n9 * My book notes: https://www.johnathanbi.com/p/innovation-contested-by-benoit-godin Get full access to Johnathan Bi at www.joh...

An interview with Robert Pippin on Nietzsche, Technology and Nihilism. Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com Full transcript: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-robert-pippin-interview?r=2mzsg Get full access to Johnathan Bi at www.johnathanbi.com/subscribe

An interview with Fred Neuhouser on Rousseau's amour-propre. Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com Read the full transcript: https://www.johnathanbi.com/publish/posts/detail/146339067?referrer=%2Fpublish%2Fposts Companion lectures & interviews: * Rousseau's first discourse lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8uc...

An interview with Christopher Kelly on Jean-Jacques Rousseau's case for heroes. Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com Full transcript: https://www.johnathanbi.com/p/transcript-for-christopher-kelly Get full access to Johnathan Bi at www.johnathanbi.com/subscribe

An introductory lecture summarizing the key ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Discourse on the Arts and Sciences Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com Full Transcript & other links at https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-rousseaus-first-discourse Get full access to Johnathan Bi at www.johnathanbi....

An interview with Professor Brian Leiter on Nietzsche's critique of free will. Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com For the full video and transcript, visit: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-brian-leiter-interview?r=l66v&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Get full access to Johnathan Bi at www...

An introductory lecture to Friedrich Nietzsche’s On The Genealogy of Morality. Subscribe to my newsletter if you want content updates, invitations to events, and to support my work: johnathanbi.com For the transcript & other links, visit: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnathanbi/p/transcript-for-nietzsches-genealogy Get full access to Johnathan Bi at www.johnathanbi.com/subscribe

Christianity exposed the injustice of scapegoating and, in doing so, robbed us of the cathartic tools which early human societies used to contain and resolve violence. Today, the Katechon which prevents violence from overflowing is three institutions that limit and channel violence: Law, Capitalism, and War. By tracing a genealogy for all three institutions, Girard comes to the terrifying conclusi...

Rescued by Christianity, modernity is distinctly different than the violent, deceitful, and stagnant societies of yore. We are the most loving, truthful, and innovative culture ever to exist. Resting uneasily alongside this fundamental affirmation of modernity, however, is Girard’s puzzling insistence that things have barely changed at all: we now simply persecute victims under the banner of love,...

For Girard, Christianity is radically different from all other religions in one crucial aspect: it takes the side of the innocent victim and, in doing so, exposes the violence and deceit of worldly order. We will explore how this intuition of innocence begins to take root in the Hebrew bible and blossoms into a resounding declaration in the Crucifixion. Girard presents us with an anthropology of t...

Starting from lecture IV, we will move away from psychology and into Girard’s history, beginning with the very first human societies. In times of internal turmoil, these early societies would converge on an innocent victim, attribute to him all the blame, murder this scapegoat in a brutal killing, and achieve peace through violent catharsis. These founding murders gave rise to institutions, cultur...

In this lecture, we will finish painting the picture of Girardian psychology by understanding mimetic rivalry and negative mimesis. This picture will expose humans as fallen and certain psycho-social pathologies as inevitable: fetishization, alienation, bipolarity, masochism, oppression, and inequity. Girard’s psychology, then, is also a theodicy — an inquiry into the origins of evil. For Girard,...

Mimesis, mimetic desire, and metaphysical desire are the fundamental building blocks of Girard’s psychology. They will show us how even the most intimate aspects of our identity can be radically shaped by others and how to distinguish vanity from authenticity. These psychological fundaments are what make humans social animals, why prestige and recognition matter so much to us, and how we are able...

Lecture I gives a brief overview of Girard’s life and work. It summarizes the key conclusions of mimetic theory, distilling the most crucial ideas of this 10+ hour long lectures series into a digestible 2 hours. For those who are short on time, this synopsis is sufficient to give you a taste of Girard. For those embarking on the full journey, this lecture is a rough map that will orient you throug...