The Wisdom Of: Recent Episodes
The Wisdom of With Kristian Urstad by Avant-Garde Productions
The Wisdom Of podcast explores great works of philosophy, literature, and art, the sort of works from which much insight and wisdom can be drawn. We explore themes from happiness, to love, to authenticity and to tragedy.
In Aristotle's view, moral education begins in the home long before it begins in the classroom! And it starts with parents! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
if we can’t reasonably expect a life beyond death, maybe there’s still a way to experience, let’s say more terrestrial versions of death and rebirth, versions of it that are available to us in everyday life! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
Maybe instead of asking what a man's room should look like, we should ask what sort of space enriches one's own uniqueness and one's life as a whole! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
Again, apologize for the audio. The episode of the Sirens in the Odyssey can be interpreted as a cautionary tale for us today! Enjoy! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
Apologize for the audio - The new Wisdom Of compound is currently under construction, and may be for a while! But hey, it's McCarthy, so the message survives the medium! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
James Joyce believed language could capture reality; Samuel Beckett believed it exposed its absence. Super interesting stuff! And, a Wisdom Of update! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
We have lots of expertise today, but what good is any of it without wisdom? ... Check out my new books! This one is 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 Greek philosopher Pythagoras could be considered the world's first vegetarian! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
For Nietzsche, diet isn't a medical issue, it's about the cultivation of the full realization of our potential! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
What do Socrates, Aurelius, Boethius and Wittgenstein have in common? They all believe in the power of philosophy as a form of consolation! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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 German philosopher Hegel believes that history has a purpose, which is the realization of human freedom. Is he right? Is that really where we're trending today? ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
Ideas and concepts that at one time belonged to deep philosophical thinking and religion are now mostly being presented through, and appropriated by, entrepreneurial and corporate terms. ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
Socrates doesn't believe nature has much to teach us. Heidegger seems to disagree! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
Why remembering matters in age of cultural and historical amnesia! Check out my new books! This one is 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/
In his last book Ecce Homo, Nietzsche leaves us with one of his most dramatic and powerful lines! Dionysus versus Christ! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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 philosopher Karl Jaspers wrote a little book called Man in the Modern Age, where, among other things, he talks about what it means to be a hero in our modern age, something, I think, we’d do well to reflect on a bit! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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 philosopher Byung-Chul Han doesn't view our contemporary society as one that's conducive to genuine thinking. We need to recover a deeper form of thinking! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
Through these two seminal fictional characters, Dostoevsky and Huxley offer us a stark warning about our future! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
Kierkegaard on how to avoid a life never fully lived and a self never fully realized! .. Check out my new books! This one is 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 trajectories in the lives of Nietzsche and van Gogh in the year 1888 reveal remarkable parallels! ... Check out my new books! This one is 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/
In some of his novels, the great Russian Dostoevsky writer explores the limitations of innocence in a complex world. I think he might be helpful to the younger generation 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/
In his The Decameron, written in 1353, Giovanni Boccaccio responded to the devastation of the Black Death by imagining a small group of young people who flee plague-ridden Florence and escape to the countryside. Can this be made relevant 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/
In their own ways, both Hegel and Plato criticize democracy. But their criticisms might be useful because they can push us to identify some of democracy’s vulnerabilities and get us to see how it is it might be improved.... 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/
Simone Weil was a French philosopher and mystic! ... 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 major theme in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is carelessness. It's more relevant than ever 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/
Are emoticons and emojis as benign as they seem? ... 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/
Walter Kaufman was a German-American philosopher. Let's see what he has to say about intellectual heresy! ... 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 philosophers Kierkegaard and Camus left us more than just their formal works! Let's explore their private journals! ... 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 German sociologist Max Weber uses the word disenchantment to describe the character of a highly modernized, secular and bureaucratic society. Couldn't we all do with some re-enchantment! ... 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/
Neil Postman was a media theorist and a prophetic critic of modern technology... 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 German philosopher Martin Heidegger argued that human existence is grounded in meaningful relationships to things. When we lose these relationships, we lose nothing less than the world.... 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 great poet Rainer Maria Rilke advises all aspiring artists to ask themselves one question: Are you prepared to sacrifice everything? Because that's what it takes! ... 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/
What Epicurus has to say about gratitude deserves our attention, especially 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/
James argues for a world where we actively participate in the building of reality and where there are multiple sources of transcendence! ... 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/
We really need to revive a character-based account of the soul!... 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/
Why is there such a large increase in loneliness around the world? I think the philosophers Jean-Jacque Rousseau and Byung-Chul Han might be helpful here! ... 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/
Reviving the spirit of Greek tragedy can offer us a powerful corrective against today's lack of humility and moral polarization.... 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/
This French philosopher argues that there is no immaterial soul, and that this doesn't strip life of its 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/
Edmund Burke is the founder of cultural and political conservatism. Dostoevsky, Aristophanes and T.S. Eliot also share in a similar spirit. They all warn against dismissing the past! .... 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/
For the psychologist Rollo May, art is no dispensable luxury, it's an essential response to nihilism! .... 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/
Happy New Year to all across lands and seas! ...... 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/
Nietzsche criticizes our modern infatuation with money-making, an infatuation that he thinks reveals a deep spiritual impoverishment and an erosion of character...... 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/
Self-interest is directionless and ultimately, is an enemy of both self-actualization and love. For these things, we need a relation to something outside of our own egos. .... 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 everything can be reproduced, why do we still crave the original? The psychologist Paul Bloom and the philosopher Walter Benjamin offer up some insight! ... 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 philosophers Russell and Han come from different historical contexts, but they both agree on one thing: if you want to be happy stop being pre-occupied with yourself!
