Professor Kozlowski Lectures
Episodes
Biblical Politics - A Primer
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Bible is a long, difficult text with many apparent conflicts, especially when it comes to a believer's responsibilities to secular government....
Gatsby's party sucked.
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski, introvert and buzzkill extraordinaire, poops on that most famous of lavish, extravagant parties: the one thrown by Gatsby in Chap...
History of Social Thought - Debrief
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski wraps up his study of political philosophy by discussing the ups and downs of the project, summarizing some of the most important ...
Language and Propaganda
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski concludes his series on political philosophy with a look at the nature of propaganda and its (often-unnoticed) effect on language....
Place and Cosmopolitanism
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today Professor Kozlowski investigates a grab bag of other political perspectives, including the radical Utilitarianism of Peter Singer's "Fa...
Care
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Ethics of Care presents one of the most cogent and effective alternatives to liberal government theory current today. It is revolutionary, empathe...
Activism
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski examines some of the most famous political activists of the twentieth century.Remember that all opinions expressed in this lecture...
Communism and Anarchism
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski continues testing the limits of algorithmic censorship with a discussion of Communism and Anarchism. No references to the Cookbook...
Liberalism
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski continues his idiotic life choices by reading and critiquing the neo-liberal political philosophy discussion surrounding John Rawl...
Fascism and Totalitarianism
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Professor Kozlowski tackles the preeminent development in political philosophy of the twentieth century - and spectre overhanging the twenty-fi...
Conservatism
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski invites the wrath of the Internet by proposing to discuss Conservatism. To do that, we'll explore the history of conservative ...
Marx - Communism 101
30 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Communist Manifesto is one of the most influential and divisive works of political philosophy. Yet it almost seems quaint and harmless in a modern...
Marx - Capitalism 101
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At long last, Professor Kozlowski tackles that most divisive of all political thinkers: Karl Marx. Today we'll talk about the legacy of Marx (espe...
PHIL 236 FA25 History of Social Thought Syllabus Lecture
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski introduces his new course - History of Social Thought - with a lecture walking through the syllabus and describing the responsibil...
Mill - Utilitarianism and On Liberty
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we confront the primary moral philosophy presented as a challenge to Kant's Deontology: Utilitarianism. We'll read Chapter 1 of Bentham&...
Kant - Perpetual Peace and Deontology
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski tackles the preeminent philosopher of Enlightenment philosophy: Immanuel Kant. In this lecture, we'll discuss the basic princi...
The American Experiment
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski finally reaches the American Experiment. Today we discuss the Declaration of Independence, several of the Federalist Papers (and t...
Montesquieu and Rousseau
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski tackles the French Enlightenment with excerpts from Montesquieu and Rousseau. The first is an orderly, encyclopedic thinker trying...
Hobbes and Locke
17 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a fit of spite, Professor Kozlowski condenses his discussion of landmark British political philosophers Hobbes and Locke - forerunners of the Ameri...
Machiavelli and the Muqaddimah
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski ventures into the modern era of political philosophy with a look at two titans of early-Renaissance era political philosophy: Ibn ...
Medieval Christian Political Philosophy
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today Professor Kozlowski takes on the political philosophy of the Medieval (and early modern) Christian world, as a cross-section of ideas and interp...
Politics and the Bible
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski embarks on yet another discussion of politics and the Bible. Here we will look at the basic outline of the gospel, as well as key ...
Roman Political Philosophy
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today Professor Kozlowski takes on the Roman Empire - its legacy (historical and mythological), its organization, and the ideas of some of its most in...
Eastern Political Philosophy
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski presents a woefully inadequate look at some key ideas in the political philosophy of China and India, specifically:Lao-Tzu's T...
Aristotle - Politics
09 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CW: Slavery (but not racism); Tyrannical Tactics, w/ examples from Hitler, Stalin, etc.Today Professor Kozlowski turns from Plato's Republic to t...
