Red Letter Philosophy

G. K. Chesterton wrote that, "God chooses ordinary men for fatherhood to accomplish His extraordinary plan."  In this Father's Day episode we contemplate the significance of the ordinary (ordinary men) and the dulness of the extraordinary (extraordinary men).

In this episode, we conclude our discussion of Wittgenstein, the Villain. In particular, we discuss the question, "does Wittgenstein illuminate or obscure our understanding of God?"

As we come to the end of our series on Wittgenstein, we look at an intelligent challenge to a Wittgensteinian understanding of life and language.  Is Wittgenstein a hero or villain?  In this episode we look at a charitable and intelligent argument for Wittgenstein, the villain.

G. K. Chesterton wrote that, "if you leave things alone you leave them as they are. […] If you leave a thing alone you leave it to a torrent of change."  In other words, if want to remember something, if you want others to remember something, then you cannot leave it alone.  You must remember.  In this Memorial Day episode of Red Letter Philosophy, we look at the thoughts of three philosophers on...

Wittgenstein wrote that, "whereof one cannot be speak, thereof one must be silent".  Elsewhere he wrote that, "What can be shown cannot be said."  In this episode we examine what some call the later Wittgenstein.  Take up and listen as we contemplate the the Wittgenstein, the mystic.

Perhaps the idea most associated with Wittgenstein is the idea that life is a collection of "language games".  Wittgenstein was a gamer.  In this episode of Red Letter Philosophy we explore the enigmatic concept of language games; in the process we discover how an obscene gesture altered the course of philosophy.

In this episode we pay homage to Motherhood.  We look at G.K. Chesterton's claim that, "our race has thought it worth while to cast this burden on women… to keep common-sense in the world."  We add to our list of motherhood's virtues: the source of common-sense.

Does philosophy entail skepticism?  Does philosophy lead one to solipsism, the belief that one cannot know the world outside one's own head?  In this episode we look at one of Wittgenstein's most well known arguments, the private language argument.  We explore Wittgenstein's refutation of radical skepticism and the possibility of solipsism.

Passionate, profound, intense, divisive: words used to describe arguably the greatest philosopher of the 20th century, Ludwig Wittgenstein.  In this episode, we begin to consider the life and philosophy of Wittgenstein.  Was he an intellectual hero or villain?

On this holiday episode of Red Letter Philosophy we ask the question, what's so good about Good Friday?  We also discuss the frame or boundary that is Holy Week.  In the words of Peter Kreeft, "it takes boundaries to make anything interesting.  If a picture didn't have a frame, it would trail off into vague, boring everything-ness.  Life's most dramatic moments are her two frames: entrance and exi...

C. S. Lewis wrote that, "Looking for God - or Heaven - by exploring space is like reading or seeing all Shakespeare's plays in the hope that you will find Shakespeare."  In this episode, we look at an obscure essay of Lewis' titled, "The Seeing Eye".  In it we contemplate a theme that runs through the whole of Lewis' oeuvre, namely, that our Post-Modern world has ears but can't hear, has eyes but...

In this episode we discuss a profound insight given to us by the great C. S. Lewis. According to Lewis, we have one kind of experience looking at something and another kind of experience looking along something. Lewis wrote that, "it has been assumed without discussion that if you want the true account of religion you must go, not to religious people, but to anthropologists; that if you want the t...

Today we celebrate St. Patrick's Day with one of Ireland's most thoughtful sons, Oscar Wilde.  In this episode, we contemplate Oscar Wilde's answer to the question, "why do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day?"  Take up and listen as we discuss an Irish vision of truth, beauty, goodness.

Previously, we discussed C. S. Lewis' contention that myth transcends thought. In this episode we look at the fact that incarnation transcends myth. C. S. Lewis wrote that, "The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact." Religious belief has a foot in both the concrete and the abstract; the empirical and the rational; the mythical and the factual. Until this is understood, the deepest...

C. S. Lewis wrote that, "What flows into you from the myth is not truth but reality (truth is always about something, but reality is that about which truth is), and, therefore, every myth becomes the father of innumerable truths on the abstract level."  What beauty is to love, and goodness is to happiness, so truth is to reality.  C. S. Lewis, truth, and reality: on this week's Red Letter Philosop...

It's Valentine's Day!  St. Valentine's Day can be a stressful time for a lot of people, apparently.  Those in relationships don't want to disappoint, those not in relationships are depressed.  If you don't believe us, then look up something called "Galentine's Day".  Today we contemplate C. S. Lewis' claim that we should not take love too seriously.  If we do, then we do violence to our humanity....

C. S. Lewis wrote, "This is our dilemma—either to taste and not to know or to know and not to taste—or, more strictly, to lack one kind of knowledge because we are in an experience or to lack another kind because we are outside it." Today we begin a five part deep-dive into the the thought of C. S. Lewis. We begin with one of his great essays, "Myth Became Fact."

The Modern and the post-Modern age is one of Dogmas unrecognized, consequences ignored, and paradoxes unseen. These are all confusions due to a disordered or absent eye for the empirical. Join us as we imbibe the insights of G.K. Chesterton one last time.

In this episode we look at Chesterton's contention that common sense, or sanity, involves reason, but not reason alone.  Chesterton wrote that, "the madman is not the man who has lost reason.  The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason."  What it means to have common sense: on this week's episode of Red Letter Philosophy.

Happy New Year!  In this episode, we make an argument: New Years, if it is to be meaningful, must be seen in the light of the Christmas season.  Cut out of its context, it is shrouded in deep black; its face and its form concealed.  Identity, destiny, and the New Year: on this week's Red Letter Philosophy.

Merry Christmas! This week we reflect upon the second greatest Christmas story of all time, namely, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Why do Advent and Christmas lend themselves to ghost stories? In a ghost story something seemingly insignificant happens. However, after the experience the world looks differently, feels differently. So, it is with Christmas. One, like the three wise men who cam...

G. K. Chesterton wrote that, "if disease is beautiful, it is generally someone else's disease. A blind man may be picturesque, but it requires two eyes to see the picture. And similarly even the wildest poetry of insanity can only be enjoyed by the sane." How do we measure sanity in an insane world? And why should we care? On this episode of Red Letter Philosophy, we explore a philosophy of sanity...

G. K. Chesterton wrote that, "thoughts and theories were once judged by whether they tended to make a man lose his soul… all modern thoughts and theories may be judged by whether they tend to make a man lose his wits." From where do we begin, when we begin? We must agree to begin somewhere, if we are to talk and discover what is true, good, and beautiful. In this episode we look at Chesterton's su...

Between Halloween and Christmas sits Thanksgiving Day (for Americans): Overlooked and under-appreciated. Join us as we drive the streets of "London" and contemplate the importance of Thanksgiving. We discuss the importance of food. Food, we conclude, feeds more than the body alone. In this episode we dine on Chesterton, Hemingway, and Oscar Wilde. Cheers!

What has gone wrong? What's the problem with the world? In this episode we begin a fascinating walk with the late, great G. K. Chesterton. Chesterton may be the Plato to Pascal's Socrates: original, compelling, poetic, philosophical, mystical, and prolific. Welcome to Pub Redd.