Aging doesn't have to involve loss of possibilities and heaviness. Just ask Nietzsche, the Taoists, Hannah Arendt and Camus!
Beckett is bleak but he's also hilarious. I try to explore why so many of us laugh when we read him!
Voltaire called for enlightenment and progress against the dogmas and powers of his day. Our world today needs more Voltaires.
There is no future without a past. That's because the past is the ground of transformation!
Orwell's 1984 has seen a massive surge in sales in the last 8 years. That's no surprise.
Man makes religion, religion does not make man, says the German philosopher Feuerbach. Karl Marx agrees. But why do we do this, and should we? Find out more!
You want lasting joy and fulfillment in your life? Then strive for excellence and competency! Or so argues Aristotle.
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!
Aristotle and Kant argue for two very different ethical outlooks. I definitely prefer one to the other!
We live in an age increasingly dominated by black and white thinking. When we leave no room for the complexity and ambiguity of reality, the outcome is going to be perilous.
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?
Beneath today's trend of optimizing everything lies some deep philosophical and existential problems.
Our growing distrust of expertise and of universities is terminally stupid. We will all pay the price.
Abstract time and space sever our ties to place, rhythm, and responsibility! Or so argues the philosopher and ecologist, David Abram!
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.
The American psychologist argued that before modern consciousness, we heard and obeyed the voices of the gods. With AI, is it any different today?
Cicero and Simone de Beauvoir offer us two very different visions of growing old and the philosophy of aging!
Living an Edenic existence fails to give us what we truly need and want: namely, responsibility, love and meaning!
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!
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!
We treat melancholy as a pathology, something to be cured or eradicated. But we've lost sight of it's real value!
Socrates doesn't just undermine his interlocutors, Plato undermines us! Or so argues the contemporary philosopher Alexander Nehamas!
They all gushed over Nero, and they're no different today! It's all very embarrassing and sad.
In our age of digitization, our sense of touch has clearly been demoted. For thinkers like Aristotle and Nietzsche, the cost is enormous!
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?
The German philosopher Schopenhauer believed that compassion was the true foundation of morality. It worked best when it came to his dogs!
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!
The value of gold used to be largely symbolic. The Gold Rush marks a complete philosophical turning point when it comes to the perceived value of gold! And I think Jung and Heidegger would agree!
Star Wars and Star Trek: Which of these is more philosophically interesting? And which of these two universes would you want to live in? I got my answer!
Han thinks there's a deep existential hollowness lurking beneath the shiny veneer and the noise of modern life. He attributes this to many things about our contemporary society. Find out more!
Is ASMR just some superficial Youtube phenomenon? Or is there something important and deep behind its popularity? Find out more!
On the surface, being a moral saint sounds like a great thing. But, not so fast! The contemporary philosopher Susan Wolf doesn't think so. And both Dostoevsky and Camus have their own concerns about thinking of yourself as morally pure! Find out more!
In our attention-economy wisdom has now become content - ready-made for monetization! Socrates warned against this trend long ago!
These ancient philosophers argued that physical toughness was a discipline essential to happiness. Relevant for us today? I think so!
If interested, check out my new book series! The second book is available now!
www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/
Nietzsche tells us that one must LEARN to love. That might sound a bit odd to us. What does he mean and why is it important? Find out more!
If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one:
A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age
www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/
Does astrology make any sense? And if not, why do we still believe in it?
If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one:
A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age
www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/
What's wrong with hypocrisy? Well, Jesus and Jean-Jacques Rousseau agree on at least one thing that's wrong with it!
f interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one:
A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age
www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/
The distinguished historian Will Durant published a book where he ranked the greatest thinkers ever! See who made the list!
If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one:
A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age
www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/
The French philosopher Bergson criticized the scientific notion of time, instead turning to what he called lived time. Find out more!
If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one:
A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age
www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/
If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one:
www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/
The full title is: A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age
If I could time travel anywhere, I’d skip the big battles and royal balls.
Drop me in a smoky café in 1940s Paris—existentialism, espresso, and all! If you're not convinced, take a listen!
How should we meet death? With rage! Or so says the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas! And he's not the only one! Find out more!
What would Kafka think about our attention economy today? And what about the state of our art? Find out more!
Naomi Klein, the Canadian author and social activist, argues for what she sees as the apocalyptic mindset of the far Right. Along with Klein, I offer up a few of my own concerns!
So as we all know, there’s the popular or cliched idea that we should be “nonjudgmental”. But by and large, I don’t think that’s right!
The philosopher Theodor Adorno lays a powerful groundwork for thinking ethically about animals! Find out more!
Humour can have real revolutionary force! Ask the philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin. Let's keep laughing at the powerful. It will work!
The love letter has become an extinct species! This is a symptom of a much larger problem - at least according to Heidegger!