Plato - Republic 5-10
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CW: Incest, Infanticide, and Misogyny as philosophical ideas and historical realitiesProfessor Kozlowski tackles the rest of the Republic by ranging o...
Plato - Republic 2-4
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski tackles the origins of Plato's Republic proper - following Socrates as he describes the earliest organization of government th...
Plato - Republic 1
03 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For the first reading in History of Social Thought, Professor Kozlowski *finally* tackles that greatest of philosophical classics: Plato's Republi...
Intro to Social Thought
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski embarks on a new scholastic project: preparing an introductory course on political philosophy for the fall semester. Several month...
PHIL 143 Syllabus Lecture SU25
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski welcomes his new students to the summer session of the Philosophy of Love and Friendship...with a two-hour long lecture about how ...
Always Re-Reading: Catch-22
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, apropos of nothing, Professor Kozlowski tackles one of his favorite books: Joseph Heller's popular, stylish, satirical masterpiece - Catch-...
Medieval Europe
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski, concluding his serious of insanely ambitious General Humanities I videos, attempts to cram the whole thousand-year history of Med...
Sir Orfeo and Sir Launfal
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski concludes his General Humanities lecture series with an analysis of two Medieval lays - Sir Orfeo and Sir Launfal. Here we'll ...
Islam from a Dummy
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski here expresses his very limited knowledge and very uninformed interpretation of the Qu'ran, especially as it pertains to Jews,...
The Byzantine and Islamic Empires
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski wanders well out of his comfort zone and scholarly experience to discuss the history of the two great powers of the medieval world...
Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy
01 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today Professor Kozlowski tackles another favorite philosophical work in Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy - a foundational text of medieval...
The Gospel of Matthew
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski tackles the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount, the veiled allusions of the Kingdom of Heaven parables, and the moral quandary of i...
Ecclesiastes
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski takes a stab at unraveling one of the most famously knotty wisdom texts in the Old Testament: Ecclesiastes. Is it wisdom? Is it ni...
Judaism, Christianity, and the Fall of Rome
27 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski tempts the wrath of the Internet by discussing the history of Judaism and Christianity by recounting the major events and themes o...
Epictetus' Enchiridion
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski tackles the classic of 2nd century stoicism, Epictetus' Enchiridion. Along the way we'll discuss the virtues (and vices) o...
The Good Life of Plato and Aristotle
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski somehow crams everything a General Humanities student needs to know about Plato and Aristotle into one hour-and-a-half-long lectur...
The Bronze Age Underworld
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski takes on a triple threat of Bronze-Age(ish) underworld stories, namely: The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Inana's Descent to the ...
From Prehistory to the Achaemenid Persian Empire
18 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski kicks off his historical study in General Humanities I with a survey of the ancient Bronze Age cultures of the Near East (Babylon,...
Iliad 19, 22, 24, and Odyssey 11
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski concludes his week-long analysis of Homer with an examination of Achilles through the last chapters of the Iliad and his reappeara...
Iliad 1, 6, 9
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski tackles the Iliad and Odyssey from a bird's eye perspective, looking at the trajectory of Achilles' rage and his missteps ...
HUMN 201-04 SP25 Syllabus Lecture
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski discusses the syllabus and expectations for the Spring 2025 section of General Humanities 1.
Pre-Pre-Socratic Philosophy
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski kicks off his series on Pre-Socratic Philosophy with an examination of the forerunners to Pre-Socratic philosophy: Greek and Babyl...
Patreon and The Future (of PK Lectures)
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're talking about...money. A lot has happened in the past few months, and Professor Kozlowski Lectures has a very uncertain future. Today ...
Armchairs and Anarchists
15 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski produces an odd, unfocused lecture for an odd, unfocused topic.
L&F SU24 Syllabus
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski goes over the syllabus for the online Summer '24 session of Love and Friendship.
The Sorrows of Young Werther 2
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
CW: Suicide and Mental Illness Professor Kozlowski concludes his discussion of Goethe's The Sufferings of Young Werther by examining the causes (...
