Sadler's Lectures

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On Anger, book 3 It focuses specifically on his advice that, if we want to better deal with our emotional response of anger, place it into perspective by considering our own mortality as human beings. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contributi...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On Anger, book 2 It focuses specifically on his discussion of famous people who showed restraint and thoughtfulness in relation to their own anger, keeping it under rational control. These include statesmen and political leaders like Antigonus and Philip of Macedon, Augustus Caesar, and Cato the younger, and philoso...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On Anger, book 2 It focuses specifically on his discussion of famous people who manage their anger badly, providing us with examples of how not to behave. These include Persian kings like Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius, and Xerxes, Greeks such as Alexander of Macedon, and Romans like Sulla and Caligula To support my ongoin...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On Anger, book 3 It focuses specifically on his advice that, when we start getting angry, we pay attention to our bodily expression of that emotion, and deliberately lessen or restrict that expression, with the result that we will become less angry To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On Anger, book 2 and 3 It focuses specifically on his discussions in books 2 and 3 about using delay or postponement to head off anger in oneself or in others. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/Re...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On Anger, book 2 It focuses specifically on how children can be raised so that they will not get angry as easily or perhaps even not at all To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMe...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On Anger, book 2 It focuses specifically on a practice he thinks can be used to restrain anger, namely considering the ugliness of the emotion of anger, as shown in our faces, voices, and bodies. Here are some of the passages mentioned: To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If yo...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On Anger, book 2 It focuses specifically on his discussion of petty and trivial matters that tend to make people angry, and why we should not allow these to get to us. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.payp...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On Anger, book 2 It focuses specifically on his discussion of how the perception of unfairness or injustice of harm to us can easily lead us into getting angry, and what we can do to counter this. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution,...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On Anger, book 1 It focuses specifically on on whether the emotion of anger is a sign or effect of the virtue of great-spiritedness or magnanimity, which Stoics consider to be one of the sub-virtues of courage To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct c...

This lecture discusses the essay by the science fiction and fantasy author, Ursula K. Leguin, "About Anger, found in her book No Time To Spare: Thinking About What Matters. It discusses Leguin's reflections on the conditions in which anger can be a useful emotion in public, political, and private life, and on the dangers of treating anger uncritically as if it is always something good for dealing...

This lecture discusses the science fiction and fantasy author, Ursula K. Leguin's short story, "The Word of Unbinding", which can be found in her book The Wind's Twelve Quarters The Rule of Names takes place in her Earthsea narrative universe. We discuss the characters, the plot, and several key aspects of the Earthsea setting. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sa...

This lecture discusses the science fiction and fantasy author, Ursula K. Leguin's short story, "The Rule of Names", which can be found in her book The Wind's Twelve Quarters The Rule of Names takes place in her Earthsea narrative universe. We discuss the characters, the plot, and several key aspects of the Earthsea setting. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "The Secret Miracle" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on the author Jaromir Hladík who is captured by the Nazis in their invasion of Czechoslovakia, and sentenced to death. Desiring to finish his play The Enemies, which he hopes will vindicate hi...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "The Cult Of The Phoenix" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on the story of a cult or sect called by names like "Cult of the Phoenix", "People of the Practice" or "People of the Secret". The group is compared against others like Jews and Roma, and...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "Averröes’ Search" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on the islamic philosopher's failure to determine the meanings of "comedy" and "tragedy" in his commentary on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Even after seeing and hearing about several instanc...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "Averröes’ Search" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on a fictional characterization of the Islamic philosopher Ibn-Rushd, also known as Averroes in the Latin West, who's work on his commentary on Aristotle is interrupted by a dinner and conversa...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "The Zahir" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on the effect that the Zahir exerts on the Borges of the story. He received it as a coin given in change purchasing a brandy. He then deliberately loses it, and strives not to think about it, but event...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "The Zahir" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on how the Borges of the story ends up getting the Zahir as a bit of change when drinking brandy after the wake of the socialite Teodelina. As a coin, it provokes some reflections upon money, interchan...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "The Circular Ruins" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on the narrative and the key philosophical themes of this tale. It centers on a sorcerer who has the desire to dream another human being into reality, which he does at the abandoned temple of...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "Three Versions Of Judas" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on the evolving views on the character and salvific role of Judas progressively developed by a fictional Danish theologian Nils Runeberg, articulated in his works Kristus och Judas [Chris...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "The Library Of Babel" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on the interpretation by denizens of the library explaining the books and the universe. A number of different sects and cults arise, some of which are successfully stamped out by the authori...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "The Library Of Babel" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on the structure of the library in which human beings live their entire lives. The library is composed primarily of hexagonal cells, each of which contains bookshelves filled with volumes co...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "The Theme Of The Traitor And The Hero" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on the several narrative frames to the story. In the deepest, a hero of the Irish revolts Fergus Kilpatrick is revealed as being a traitor to the cause, by his old friend an...

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" which can be found in Collected Fictions. It focuses on how the fictional world of Tlön, in the space of a decade, captivates the people of Earth and begins to disintegrate the reality of our own world, replacing Earth and its cultures w...