These giants of literature, they're often viewed as similar from afar. But they're not. Especially when it comes to how they see the human soul and the road to salvation!
In our world of more and faster and louder, we might do well to remember that less is often more! Just ask Miles!
Modern beauty has become tepid and smooth. It lacks the depth and friction and power of genuine beauty! Or so say Han and Plato!
Inspired by Gabriel Marcel and Martin Buber, I argue that being a good father requires the invisible labor of presence.
When I was growing up teenage rebellion seemed to be everywhere! Where is it now? At the heart of this decline: social media and technology!
Socrates argues that ignorance is the worst of all evils! Especially in the service of power! Ring any bells today?
One could argue that we live more superficially than ever before. Pascal and Kierkegaard are particularly relevant here!
Plato chose not to write essays. He wrote dialogues instead. Why? And how is this relevant for us today? Find out more!
According to Nietzsche, cultures can be healthy or decadent. How do we see the culture today?
The psychologist Erich Fromm argues that we tend to willingly submit to authoritarianism! Relevant today?
What Camus has to say in The Rebel is very relevant to our current trend towards absolutist and binary thinking!
Kierkegaard spends a lot of time talking about the connection between existence and passion! We'd do well to listen to him!
The archetype of the earth is crucial for understanding Dostoevsky's view! Find out more!
As friends we gratify and pamper too much, or so these philosophers say! Find out more!
The Ancient Greeks had two words for time - chronos and kairos. What is this distinction and how might it be important for us today? Find out more!
The Beats were a group of poets and writers who emerged after WWII. What was their philosophy all about? Find out more!
Apart from the death of Jesus, no death has been discussed more than that of Socrates. And for very good reasons! Find out more!
How do we take the sting off of death? How about a little less ego, a little more selflessness! Find out more!
Dare to know and think! This was Kant's calling in his famous 1784 essay "What is Enlightenment?" Find out more!
The words “know thyself” were carved into stone at the entrance to the revered temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece. What does it mean? Well, the Greek playwright Sophocles and the philosopher Socrates interpret it in their own way!
In 1927 the philosopher Bertrand Russell gave a lecture called Why I am not a Christian. Find out more!
Both Dostoevsky and Heidegger, in their own way, look for ways to salvage some deeper meaning and experience in the midst of our increasingly technological and rational-scientific world! Find out more!
One of the most emotionally powerful novels ever written! A father and son try to make their way across a post-apocalyptic America trying to get to a better place.
Is there anything more important than hope, especially today? These two profound philosophers have lots to say about this!
Selfie-ism permeates our world culture! Do we have cause for concern? What would the existentialists think?
The Italian futurist Marinetti called for the absolute glorification of everything new and modern, a worship of everything machine! What resonance all this has today!
Reading has become nearly obsolete in our age of momentary gratification. This is a great loss as reading engenders all sorts of important qualities that benefit us!
Lying seems to be on the rise, especially in the political world! I don't think we realize how dangerous and how morally problematic it is!
The French existentialists have a problem with bourgeois morality and relationships! What's their beef all about? Find out more!
For Aristotle, leisure is the most important human activity. Unfortunately we're contracting out our leisure activities to AI, and with it, our humanity!
Why do we feel so disturbed by dolls and robots that are human-like? Why do we really fear AI? Freud has an answer!
Dostoevsky said that if God is dead, then everything is permitted. In other words, morality depends on religion. Is that true? I don't think so!
Carpe Diem is usually translated as seize the day. But that's not quite accurate, and it's a reflection of our times! Sit back and enjoy, like a good Epicurean!
The Presocratics, the first philosophers and scientists, rejected traditional mythological explanations in favour of rational ones! Huge turning point! Find out more!
Going to graduate school gave me some important abilities and approaches to things that have proven beneficial for my life as a whole!
What would Kierkegaard have thought of our age of the internet? The philosopher Herbert Dreyfus argues that he'd be no fan, to say the least! Find out more!
The philosopher Karl Jaspers argues that we only truly self-realize when we learn to confront the inevitable hardships of life properly! Find out more!
Did Socrates really die the way Plato describes it? And Socrates may have been a philosophical martyr but did he give much consideration to his FAMILY when he decided to take his life? Important questions!
Apart from Socrates, Callicles is Plato's most formidable character. And he doesn't hold back! He thinks happiness is all about the full throttle pursuit of desires! Is he right? Has Socrates finally met his match? Find out more!
There's a crisis of narration today, Han argues. Instead of narrative, we have information. And, unlike narrative, information can't give us any direction or meaning! We need to bring back narrative!
This is Part 3 of a 3 Part series on love! It should be listened to in sequence! In it, I explore the state of love today and what, if anything, we might learn from some of the great writers, poets and philosophers who take love very seriously.
This is Part 1 of a 3 Part series on love! It should be listened to in sequence! In it, I explore the state of love today and what, if anything, we might learn from some of the great writers, poets and philosophers who take love very seriously.
For Nietzsche there's no such thing as art for art's sake! No, art has indispensable practical value for our existence! Find out more!
George Orwell's 1984 warns against the dangers of a totalitarian society! Take away our language and our history and it's all over! Find out more!
Socrates influenced many of his contemporaries, but the strange thing is they all went on to develop very different outlooks! What does that say about Socrates? I speculate!
