Introduction to Philosophy
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Leibniz's Discourse on Metaphysics
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Leibniz argues for God's creation as the best possible world, defining God's attributes (omniscience, omnipotence) and explaining the relationship bet...
Leibniz's Monadology
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's Monadology proposes that the universe consists of simple, indivisible substances called monads, each possessing perception...
Descartes' Discourse on Method
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The first rationalist we will cover is Rene Descartes. Descartes details his methodical approach to doubting established beliefs, aiming to construct ...
Descartes' Meditations
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Meditations introduces Descartes's innovative method of achieving certain knowledge by systematically doubting all previously held beliefs, ultima...
Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The third of the "British Empiricists" is John Locke, also known for his political philosophy and his Treatises on Government (check out our episode o...
Berkeley's Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The second of the "British Empiricists" that will be covered is George Berkeley. George Berkeley's A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowl...
Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is much shorter than the Treatise but is known to be more precise and clear. Hume argues for an empirici...
Hume's Treatise of Human Nature
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kick off the new season Rationalism vs. Empiricism with the empiricist David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature explores the nature of human understandi...
Plato's Republic
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Plato's Republic explores the nature of justice. Socrates, through dialogues with various interlocutors, investigates different definitions of justice...
Plato's Meno
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Plato's Meno primarily explores the question of whether virtue can be taught. Socrates and Meno engage in a discussion that examines various definiti...
Plato's Crito
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Plato's Crito is a dialogue depicting a conversation between Socrates.and his friend Crito in prison, shortly before Socrates' execution. Critourges S...
Plato's Apology
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Plato's Apology is a transcription of Socrates' defense speech at his trial in Athens. Socrates recounts accusations leveled against him, including im...
Plato's Phaedo
09 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Plato's Phaedo is a dialogue exploring the immortality of the soul. Socrates, awaiting execution, presents various arguments for the soul's pre-existe...
Plato's Timaeus
09 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This text is an excerpt from Plato's Timaeus, a dialogue focusing on cosmology and the creation of the universe. Socrates, Critias, and Timaeus discus...
Plato's Symposium
07 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Plato's Symposium is a dialogue exploring the nature of love through speeches given by various characters at a banquet. The text provides an introduct...
Plato's Allegory of the Cave
07 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Plato's Allegory of the Cave, uses the metaphor of prisoners chained in a cave, only seeing shadows projected on a wall, to illustrate the difference ...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 14
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Season Finale!! Aristotle critiques earlier philosophical attempts to explain the fundamental principles of reality using numbers. Aristotle argues ag...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 13
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aristotle's Metaphysics Book 13 discusses the philosophical problem of substance. Aristotle tackles the existence of mathematical objects, such as nu...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 12
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Book 12 of Aristotle's Metaphysics discusses his conception of the unmoved mover, an eternal and immaterial being. The unmoved mover is the ultimate s...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 5
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aristotle examines multiple meanings of key terms, including "beginning," "cause," "element," and "nature," analyzing their various applications and r...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 11
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Book 11, Aristotle explores the nature of wisdom and its object of study. He argues that wisdom must be a science of first principles, but grapples...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 10
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Book 10 Aristotle attempts to define the concept of being. In this excerpt, Aristotle explores the concept of unity (or “one”), examining its d...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 8
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aristotle begins by outlining various perspectives on what constitutes substance: natural substances like fire and water, mathematical objects, and th...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 9
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Book 9 Aristotle explores concepts of potency and actuality. Aristotle argues that actuality is prior to potency and that things exist potentially ...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 5
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The text examines the different ways in which terms like "beginning," "cause," "element," "nature," "necessary," "one," "being," "substance," "same," ...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 6
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aristotle's Metaphysics, Book VI explores the nature of being and its various meanings. Aristotle argues that there are different kinds of being, incl...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 7
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aristotle’s Metaphysics Book VII focuses on the concept of substance, exploring different understandings of what it means for something to "be". The...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 4
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Book 4 Aristotle revisits Being and substance. He examines the nature of unity. This episode will cover contraries, contradictions, and change.
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 3
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aristotle examines several questions about these principles, including: whether there is one science or multiple sciences that study causes; whether t...
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 2
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Book two examines first principles and first causes.
Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 1
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to our first deep dive. In this season, we will be focusing on Aristotle's Metaphysics. Each episode will cover one of the 14 books in this te...
Burke Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful by Edmund Burke explores the psychological and physiological basis o...
Maurice Merleau-Ponty Phenomenology of Perception
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Phenomenology of Perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty is a significant work in the phenomenological tradition that challenges the Cartesian mind-body d...
Michel Foucault Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Michel Foucalt's Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology his unique perspective on the relationship between language, knowledge, and power, is demonst...
Kant Critique of Judgment
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Immanuel Kant's Critique of Judgment provides a glimpse into his philosophical system and the overarching themes explored in the work. Kant emphasize...
