Philosophize This!
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Philosophize This!

Beginner friendly if listened to in order! For anyone interested in an educational podcast about philosophy where you don't need to be a graduate-level philosopher to understand it. In chronological order, the thinkers and ideas that forged the world we live in are broken down and explained.

Episodes 252
Books 175
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Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ [Hardcover] cover

Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ [Hardcover]

Friedrich Nietzsche

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #212 ... Nietzsche and Critchley on the tragic perspective. (Amor Fati pt. 2)

It was mentioned as a source for a quote where Nietzsche stated his preference for Thucydides' work over Platonism, highlighting his appreciation for Thucydides' non-moralizing approach to history.

my recreation, my predilection, my cure after all Platonism has always been Thucydides

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Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us cover

Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us

Simon Critchley

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #212 ... Nietzsche and Critchley on the tragic perspective. (Amor Fati pt. 2)

It was discussed extensively as a source of insight into a life-affirming perspective. The podcast host summarized Critchley's analysis of Greek tragedy, contrasting its approach to life's complexities with modern media.

tragedy gives voice to what suffers in us and in others, how we might become cognizant of that suffering and work with that suffering, where suffering is that pathos that we undergo, where tragic passion is both something undergone and partially overtaken in action

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Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Illustrated) cover

Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Illustrated)

Friedrich Nietzsche

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #211 ... Nietzsche returns with a hammer!

The concept of the "last man" is discussed, representing a life of comfort and security, avoiding suffering, which Nietzsche criticizes as life-denying.

And the question that leads him to his idea of the Ubermensch is to say, okay, we know how a system of morality would be if it was created by a weak person that was trying to avoid suffering all the time.

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The Birth of Tragedy: Out of the Spirit of Music (Penguin Classics) cover

The Birth of Tragedy

Friedrich Nietzsche

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #211 ... Nietzsche returns with a hammer!

Nietzsche argued that great artwork embodies both Dionysian (chaotic, passionate) and Apollonian (ordered, rational) energies; Socrates, by prioritizing rationality, neglected the Dionysian, thus steering Western thought astray.

In Nietzsche's first book, The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche makes the case that great artwork has represented in it both the energies of Dionysus and Apollo.

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On the Genealogy of Morality (Hackett Classics) cover

On the Genealogy of Morality (Hackett Classics)

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #211 ... Nietzsche returns with a hammer!

This book explores Nietzsche's critique of the concepts of 'good' and 'evil', tracing their historical origins and arguing that they are human constructs rather than objective realities.

this is what Nietzsche writes about in his book on the genealogy of morality, that around this time of Socrates, the religion of Zoroastrianism that would later go on to influence Judaism and Christianity, well it no doubt had an influence on Plato's thinking around this time too.

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Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 50th Anniversary Edition cover

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Paulo Freire

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #210 ... The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Paulo Freire, Education)

It was discussed as the third most cited book in the humanities and social sciences, having significantly influenced education worldwide. It explores the concept of critical consciousness and problem-posing education, contrasting with the traditional 'banking' model.

So I want to tell you about a book today called The Pedagogy of the Oppressed by the philosopher Paulo Freire.

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Animal Liberation Now: The Definitive Classic Renewed cover

Animal Liberation Now

Peter Singer

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #209 ... Improving our world through applied ethics. (Peter Singer, Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek)

It was mentioned as one of Peter Singer's books that brought awareness to the moral issues surrounding animal rights, specifically in the context of factory farming.

His books, Animal Liberation Now, Ethics in the Real World, and The Life You Can Save are all examples of him trying to accomplish this.

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Ethics in the Real World: 90 Essays on Things That Matter – A Fully Updated and Expanded Edition cover

Ethics in the Real World

Peter Singer

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #209 ... Improving our world through applied ethics. (Peter Singer, Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek)

It was mentioned as one of Peter Singer's books that brought awareness to the moral issues of our time, especially in the context of his applied ethics work.

His books, Animal Liberation Now, Ethics in the Real World, and The Life You Can Save are all examples of him trying to accomplish this.

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The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty: 10th Anniversary ed. Edition cover

The Life You Can Save

Peter Singer

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #209 ... Improving our world through applied ethics. (Peter Singer, Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek)

It was mentioned as one of Peter Singer's books that popularized the concept of effective altruism and charitable giving, and was discussed as an example of his work in applied ethics.

His books, Animal Liberation Now, Ethics in the Real World, and The Life You Can Save are all examples of him trying to accomplish this.

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The Philosophy of Pleasure cover

The Philosophy of Pleasure

Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #209 ... Improving our world through applied ethics. (Peter Singer, Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek)

It was mentioned as a recently published book by Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, and it was said to have an ice cream cone on the cover.