The philosopher Bertrand Russell has some interesting things to say about how it is our fear of public opinion affects our happiness! Find out more!
The philosophers William Barrett and Gabriel Marcel argue that the hegemony of technique is closing us off from what is truly most important - the realm of mystery!
Find out more!
For millennia, voluntarily adopting a more simple life has been a calling by almost all wisdom seekers. For good reason! Find out more!
Though there may be some future episodes from time to time, this is the last regular episode of The Wisdom Of! In this episode, I talk about six of my favourite thinkers and artists of all time!
We need to start a college course designed to deal with the typical midlife crisis! Or so says Carl Jung! Find out more!
Kafka's Letter to his Father offers an incredibly striking and penetrating analysis of the psychological roots and the effects of power within a family. Find out more!
Why is there such a close connection between existentialism and the artist? Let's explore!
In his On The Nature of Things, a work devoted to an explanation of the views of Epicurus, Lucretius writes poetically rather than using standard prose. Why? Let's explore!
Change is normal, Heraclitus tells us. But how about the sort of rapid change we see happening today? Is it too much even for Heraclitus? Let's explore!
From plastic surgery to Freud's death-drive, we seem to both fear death and secretly welcome it at the same time! Welcome to the underworld!
Why is suffering and self-destruction associated with the artist? Has it always been this way? Let's explore!
Always searching for that exact right word? You're not alone, so did Flaubert and Schopenhauer!
Giambattista Vico was a philosopher of the Italian Enlightenment. He believed history moved through stages only to culminate in what he called the barbarism of reflection!
What's the difference between a job and a vocation? And why does the distinction matter? Let's explore!
What does the word sublime really mean? And why does getting this right matter? Find out!
What are some of the fundamental differences between Eastern and Western philosophy? Find out!
Marx believed that if you fix our social condition, then religion will disappear! Find out why!
Can a bad or evil person be happy? Seems so, but maybe it's not so straight forward after all!
What is nostalgia exactly? And is it beneficial or can it be disadvantageous? Let's find out!
The history of eros and agape is super interesting, and each, in their own way, express incredibly powerful and important aspects of love! Find out more!
Lou Salome was a personal friend of Nietzsche for a short time. Later she wrote a book about him. Let's find out what she said!
In this episode, I try to explain what I love about Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe! (I think I called him Willam Defoe, but, who cares, there are worse mistakes to make in life.)
A little less having and a little more being! So says the famous psychologist Erich Fromm!
Sure, you might be free from things, but now what are you free to do?! Coming up, negative and positive freedom!
Philosophy as a Way of Life was written by Pierre Hadot, a French historian of philosophy. He takes us back to a time when philosophy meant real personal transformation!
Plato’s allegory of the cave, a section in his great philosophical masterpiece Republic, is one of the most iconic and influential passages ever written. It's still relevant today!
Maybe the best way to cope with misfortune is to imagine it in advance. Maybe the best way to happiness is cultivate the gratitude that comes with the recognition that we may lose our loved ones.
Gabriel Marcel was a French existentialist Christian philosopher. What he had to say is very relevant today, more so than in his own time!
Both Jean-Paul Sartre and Friedrich Nietzsche privilege the present over the past. Let's find out why!
Alain Badiou is a French philosopher. In this episode, we discuss his In Praise of Love. The work is a passionate defence of love in a time when romance is being threatened from all directions!
In this episode, I talk a bit about the notions of revenge and retribution and punishment. The Book of Revelation, Nietzsche, Martha Nussbaum and Hannah Arendt all make appearances!
ChatGPT spit out some prose on our command. Is it art? What might Heidegger say? What should our relationship be to objects and artifacts? What does Martin Buber think? Are our relationships with our bots a good idea? Let's explore!
Is it actually good to be nice? Is niceness a virtue? That’s to say, is it a character trait that’s admirable? At the end of the day, should we value niceness as much as we do? Let's explore!
There's a social aspect to our death that philosophers often tend to overlook when discussing the issue of death, or so it might be argued. In this episode, we hear from Epicurus, Heidegger and Levinas!
In this episode I try to say a little something about the writer Aldous Huxley and his view on psychedelics!
In this episode on indigenous thought, we try to discuss the importance of storytelling and the cyclical nature of time!
What is solitude? How is it different from loneliness and alienation? What does Thoreau think about solitude? Let's explore!
In this episode I try to say something about Marcus Aurelius and what's going on in his book the Meditations.
William Barrett was a professor of philosophy. He wrote a book called Irrational Man, published in 1958, that’s considered to be one of the finest introductions to the philosophy of existentialism ever written!
In this episode I try to briefly say a few words about the role and nature of ideology and ideological thinking!
In this episode, I try to talk a little bit about the nature and importance of sex and love according to the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and the writer D.H. Lawrence!
Ayn Rand is a Russian born writer. She’s best known for her two novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. In this episode, we discuss Nietzsche's and Aristotle's influence on her!
Boethius was a Roman philosopher and political statesman. In this episode, I discuss his great work On the Consolation of Philosophy!
The Fall was Camus’ last complete work and it was published in 1956. In this episode, we discuss the themes of insincerity and virtue-signalling.
Some thoughts about what happened to the actor William Shatner when he went to space aboard a capsule operated by Jeff Bezos’s company Blue Origin.