The Sorrows of Young Werther 1
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
CW: Mental Illness and Suicide Professor Kozlowski discusses the first half of Goethe's The Sufferings of Young Werther, including character intro...
Plato's Symposium 4 - Alcibiades
11 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski examines the final speech of Plato's Symposium and examines some of the *many* ways it might be interpreted as a contribution ...
Plato's Symposium 3 - Socrates
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At long last, it's time to hear Socrates' justly-famous theory of love.
Plato's Symposium 2 - Eryximachus, Aristophanes, Agathon
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski takes on the justly famous speech-myth of Aristophanes and how it appeals to modern audiences. (Also Eryximachus and Agathon...)
Plato's Symposium 1 - Phaedrus and Pausanias
04 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski discusses the opening and first two speeches of Plato's Symposium, examining not just the content of the speeches, but the con...
Christians and Rights
28 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In our first Patron-requested topic of the summer, Professor Kozlowski throws caution to the winds and addresses the contemporary state of American Ch...
The Future of Professor Kozlowski Lectures
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A brief discussion of what you can expect from Professor Kozlowski Lectures in the coming months and years. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is u...
D&RN - Demons Destroyed
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski concludes his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons and his series on Russian Nihilism. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up...
D&RN - The Demons' Fete
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Time to party with the Demons. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact ...
D&RN - Demons Bustle About
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Finally we get to see Pyotr Stepanovich bustle about and put his dubious plans into motion. Today Professor Kozlowski contrasts the careers and advent...
D&RN - Demons Unmasked
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski continues his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons by deeply examining the newly-revealed characters of Nikolai Vsevolodovich Sta...
D&RN - Undercover Demons
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski continues his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons with an examination of many of the minor characters introduced so far, and how...
D&RN - Introducing Demons
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today Professor Kozlowski discusses the first two chapters of Dostoevsky's Demons, introduces three of our primary characters, and connects them t...
D&RN - Crime, Punishment, Debts, and Devils
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski attempts to recount the developments in the Russian literary world between 1864 and 1871 (when Demons is written), including a bri...
D&RN - Apropos of the Wet Snow
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski tackles the second half of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, with special attention to exploring the references to 1840'...
D&RN - Underground
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At long last, Professor Kozlowski confronts Dostoevsky's most widely discussed and controversial creation: Notes from Underground. Come for the to...
D&RN - Chernyshevsky 3
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski muses on the Utopian hopes and missing realities of Chernyshevsky's promised revolution at the end of What is to Be Done? To ...
D&RN - Chernyshevsky 2
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Now that we've gotten all the rage sweats cleaned up, it's time for Professor Kozlowski to take a deep dive into Chernyshevsky's convictio...
D&RN - Chernyshevsky 1
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski offers his first impressions of Chernyshevsky's What is to Be Done? Despite his efforts to be even-handed and charitable, ther...
James Bond and Don Juan
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To conclude his General Humanities class (again), Professor Kozlowski examines the broad-strokes legacy and theming of the James Bond franchise as an ...
D&RN - Fathers and Sons 2
21 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski concludes his examination of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons with a deep-dive look at Bazarov's painful relationship with his ...
The Cold War and the Late Twentieth Century
20 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski belatedly continues his General Humanities class with a brief-ish (and very insufficient) discussion of the Cold War and the Late ...
D&RN - Fathers and Sons 1
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today Professor Kozlowski discusses the first eighteen chapters of Turgenev's landmark novel, Fathers and Sons - where Turgenev coined the term &q...
Dostoevsky and Russian Nihilism - Introduction
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our new series for spring 2024 is on Dostoevsky's Demons and the tumultuous state of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s that brought about so...
Pentateuch - Deuteronomy
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski closes his discussion of the Pentateuch with an examination of Deuteronomy: its disputed authorship, its review of events past, it...
