The Wes Cecil Podcast

CAPITALISM: EP. 1 We are surrounded by the idea of capitalism but shockingly little thought is commonly given to what it is, where it has come from and where we are likely going. An attempt to rectify this in a new series. The standard definition of Capitalism: Private ownership of the means of production and distribution. Market-based exchange , where goods and services are produced for profit. C...

It seems so simple, and yet this story from Ancient Greece captures many of the problems with time, identity, and meaning - a kind of one paragraph version of Heidegger’s Being and Time . It also brings into focus, at least for me, how thinking slowly about simple things can really reveal how tenuous our grasp on the world really is. Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON  to get your questions answe...

Perhaps the most influential philosopher of the 20th century, he defeated Russel’s attempt to provide a perfect foundation for mathematics and elaborated a linguistic approach to philosophy that dominated English language philosophy for decades. His gnomic writing style and the existence of most of his work as lecture notes compiled from his students make his published legacy quite problematic. No...

READ ALONG SERIES - KANT'S "PROLEGOMENA" In these sections Kant lists out the requirements that must be met, according to him, to make any meaningful metaphysical claims. In doing so, he limits our access to the world by removing the opportunity to know things as they are and giving us only the possibility of understanding our world through our perceptual limitations. This fundamental insight, whi...

THE ISOLATED GENIUS: In the concluding chapter I explore the poisonous idea of the isolated genius. By emphasizing the individual and the product rather than the community and the process, our society consistently tells us that it is wrong and limiting for us to cooperate with others in spaces or projects that don’t reward directly as individuals. The historical record is clear, however, that much...

"PARABLE OF THE TALENTS" FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT - EP. 3 I like this parable from the New Testament because it highlights one of the great tricks of philosophical ‘reasoning’ - the assumed frame. Allow me to frame an argument and I will win it. This common homily is so completely misread and the assumptions so horrifying it makes a fun example. Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON  to get your quest...

READ ALONG SERIES - KANT'S "PROLEGOMENA" Kant’s introduction seems so humble and straightforward but this masks a project of breathtaking scope. Whether or not Kant ultimately achieves his aims is mostly beside the point. Here, he really does make a radical break with the past and tries to reorient not just our thinking about metaphysical questions but how we understand thinking in its entirety. R...

SOCRATES AND DIOTIMA IN THE SYMPOSIUM - EP. 2 The Symposium is oft quoted and seemingly rarely read. This crazy scene explaining - well something - based on this completely fabricated myth captures much of the power of Plato’s capacity for storytelling and how he leads the reader along the most preposterous paths to often quite amazing conclusions. Aristophanes ridicules Socrates in the Symposium...

VALUES ARBITRAGE: I argue that we have developed a deep seated sense of cynicism from continuous exposure to an environment where our values are systematically used against. Consciously or unconsciously aware of being exploited, we become cynical about the very ideals we need to cultivate in order to inhabit the house of the intellect. I review these core values and how we can defend them despite...

PHILOSOPHICAL FIRESIDE CHATS 🔥 🪵 - EP. 1 This scene from Book II of Thus Spake Zarathustra - the Riddle and the Vision - is one of my favorites and captures some of Nietzsche’s ability to create a visceral sense of the challenge of addressing our most deeply held habits and beliefs. Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON  to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials,...

READ ALONG SERIES - KANT'S "PROLEGOMENA" Kant’s influence on philosophy and thinking in general has been immense but also difficult to pin down because he is so challenging to read. His influence has come almost entirely second and third hand as we encounter versions of his thoughts and approaches through other thinkers who are using, attacking, or expanding on Kant’s insights. Here we launch a re...

Q & A #2 - HOUSE OF THE INTELLECT Wes and Jeremy take questions from Patreon Members on House of the Intellect. Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON  to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BUREAUCRACY: As our societies have grown larger, more complex and more digitally integrated we have become enmeshed in ever larger and more centralized bureaucracies. These systems are, perhaps, inherently, the enemy of intellectual community. It is possible they could be organized differently, but for now they have a strong tendency to strip us of our individuality and personal integrity in the n...