Kasia just had a book come out called The Philosophy of Pleasure. It's got an ice cream on the front of it.

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Anarchy, State, and Utopia cover

Anarchy, State, and Utopia

Robert Nozick

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #208 ... The moral evolution of a philosopher. (Peter Singer)

It was mentioned in relation to the 'Experience Machine' thought experiment, which challenged Peter Singer's early hedonistic utilitarianism by highlighting the value of authentic experiences over constant pleasure.

And he says one of the examples that really made him realize this during this period in his life was a thought experiment put out by the philosopher Robert Nozick in his famous book called Anarchy, State and Utopia.

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On What Matters, Vol. 1 (The Berkeley Tanner Lectures) cover

On What Matters, Vol. 1 (The Berkeley Tanner Lectures)

Derek Parfit

Mentioned 1 year ago

Episode #208 ... The moral evolution of a philosopher. (Peter Singer)

It was described as the book where Derek Parfit argued for the existence of objective morality, and Peter Singer found himself increasingly convinced by its arguments, which ultimately led to a shift in his own ethical views.

The book is called On What Matters, published in 2011.

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Most Recommended

Phaedo - Classic Illustrated Edition Cover

Plato

Phaedo - Classic Illustrated Edition

In Phaedo, Plato, through Socrates, presented a view that suicide is wrong as it's abandoning a divinely assigned duty. He likened humans to guards at posts, forbidden to leave before receiving orders.

"

Plato writes in his work Phaedo, through the quintessentially wise character of Socrates, of course, in one of his more Pythagorean moments he talks about a concept that the Pythagoreans actually were...

— Episode: Episode #062 ... Kant pt. 7 - Suicide

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Episode: Episode #062 ... Kant pt. 7 - Suicide

In Phaedo, Plato, through Socrates, presented a view that suicide is wrong as it's abandoning a divinely assigned duty. He likened humans to guards at posts, forbidden to leave before receiving orders.

"

Plato writes in his work Phaedo, through the quintessentially wise character of Socrates, of course, in one of his more Pythagorean moments he talks about a concept that the Pythagoreans actually were the first to lay out. The idea that suicide is definitely wrong. It's wrong because it would be releasing ourselves from our duty that the gods put us here to do.

On Great Writing (On the Sublime) (Hackett Classics) Cover

Longinus

On Great Writing (On the Sublime) (Hackett Classics)

It was the first work ever written on the sublime, using the ocean as an example of something with the magnitude to produce a sublime experience. The author contrasted the feelings evoked by small streams versus the ocean.

"

Hence it is almost an instinct that we follow in giving our admiration not to small streams, though they be pollucid and useful, but to the Nile, and the Danube, and the Rhine, and far more to the oce...

— Episode: Episode #060 ... Kant pt. 5 - The Sublim...

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Episode: Episode #060 ... Kant pt. 5 - The Sublime

It was the first work ever written on the sublime, using the ocean as an example of something with the magnitude to produce a sublime experience. The author contrasted the feelings evoked by small streams versus the ocean.

"

Hence it is almost an instinct that we follow in giving our admiration not to small streams, though they be pollucid and useful, but to the Nile, and the Danube, and the Rhine, and far more to the ocean.

A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful Cover

Edmund 1729-1797 Burke

A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful

Burke's work explored the sublime as a unique pleasure derived from feeling one's life is in danger while encountering something immensely powerful; he distinguished it from beauty, emphasizing that the sublime is visceral and not based on intellectual calculation.

"

if taste has no fixed principles, if the imagination is not affected according to some invariable and certain laws, our labor must be judged a useless undertaking to set up for a legislator of whims a...

— Episode: Episode #060 ... Kant pt. 5 - The Sublim...

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Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Episode #060 ... Kant pt. 5 - The Sublime

Burke's work explored the sublime as a unique pleasure derived from feeling one's life is in danger while encountering something immensely powerful; he distinguished it from beauty, emphasizing that the sublime is visceral and not based on intellectual calculation.

"

if taste has no fixed principles, if the imagination is not affected according to some invariable and certain laws, our labor must be judged a useless undertaking to set up for a legislator of whims and fancies

these waters must be troubled before they can exert their virtues.

The Social Contract (Arcturus Ornate Classics) Cover

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Social Contract (Arcturus Ornate Classics)

The host discussed Hobbes's views on the state of nature, characterizing it as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short," and his belief that a strong government is necessary to maintain order.

"

Thomas Hobbes, guy we've talked about before, he thought that it would be a constant state of war. Remember, he called the state of nature solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

— Episode: Episode #045 ... Rousseau Government pt....