Heidegger The Origin of the Work of Art
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Heidegger's Off the Beaten Track, he dedicates a piece 'The Origin of the Work of Art' inquiring into the nature of art, focusing on the relationsh...
Hegel's Aesthetics
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our second episode is on Hegel's Aesthetics. In this text, Hegel provides a philosophical framework for understanding the nature and development of ar...
Plotinus on the Beautiful
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This season on aesthetics kicks off with an essay on the nature of beauty, written by Ancient Greek philosopher Plotinus. Plotinus argues against the ...
Albert Camus: The Stranger
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Albert Camus novel, The Stranger, the protagonist Meursault faces emotional detachment and his reaction to his mother's death. There is a theme of ...
Albert Camus: Myth of Sisyphus
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" discusses the concept of the absurd and how it relates to various aspects of human existence. Camus argues that t...
Friedrich Nietzsche: Thus Spoke Zarathustra
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nietzsche, through the voice of his fictional prophet Zarathustra, explores the themes of individualism, the Superman, the will to power, and the tran...
Miguel de Unamuno: Tragic Sense of Life
11 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Miguel de Unamuno's "Tragic Sense of Life" is a philosophical treatise that grapples with the human desire for immortality in the face of inevitable d...
Friedrich Nietzsche: The Gay Science
11 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Friedrich Nietzsche's The Gay Science is a collection of aphorisms and poems. Nietzsche explores the will to power, the revaluation of values, and th...
Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialism is a Humanism
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In "Existentialism is a Humanism", Jean-Paul Sartre questions the meaning of abandonment, anguish, and despair. He argues "existence precedes essence"...
Jean-Paul Sartre: Being and Nothingness
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sartre's Being and Nothingness focuses on the concept of consciousness, which Sartre terms the For-itself, in relation to being, which he calls the I...
Soren Kierkegaard: Either/Or
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Soren Kierkegaard explores the relationship between aesthetics and ethics in Either/Or. Kierkegaard discusses the nature of love, ma...
Soren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kick off this season on Existentialism with the "Father of Existentialism" Soren Kierkegaard and his book Fear and Trembling. This episode is a philos...
John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism
04 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is the central principle of utilitarianism, and how does Mill define happiness in this context? How does Mill distinguish between higher and lowe...
Peter Singer: Practical Ethics
04 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Singer argues that ethics should be used to guide decision-making about controversial issues like animal rights, abortion, and euthanasia. He emphasiz...
Kant: Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why does Kant emphasize a "pure" moral philosophy derived from reason rather than experience? What does Kant mean by "duty"? What is the categorical i...
Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is the "tyrannical impulse" of philosophy according to Nietzsche? How does Nietzsche characterize the "free spirit"? Why does Nietzsche find the ...
Spinoza: Ethics
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Spinoza's text on Ethics is heavily focused on God. Ultimately, Spinoza suggests that the highest human endeavor is to attain knowledge of God throug...
Aristotle: Nichomachean Ethics
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is Aristotle's definition of moral virtue? What are the two supreme forms of goodness of intellect, and how are they distinct? How does habituati...
Comparing These Thinkers
14 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From Aristotle to Whitehead, how do these metaphysical ideas compare?
Alfred Whitehead
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Flipping previous metaphysicians on their heads Whitehead suggests a process metaphysics. What distinguishes an 'enduring object' from an ordinary phy...
Immanuel Kant
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is the difference between analytic and synthetic judgments? What is Kant's distinction between appearances and things in themselves? What is the ...
Gottfried Leibniz
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
According to Leibniz, what distinguishes God's will from his understanding? How does Leibniz address the argument that God's creation is not utterly p...
Thomas Aquinas
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas Aquinas was a great Catholic theologian and philosopher. His metaphysics is a response to Aristotle. What are the two senses of "being" that Aq...
Aristotle Metaphysics
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This season will tackle the philosophical enquiry into being and becoming, metaphysics. We will start with Aristotle's text Metaphysics. Why is the st...
SEASON FINALE
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the season finale on an introduction to political thought a discussion of the six different theorists and how their ideas relate and differ.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Social Contrast
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode take a look into Rousseau's slightly more optimistic take on the state of nature. What is the natural state of man? What does Rousseau...
John Locke: Second Treatise
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How does Locke define political power? What is its primary purpose? What is the state of nature? How does one come to possess property in the state o...
Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Travel back to who these theorists were responding to starting with Thomas Hobbes and his Leviathan. How does Hobbes define the "Right of Nature" (Jus...
Martha Nussbaum: Women and Human Development
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What does Nussbaum identify as the central question asked by the capabilities approach? How does this question differ from those asked by traditional ...
Robert Nozick: Anarchy, State, and Utopia
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In stark contrast with Rawls theory dive into Nozicks libertarian theory. How does Nozick argue that a minimal state can arise without violating anyon...
John Rawls: A Theory of Justice
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The first season of this podcast is on political theory starting off with John Rawls A Theory of Justice. What is the "original position," and why doe...