Largely forgotten today, she was an influential thinker and, perhaps, mystic who lived a life of ethical commitment in an extraordinarily difficult period in history. She provided an inspirational example to many of her contemporaries and the tone of her works as much as the power of her arguments brought her wide acclaim. Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON  to get your questions answered by Wes!...

CONCLUSION: I conclude the series with the end of the first book of the Red Book. In the last section we see Jung sliding back and forth between various ideas of the role he is supposed to fulfill - kill god, be god, ignore god - and how we should respond to this. I also reflect on the difference between inspiration and discovery, what Jung is trying to do, and Philosophy, which generally requires...

TECHNOLOGY AND DATA: Neither Barzun nor myself are opposed to technology or data per se - it is the way our culture tries to isolate technology from the cultural environment and, hence, de-value most everything the house of the intellect values. The notion that the quality of the people who control technology and the experiences of people who interact with it simply do not matter is one of the rec...

One of the most influential and controversial philosophers of the late 20th century, Derrida specialized in trying to unmoor our sense of certainty and truth. Working across 50 books, he was an intellectual gad-fly in the tradition of Socrates who always wanted us to be suspicious of clarity. He almost single-handedly brought continental philosophy back to the English speaking world.  You can...

Q & A #9 - CONCLUSION Wes and Jeremy take questions from listeners on Lectures IX and X: Conclusion Parts 1 and 2 Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON  to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BEYOND RIGHT AND WRONG Here Jung moves beyond simply rejecting the Right and Wrong and tries to create an ethos of ambiguity. Focusing on a dream involving Elijah and Salome, he experiences the intertwined relationship of lust and purity, truth and lies, seduction and holiness.  Here is a great entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on De Beauvoir’s Ethics of Ambiguity Simone de Bea...

ROB US OF WHAT WE LOVE: In this episode I discuss the ways in which our culture and mental habits combine to rob us of the experiences we would love to be having by both limiting our capacity to participate and limiting the communities in which we might participate. I use contemporary American film culture as an example of a simultaneously booming art form that nonetheless seems to be culturally b...

Bertrand Russell was a famous and influential thinker. He became a popular philosopher after his groundbreaking attempt to found mathematics on a prefect, logically complete footing failed. This is an improved audio version of my original lecture delivered at Peninsula College. Here is a link to is very readable and enlightening History of Western Philosophy Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON  to...

LECTURE 10 - CONCLUSION 2 of 2 (HOW DOES THE WORLD SEE THE USA?) Given Americans' central position in global trade, politics and culture, I explore how the unique American outlook is shaping, for good or ill, the global environment. From notions of extreme individualism to championing the idea of heroic consumerism, the economic power and example of America presents a serious challenge and ev...

INTO THE DESERT The power of Jung’s approach becomes a little more clear as we move into these later chapters. Jung is quite explicitly at war with his inherited cultural values. While it is one thing to recognize this, it is very much more difficult to try and reimagine one’s values - and hence one’s understanding of the self. Jung tries to murder the image of the hero - casting himself as an hon...

LECTURE 9 - CONCLUSION 1 of 2 (THE INDIVIDUAL IN AMERICA) Do you feel alone? In the 1st of 2 concluding lectures I explore how all the forces I have been discussing throughout this series shape the lived experiences of Americans today. The combination of materialism and libertarianism with our deep calvinist roots creates a peculiar and often toxic environment that leads to a sense of isolation an...

COMMUNITY MATTERS: As much as it is important to emphasize personal patterns of thought and behavior, we are hugely influenced by forces that come to us from society. Thinking about the patterns that have shaped culture in the past and our immersion in a new paradigm is necessary, and perhaps helpful, in thinking about why we feel the way we do and how we respond to broader cultural trends. Think...