Peter Abelard and Heloise are one of the most celebrated couples of all time, known for their love affair and for the tragedy that separated them. In this episode, we discuss their love letters!
What's courage? Are there different kinds of courage? Why is courage important? Let's see what Plato and Paul Tillich think!
Is happiness just about feeling good? Is that the way we should view it? Or is there more to it than that? Let's find out!
In this episode I try to talk a bit about the nature of evil. I use Susan Neiman's book Evil in Modern Thought as the context.
Byung-Chul Han is a south Korean born philosopher and he’s currently professor at the Berlin University of Arts in Germany. In this episode, we talk a bit about his views on phones, social media and the nature of thinking in our contemporary world!
For all its focus on the struggles of the human condition and on our spiritual ailments, ultimately existentialism is a deeply affirmative and constructive philosophy!
Should we lie to children about Santa? What about Santa's exchange of gifts for good behaviour? These are some of the questions I reflect on in this episode! Happy holidays!
Alexander Nehamas is a professor of philosophy and comparative literature at Princeton University. In this episode, we discuss some of the main themes of his book Only a Promise of Happiness.
Pensées was written by the 17th century French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. In this episode, we talk about Pascal's famous quote that "the heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of" and his criticism of living the distracted life!
Why are mystery novels so popular? Maybe it's because, unlike real life, they promise to explain everything!
The Iliad is one of the two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, the other being The Odyssey. In this episode, we discuss the prophecy about Achilles: that either he'll live a long but uneventful life , or he'll live a short but glorious one!
In this episode, I talk about our attitude or approach to future generations and to climate change.
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion. In this episode, we talk about his book The Sacred and the Profane,which is about how archaic and religious people experience the sacred and how it is we modern nonreligious people don’t!
Anxiety and despair isn't as bad as we might think. Facing up to these emotions can be vitalizing and the beginning of genuine freedom!
Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher, born 470 BC, who’s often seen as the founder of western philosophy. In this episode, we discuss how it is Socrates is still relevant or topical today!
Erich Fromm was a German psychologist. Among other great works, he wrote The Art of Loving, published in 1956. The central message: love is active not passive!
Happiness isn't about pleasure, says Nietzsche, it's about meaning and overcoming resistance!
Mary Wollstonecraft was a British philosopher and writer. She’s maybe most famous for her seminal work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which was published in 1792, and is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In this episode, we discuss how it is she understands independence and what she thinks education should be about!
In this brief episode, I reflect a bit on what genuine morality requires. It requires, not that we maintain a pure conscience, but that we accept getting our hands dirty!
Carl Jung, born 1875, was a Swiss psychoanalyst whose work has been enormously influential. In this episode, we discuss why it is he thinks there's a crisis of meaning today and what we can do to fix it!
In this brief episode, I reflect a bit on the Copernican Revolution and its influence on us!
Candide is a satirical novel written by Voltaire, a French writer and philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. In this episode, we discuss Voltaire's criticism of Leibniz's optimistic theodicy and also what he meant by his famous ending, that "one must cultivate one's garden".
In this episode, we discuss the history of rationalism and irrationalism within philosophy. We also talk about the perils of being overly rational!
In this brief episode, I reflect a bit on Tolstoy's short story How Much Land Does a Man Need? It's pretty topical or relevant for us today!
In this episode, we discuss the Stoic philosopher Epictetus' quote, "What upsets people is not things themselves, but their judgements about these things", and the French philosopher Camus' quote, "I do not believe in God and I am not an atheist".
Fathers and Sons is a novel written by the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. It was published in 1862. The story centres around Bazarov—a self-proclaimed nihilist. In this episode, we discuss some of the perils of being a nihilist!
In this brief episode, I discuss Nietzsche's Three Metamorphoses of the Spirit as described in his masterpiece Thus Spoke Zarathustra!
Siddhartha is a novel by the German writer Hermann Hesse. The story deals with the spiritual journey of a man named Siddhartha and it takes place during the time of the Buddha. In this episode, we discuss how it is Hesse, through Siddhartha, seems to present a more world-loving Buddhist view than that of traditional Buddhism.
Simone de Beauvoir was a French existentialist philosopher. In this episode, we take a look at her important work The Ethics of Ambiguity. We talk about how it is she thinks we both evade and misuse our freedom!
In this brief episode, I talk about the philosopher John Stuart Mill's view on pleasure!
In this brief episode, I try to say something about Heidegger's view of the typewriter and of technology in general.
In this episode, we discuss Sartre's quote "Hell is other people" and Nietzsche's quote "Without music, life would be a mistake"!
In this episode, I briefly introduce some of the main themes in the philosopher Byung-Chul Han's book Non-Things.
Animal Farm is an animal fable and novella written by George Orwell. The story is about a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to establish a free and equal society. In this episode, we discuss the idea of revolution and utopia!
In this brief episode, I reflect a bit on the goal of philosophy, especially from the point of view of Epicurus and Thoreau.
In this episode, we discuss Kierkegaard's quote "Truth is subjectivity", and John Locke's "The mind is a blank slate"!
Hannah Arendt was one of the most important political philosophers of the 20th century. In this episode, we discuss what she calls the active life, which includes her notions of labor, work and action.