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Episode: Episode #045 ... Rousseau Government pt. 1

The host discussed Hobbes's views on the state of nature, characterizing it as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short," and his belief that a strong government is necessary to maintain order.

"

Thomas Hobbes, guy we've talked about before, he thought that it would be a constant state of war. Remember, he called the state of nature solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

That was life in the state of nature to Thomas Hobbes.

nobody truly wants to live in that chaotic world that Thomas Hobbes lays out in his social contract, the state of nature.

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (Hackett Classics) Cover

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (Hackett Classics)

The podcast mentioned Rousseau's work, focusing on his idea of the state of nature as a positive state before the corruption of civilization and the introduction of private property.

"

While government and laws take care of the security and well-being of men in groups, the sciences, letters, and the arts, less despotic and perhaps more powerful, spread garlands of flowers over the i...

— Episode: Episode #045 ... Rousseau Government pt....

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Episode: Episode #045 ... Rousseau Government pt. 1

The podcast mentioned Rousseau's work, focusing on his idea of the state of nature as a positive state before the corruption of civilization and the introduction of private property.

"

While government and laws take care of the security and well-being of men in groups, the sciences, letters, and the arts, less despotic and perhaps more powerful, spread garlands of flowers over the iron chains which weigh men down, snuffing out in them the feeling of the original liberty for which they appear to have been born, and make them love their slavery by turning them into what are called civilized people.

Beware of listening to this imposter. You are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all and the earth itself to nobody. But there is great probability that things had then already come to such a pitch, that they could no longer continue as they were. For the idea of property depends on many prior ideas which could only be acquired successfully and could not have been formed all at once in the human mind.

the fruits of the earth belong to us all and the earth itself to nobody

Letters Concerning the English Nation. By Mr. de Voltaire. The Fourth Edition, Corrected Cover

Voltaire

Letters Concerning the English Nation. By Mr. de Voltaire. The Fourth Edition, Corrected

The podcast host discussed Voltaire's book, describing it as a series of letters offering insights into English culture and its differences from France, particularly in religious tolerance. It was presented as a framework for French revolutionaries.

"

it's called Letters Concerning the English Nation.

— Episode: Episode #040 ... Superstition

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Episode: Episode #040 ... Superstition

The podcast host discussed Voltaire's book, describing it as a series of letters offering insights into English culture and its differences from France, particularly in religious tolerance. It was presented as a framework for French revolutionaries.

"

it's called Letters Concerning the English Nation.

Look, don't don't read these letters concerning the English nation expecting me to tell you how beautiful Stonehenge is, or, you know, other various sightseeing excursions that you'd go on if you went there physically.

He was in England, finding and recording the great things about the English nation to give the revolutionaries in France, a sort of framework to work from when they were designing what the country would look like after their revolution.

Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time Cover

Chuck Schumer

Positively American

Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time

The podcast host briefly mentioned this book, identifying it as Senator Schumer's work.

"

Senator Schumer's book is called Positively American.

— Episode: Episode #040 ... Superstition

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Episode: Episode #040 ... Superstition

The podcast host briefly mentioned this book, identifying it as Senator Schumer's work.

"

Senator Schumer's book is called Positively American.

PROVIDENCIA... (Spanish Edition) Cover

Tito Lugo MD

PROVIDENCIA... (Spanish Edition)

A 19th and 20th-century neotomist's book summarizing St. Thomas Aquinas's view that reason alone cannot demonstrate the world's beginning because it depended on God's free will; Aquinas believed the world could have always existed in dependence on God, similar to a footprint always existing if the foot creating it always existed.

"

St. Thomas holds that reason alone can never demonstrate that the world had a beginning. And why does this truth transcend the natural powers of our intellect? Because that beginning depended on the f...

— Episode: Episode #021 ... One God - St. Thomas Aq...

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Episode: Episode #021 ... One God - St. Thomas Aquinas

A 19th and 20th-century neotomist's book summarizing St. Thomas Aquinas's view that reason alone cannot demonstrate the world's beginning because it depended on God's free will; Aquinas believed the world could have always existed in dependence on God, similar to a footprint always existing if the foot creating it always existed.

"

St. Thomas holds that reason alone can never demonstrate that the world had a beginning. And why does this truth transcend the natural powers of our intellect? Because that beginning depended on the free will of God. Had he so willed, he might have created the world ten thousand years, or a hundred thousand years, or millions of years before, or at a time even more remote without there having been a first day for the world, but simply dependence of the world on its creator. Just as a footprint in the sand is due to the foot that makes it, so that, had the foot always been there, the footprint would have had no beginning. Although revelation teaches us that the world did in fact have a beginning, it does not seem impossible, says Thomas, for the world to have always existed in its dependence on God the creator.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.