Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

The Wisdom Of

Society EN ↓ 384 episodes

In this podcast we explore great works of philosophy and literature and art, and try to pull out of them what’s most interesting and inspiring! Whether they come from the works of Plato, or Dostoevsky or Picasso, here we explore ideas that move mountains and rock the soul! So, come join us, won’t you? Come worship at the alter of ideas, and come celebrate the dancing of thought. Welcome to the Wisdom Of!

Author

Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

Episodes

Aristotle - Why Competency is essential for Happiness! 24.10.2025 12:46

You want lasting joy and fulfillment in your life? Then strive for excellence and competency! Or so argues Aristotle.... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Consciousness and the Universe - From Matter to Meaning! 19.10.2025 13:10

What is the universe without human consciousness? Strangely, not much! Or so I argue! .... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Byung-Chul Han and Fromm - Clean shiny machines and our Necrophilia! 15.10.2025 9:51

We prefer machines to people and mechanical precision to messy human qualities. What is this but our love of death over life! Or so argue Byung-Chul Han and Erich Fromm! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Kant vs. Aristotle - Duty vs. Character! 12.10.2025 13:43

Check out my new book! It's called The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

The rise and the danger of binary thinking 09.10.2025 10:01

Check out my new book! It's called The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Montaigne's self-fashioning vs. the curated facade of today's self! 06.10.2025 12:09

The French philosopher Montaigne made the exploration of selfhood the most important thing in his life. How does his project compare to today's version of self-fashioning? ... Check out my new book! It's called The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Optimize this! - The cost of constant improvement 03.10.2025 9:57

Beneath today's trend of optimizing everything lies some deep philosophical and existential problems. ... Check out my new book! It's called The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Three famous philosophers who were practically unknown in their own time! 30.09.2025 15:31

Ahead of their age, awaiting ours: Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche! ... Check out my new book! It's called The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

The death of expertise is the demise of civilization! 26.09.2025 13:00

Our growing distrust of expertise and of universities is terminally stupid. We will all pay the price.... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

David Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous - Living in attunement with the earth! 23.09.2025 13:26

Abstract time and space sever our ties to place, rhythm, and responsibility! Or so argues the philosopher and ecologist, David Abram! .... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

When Religion becomes Shallow 18.09.2025 13:37

When religion becomes shallow it's no longer truly religion. Many philosophers have warned us of this, of religion being reduced to self-serving functions.... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Julian Jaynes - The Origin of Consciousness and the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, and AI! 15.09.2025 14:15

The American psychologist argued that before modern consciousness, we heard and obeyed the voices of the gods. With AI, is it any different today? ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

A human history of intelligence without kindness - A cautionary analogy for the advent of AI 11.09.2025 10:08

We've set a bleak precedent for what's to come.... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Cicero and Simone de Beauvoir on Old Age - The Self, the Other and growing old authentically! 08.09.2025 21:04

Cicero and Simone de Beauvoir offer us two very different visions of growing old and the philosophy of aging! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Eden, Adam and Eve: Thank God for the Fall! - Why paradise is deeply problematic! 31.08.2025 13:56

Living an Edenic existence fails to give us what we truly need and want: namely, responsibility, love and meaning! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Byung-Chul Han - The Transparency Society 27.08.2025 11:50

According to Han, we live in a culture of constant self-exposure and exhibition. And, despite what we think, it makes us flat, banal and powerless! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

To our Children 23.08.2025 7:03

We walk in the shadows we cast. Let's be the architects of a better future.... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Samuel Beckett - "I can't go on. I'll go on." 22.08.2025 13:31

This is the famous last line in one of Beckett's novels. But it's not just a last line, it's a credo for human existence! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Reclaiming the power of Melancholy! 17.08.2025 11:29

We treat melancholy as a pathology, something to be cured or eradicated. But we've lost sight of it's real value! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Alexander Nehamas - Platonic Irony! 17.08.2025 13:50

Socrates doesn't just undermine his interlocutors, Plato undermines us! Or so argues the contemporary philosopher Alexander Nehamas! ... Check out my new book! It's called: The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

The Pathetic Nature of the Sycophant! 14.08.2025 11:05

They all gushed over Nero, and they're no different today! It's all very embarrassing and sad.... Check out my new book! It's called The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

Aristotle and Nietzsche - A return to TOUCH in a disembodied age! 08.08.2025 12:17

In our age of digitization, our sense of touch has clearly been demoted. For thinkers like Aristotle and Nietzsche, the cost is enormous! ... Check out my new book! It's called The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

The Absurd and the Sand: A Camusian Reading of Woman in the Dunes 08.08.2025 18:44

Woman in the Dunes is a 1964 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara. It's about a guy who gets trapped in a sandpit and has to keep shovelling sand to stay alive! It's a repetitive and futile situation! Ring any bells? ... Check out my new book! It's called The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Chang...

The Philosopher and his Poodles: Schopenhauer's Ethics of Compassion! 04.08.2025 15:36

The German philosopher Schopenhauer believed that compassion was the true foundation of morality. It worked best when it came to his dogs! ... Check out my new book! It's called The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/

The Fissure of Being, or Why You’re Never Whole: Sartre’s Existential Bombshell! 23.07.2025 14:18

Why are we not like rocks or cabbage? Because there's a hole or fissure at the heart of our being! Or so says the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre! ... Check out my new book! It's called The Last Human: How Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human https://www.amazon.com/Last-Human-Technology-Changing-Means/dp/1069510831/