In this episode, I talk a bit about what it is that might make something a work of art!
Thomas Nagel is an American philosopher. In this episode, we discuss his notion of absurdity and how it is he thinks we should respond to it!
In this brief episode, I talk about Nietzsche's view on love, and the Platonic-Christian tradition he's reacting to.
The Diary of the Seducer appears in Kierkegaard’s first published work Either/Or. The Diary is about Johannes, an aesthete, who through careful manipulation, seduces a younger 17 year old girl called Cordelia. In this episode, we discuss what it means to live the aesthetic life and some of the problems associated with it.
In this brief episode, I reflect on the connection between suffering and a deeper form of happiness.
In this episode we discuss Protagoras' famous statement, "Man is the measure of all things" and Marx's, "Religion is the opium of the masses"!
Erich Fromm was a German psychologist and philosopher. He wrote the book called Escape from Freedom in 1941. In this episode, we discuss Fromm's conception of negative and positive freedom, and the various ways in which he thinks we try to escape the burden of our freedom!
Victor Frankl was a Viennese psychiatrist, and a concentration camp survivor. In this episode, we discuss his logotherapy and how it is we can find meaning in suffering.
In this episode, I reflect a bit on Sartre's novel Nausea and the importance that music plays in it!
In this brief episode, I reflect on the nature of boredom and how it might sometimes be beneficial!
This is the first episode in a once monthly series exploring the top philosophy quotes of all time. In this episode, we discuss Berkeley's To Be Is To Be Perceived, and Leibniz's This Is The Best Of All Possible Worlds.
The Roman Seneca was an important Stoic philosopher. In this episode, we discuss how it is we should value and allocate our time, and how it is philosophers from the past can help us to expand our short lives!
In this brief episode, I reflect on what Socrates might say about Twitter and social media!
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher who was born in 1889 and who died in 1976. He’s probably best known for his 1927 philosophical work Being and Time. In this episode, we discuss his reaction to Descartes, his concept of being-in-the-world, and his view on conformity or inauthenticity.
Anton Chekhov was a Russian short story writer and playwright. He was born in 1860 and died in 1904. He's regarded as one of the greatest short story writers in history. In this episode, we discuss his realist approach to art and what he takes an admirable life to be.
In this brief episode, I discuss the philosopher Robert Solomon's view on love and possession.
In this brief episode, I reflect on the sun and some of its associations throughout history.
Peter Singer is an Australian philosopher, who works at Princeton University. Outside of academic circles, he’s probably best known for his book Animal Liberation. In this episode, we discuss his view on the importance of the capacity for suffering, and his view on animals for food.
In this brief episode, I discuss the Spanish philosopher Miguel Unamuno's concern with human consciousness.
Simone Weil was a French philosopher who was born in 1909 and who died in 1943. In this episode, we discuss her poem on Homer's Iliad, called The Poem of Force, and we also talk about her view on attention and compassion.
In this brief episode, I discuss some of the views of the existentialists as it relates to the notions of freedom and responsibility.
Ecclesiastes is known as one of the wisdom books of the Old Testament, alongside the Book of Job, Song of Songs and Proverbs. It was written sometime between 450 and 200 BC and its author is unknown. In this episode, we discuss God's apparent lack of justice and His distance from us. Then we talk about some similarities between Ecclesiastes and Albert Camus' perspective.
In this brief episode, I discuss the connection Socrates makes between shared dialogue and the state of our soul.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being was written by the Czech Milan Kundera, and it was published in 1984. It tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his habitual womanizing. In this episode, we discuss living lightly versus living with weight, and Nietzsche's idea of the eternal return.
In this brief episode, I discuss the ancient idea of negative visualization and the connection it has to gratitude.
Molloy is a novel written by the Irish writer Samuel Beckett, published in 1951. It’s the first of a trilogy of novels, the other two being Malone Dies and The Unnamable. In this episode, we discuss the idea of being stuck inside your own mind, and the idea of the mid-life crisis.
In this brief episode, I discuss the nature and the problem of our human-centered outlook.
Zorba the Greek is a novel written by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis and it was first published in 1946. The story is about a young English writer who meets Alexis Zorba, an older Greek man with a passion for life. As their friendship develops, the young writer is gradually transformed. In this episode, we discuss the contemplative life versus the life of action, and the importance of laughter and dance.
In this brief episode, I talk a little about the nature of narcissism through looking at the Greek myth of Narcissus and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Plato is considered to be one of the greatest philosophers in history. In this episode, we take a look at his great dialogue the Republic and discuss the important connection he makes between being a good person and happiness.
In this brief episode, I discuss what Buber calls the I-Thou and I-It attitudes to life.
A Doll’s House is a play written by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered in 1879. The play has as it central theme something like the fate of being a married woman in a male dominated world. In this episode, we explore Ibsen's feminism and the importance he places on self-realization.
In this brief episode, I discuss Sartre and his view in Existentialism is a Humanism that values don't come from God but rather that they're created by us.
Journey to the East is a novel written by the German author Herman Hesse, published in 1932. Journey to the East is about a man who becomes a member of what’s known as The League, a branch of which goes on a pilgrimage to "the East" in search of the ultimate Truth. In this episode, we discuss St. Francis of Assisi, Servant Leadership, and what going East really means.