Pentateuch - Numbers 16-36
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski recounts and explores the latter half of the book of Numbers, including many new complications in the relationship between God and...
Pentateuch - Numbers 1-15
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Numbers is often maligned as a boring book about censuses and laws. But in this lecture, Professor Kozlowski explains the censuses and laws in terms o...
Pentateuch - Leviticus 16-27
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski outlines the mixed bag of Levitical laws and prohibitions, taking time to discuss several of the major themes recurring throughout...
Pentateuch - Leviticus 1-15
28 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski examines the laws of Leviticus and how they reveal new insights into God's Nature - though perhaps not as much as we might lik...
How to Read the Bible
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After a run of students asking for advice on learning about Christianity, Professor Kozlowski has decided to write and release his own guide for indep...
Pentateuch - Exodus 31-40
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The golden calf episode in Exodus 32-34 is one of the most important passages in the Bible, and one of the least understood or discussed. Today, Profe...
Pentateuch - Exodus 15-30
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After one of the most famous and exciting stories in the entire Bible comes...a bunch of laws and a famously boring series of chapters detailing the s...
WWT - Phaedo and Myth
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, since Professor Kozlowski is feeling a bit sick, he has uploaded his World Wisdom Traditions lecture, in a true return-to-pandemic-origins! Tod...
Pentateuch - Exodus 1-14
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski tackles "The Greatest Story Ever Told": The Exodus of Israel from Egypt. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to,...
Pentateuch - Genesis 23-50
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski tackles the messy and enigmatic one-two punch of the Jacob and Joseph narratives in the back half of Genesis, with emphasis on the...
Pentateuch - Genesis 4-22
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today Professor Kozlowski discusses the complicated, post-lapsarian world of early Genesis. He confronts some of the big ticket Genesis stories like C...
Pentateuch - Genesis 1-3
05 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hooray! It's finally time to actually read and discuss the Bible! But only a little bit, since the first three chapters of Genesis apparently warr...
Pentateuch - Introduction
28 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
But didn't we introduce the Pentateuch LAST WEEK? Nope. Old Testament "Introduction" is a formal term encompassing all of the scholarshi...
Pentateuch - Hermeneutics
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski kicks off his discussion of the Pentateuch with a rousing discussion of How to Read! Not joking. It's Hermeneutics time, folks...
Notes - Lightning Round!
28 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this rapid-fire explanation and conclusion to the informal research notes series, Professor Kozlowski discusses the newly-finalized reading list fo...
Notes on Radhakrishnan's "Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy" 2
17 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski continues his study of Hindu Philosophy in Radhakrishnan's Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy by studying the schools of interpre...
Notes on Radhakrishnan's "Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy" 1
11 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski pivots from researching and discussing Native American philosophy to Hindu philosophy in this informal discussion. Here he'll ...
Notes on Erdoes, Jennings, et al.
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski wraps up his discussion of Native American philosophy with a lightning round of books he's skimmed, partially-read, or hopes t...
Notes on Silko's "Ceremony"
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony was highly recommended by Cordova in her previously-discussed book on Native American philosophy, How it Is. Today,...
Notes on "American Indian Thought" ed. Anne Waters
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
American Indian Thought (edited by Anne Waters) is perhaps the primary sourcebook for Native American Philosophy today, but it's a strange, discor...
Notes on V. F. Cordova's "How It Is"
10 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Having decided to spend the summer researching (rather than trying to produce polished lectures), Professor Kozlowski begins to report his research in...
The Company We Keep
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski concludes (perhaps prematurely) his discussion of the Ethics of Literature by delivering a broad-strokes summary of Wayne C. Booth...
John Gardner's War on Nihilism
02 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There are few matters in art criticism (and life) closer to Professor Kozlowski's heart than the mental/spiritual war against capital-N Nihilism -...
On Moral Fiction 1
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kozlowski discusses the first half of John Gardner's On Moral Fiction: "Premises on Art and Morality", where we'll identif...