In this brief episode, I discuss the meaning of the tightrope walker in Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Lao Tzu was an ancient Chinese philosopher, born sometime in the 6th century BC. He’s supposedly the founder of Taoism. Taoism emphasizes living in harmony with what’s called the Tao or the way, which is taken to be the underlying natural order of the universe. In this episode, we discuss Lao Tzu's view on language and his notion of inaction.
In this brief episode, I talk about how it actually personally benefits us to not shy away from false or disagreeable ideas.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich was written by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, and it was published in 1886. The story’s about Ivan, an inauthentic, upper class individual, who learns that he’s dying from a terminal disease. In this episode, we discuss the theme of insincerity and of death.
In this brief episode, I talk about the importance of some discomfort and pain in life.
The Fragility of Goodness was written by Martha Nussbaum, published in 1986. Nussbaum is an American philosopher who works at the University of Chicago. In this episode, we reflect on the question of how immune and how safe it is we should make ourselves, or conversely, how open we should be to life, in order to live in such a way that’s best and most valuable for a human being.
In this brief episode, I talk about the importance of thinking as a form of deep attention.
In this brief episode, I discuss the Problem of Evil in Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by American author Mark Twain which was first published in 1884. The story is about Huck, who runs away from his abusive father and, with his friend, the runaway slave Jim, makes a long and frequently interrupted voyage down the Mississippi River on a raft. In this episode, we discuss Huck and Jim's relationship, and then we talk about what it means to be free on the river.
Yahweh is the god of ancient Israel, who chooses a certain people, the Israelites, as his own. He’s viewed as the creator of the universe. In this episode, we discuss Yahweh's supposed moral perfection, and His distance from us.
In this brief episode, I discuss Aristotle's view on the development of character or virtue, especially as it concerns the importance of habit.
Thor was the Norse god of thunder and lightning. And he was probably the most worshipped of any of the Heathen gods throughout pre-Christian Northern Europe. In this episode, we discuss his role as protector and his magical hammer.
Stoicism is a school of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. In this episode, I discuss the Stoics view on fate and on emotions.
Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known as the Buddha, was a teacher and religious leader who lived in Ancient India. His teachings form the basis of the Buddhist religion. In this episode, we discuss his notion of no-self, and we look at some later thinkers that were influenced by Buddhism.
Jesus of Nazareth is the core figure of one of the world’s largest religions, Christianity. He’s regarded by most Christians as the incarnation or the son of God. In this episode, we discuss the importance he places on being like children. We also discuss Dostoevsky and Nietzsche within this context.
The god Gaia, in Greek mythology, is the personification of the earth. In this episode, we explore her significance in the creation myth. We also discuss the concept Gaia in today's context.
Albert Camus’ Lyrical Essays are a collection of essays Camus wrote between 1937 and 1958. They include his very earliest writings and some of his very last. In this episode we focus on those early ones, which mostly take the form of prose-poetry, and which are overflowing with a lyrical and rhapsodic love of the earth.
The Song of Songs is one of the shortest books of the Bible. It's basically a collection of love poems spoken to each other by a young man and a young woman. The Song of Songs is undoubtably one of the greatest and most beautiful love poems ever written. In this episode, we try to tackle the meaning of this poem and we take a look at the beauty of the language used.
Charles Baudelaire was a french poet and art critic who was born in 1821. His most famous work, published in 1857, was The Flowers of Evil. The Flowers of Evil, explores, among other things, the good, the bad and the ugly of modern city life. In this episode, we explore themes like the connection between beauty and morality, and beauty as the commonplace.
The 1955 novel Lolita was written by the Russian American writer Vladimir Nabokov. The story’s about a European middle aged professor, Humbert, who’s obsessed with a 12 year old American girl, Dolores, whom he nicknames Lolita. In this episode we explore themes like beauty, desire and youth.
The Dispossessed is a science fiction novel written by the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. It was published in 1974. The story is about radically different societies on two twin planets, Urras and Annares. Urras is in part a capitalist economy, while Annares is without a government and anarchistic. In this episode, we explore the themes of promise-keeping, beauty, and environmental degradation.
Brave New World was written by the English writer Aldous Huxley. It’s a dystopian novel and it was published in 1932. The story is set in a London six hundred years in the future. In this episode, we explore the themes of consumerism, pleasure and happiness.
The Next Generation is a TV series created by Gene Roddenberry, which first aired in 1987. The show follows the adventures of the ship the USS Enterprise, as it explores the Milky Way galaxy, with captain Jean Luc Picard at the helm. In this episode, we discuss how it is Star Trek tries to make us aware of the shortcomings of the values we hold today, specifically, values centered around work and the pursuit of wealth.
Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher born in 1844. His most famous and probably greatest work is Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In this episode, we take a look at some of the things he has to say about science and truth.
Notes from the Underground is a novella, written by the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was published in 1864. The novella presents itself as an excerpt from the meandering thoughts and memories of a stewing, secluded and unnamed narrator who’s a retired government bureaucrat living in St. Petersburg.
The Handmaid’s Tale was written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It’s a dystopian novel, set in a patriarchal, religious totalitarian state known as the Gilead Republic. The protagonist is a woman named Offred, who’s belongs to the group of handmaids, a group of women who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the ruling class of men.
Lord of the Flies is a novel by the English author William Golding, published in 1954. It’s a book about a group of boys whose airplane crashes on an uninhabited island somewhere in the Pacific ocean. The story is about their attempt to govern themselves without any adults around.
William Shakespeare was an English playwright born in 1564. Some of his most famous works include Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Macbeth and Hamlet. His plays, which include tragedies, comedies and histories, have been translated into nearly every language and they’re performed more than any other playwright. He’s often considered to be the greatest writer in the English language. The play we look at today is Hamlet.
The Possessed, or Demons, is a novel written by the Russian writer Dostoevsky and it was first published in 1871. It’s a story concerned with the catastrophic consequences of the political and moral nihilism that were becoming more prevalent in Russia in the 1860s.
Emily Dickinson was an American poet, born in Massachusetts, in 1830. In this episode, we explore her views on death, nature, the senses, and the affirmation of life.
Moby Dick was written by the American writer Herman Melville, and it was published in 1851
Civilization and its Discontents is a book by the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, published in 1930.
The Bacchae was written by the Greek playwright and tragedian Euripides around 410 BC. It’s no doubt one of his most provocative and dreadful tragedies.
Waiting for Godot is a play composed by the incomparable Irish writer Samuel Beckett, first written in French in 1948.
Rashomon is a groundbreaking 1950 film directed by the master Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch painter who was born in 1853 and died in 1890. In 1889, plagued by depression and illness, Van Gogh committed himself to a mental asylum in France. It’s there, in his lucid periods, where he painted, among other masterpieces, Starry Night.
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who has become one of the most significant artists of the 20th century.
The Scream is a painting by the Norwegian Edvard Munch. It's a forerunner of the Expressionist movement.
Created in 1907, The Young Ladies of Avignon is the single most important turning point in the evolution of modern art.
The Lascaux Cave Paintings belong to the Paleolithic Age and are some of the oldest paintings in the world.
Season 5 Authenticity - The Stranger is about a young man who commits a murder without motive or explanation.
Season 5 Authenticity - Catcher in the Rye is about a young adolescent seeking authenticity.
Season 5 Authenticity - Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man is about a young man who leaves his religion and his family to try to become an artist.
Season 5 Authenticity - The Metamorphosis is about a traveling salesman who wakes up as an insect.
Season 4 Morality - Rousseau's Emile is about the education of a small child in nature.
Season 4 Morality - In the Heart of Darkness the central character Marlow tells the story of his journey up the Congo River where he meets Kurtz, an ivory trader.
Gide's The Immoralist describes a confessional account of a man seeking the truth about his own nature.
Sophocles' Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy about Oedipus, who is fated to kill his father and marry his mother.
The story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis is about God's command to Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac.
Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's about a man who commits a murder and has to deal with his guilt.
John Keats is a Romantic poet. In this episode, we discuss a letter he wrote in 1817 where he talked about something he called "Negative Capability".
The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, the novel depicts narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.
Anna Karenina is a story of love and adultery set against the background of aristocratic society in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
Epicurus’ Letter to Menoeceus is a brief summary of his philosophy of happiness, to his friend and disciple of the letter’s name.
In The Histories, Herodotus tells the story of the encounter between King Croesus and Solon. They discuss what it means to be happy.
Mann's Death in Venice is about a great writer who visits Venice and becomes obsessed with a beautiful youth.
Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is a story of patricide, and it centers around the clashes of values and world views of the Karamazov family.
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Frankenstein sets out to create a person in what is one of the most unusual scientific experiments ever conceived.
Homer's Odyssey is about the Greek hero Odysseus and his long journey home after the Trojan War where his wife Penelope and son Telemachus await him.
Sappho was a greek poet from the island of Lesbos in the Aegean sea. Sappho's sensual poetry often centered around the overwhelming power of love and it was often directed towards other women.
The Symposium is one of Plato's greatest dialogues. It's the first lengthy discussion of love in western philosophy, and one of the most influential texts on love in the western world.
Don Quixote is a book written by Miguel de Cervantes published in 1605. It's about an everyday man who one day turns into a knight errant and decides to right the wrongs of this world.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is a five page short story written by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1933. It’s about three people and their individual confrontation with nothingness or nada.
The Plague is a book written by Albert Camus, published in 1947. The story is about a deadly plague that ravages the town of Oran, and the people who try to fight against it. They do the best they can, even though they know that there is no cure and that their attempts are ultimately futile.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a book written by Friedrich Nietzsche, published in 1883. The story chronicles the sayings and the travels of the sage Zarathustra. Zarathustra teaches that God is dead and that we must remain faithful to the earth.
The Book of Job is a book from the Old Testament. It was written around the 6th century BC. The story is about Job, a completely innocent and upright man, who is made to suffer terribly as a result of a bet made between God and Satan. Initially, Job can’t understand why God would allow for his to happen to him. Eventually he comes to realize that God’s creation is much bigger, and so less about him personally, than he had assumed.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known story we have. It’s from Mesopotamia and it dates back all the way to around 1800 BC. The story is about Gilgamesh, the ruler of Uruk, and his quest for immortality. What he eventually realizes is that immortality is not what the aim of life is all about, but rather, in everyday projects and good deeds, in the concerns of this life.