In this podcast we explore great works of philosophy and literature and art, and try to pull out of them what’s most interesting and inspiring! Whether they come from the works of Plato, or Dostoevsky or Picasso, here we explore ideas that move mountains and rock the soul! So, come join us, won’t you? Come worship at the alter of ideas, and come celebrate the dancing of thought. Welcome to the Wisdom Of!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Why the existentialists hate the bourgeois!
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The French existentialists have a problem with bourgeois morality and relationships! What's their beef all about? Find out more!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Aristotle, Leisure and AI - Outsourcing our humanity!
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For Aristotle, leisure is the most important human activity. Unfortunately we're contracting out our leisure activities to AI, and with it, our humanity!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Why do we feel so disturbed by dolls and robots that are human-like? Why do we really fear AI? Freud has an answer!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Horace and Carpe Diem - What this famous phrase REALLY means!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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The Presocratic philosophers - From myth to matter!
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The Presocratics, the first philosophers and scientists, rejected traditional mythological explanations in favour of rational ones! Huge turning point! Find out more!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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The THREE most important things I learned from graduate school!
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Going to graduate school gave me some important abilities and approaches to things that have proven beneficial for my life as a whole!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Kierkegaard's The Present Age - Why Kierkegaard would have HATED the internet!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Karl Jaspers - Boundary situations and Transcendence!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Socrates - The Hemlock Controversy!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Callicles versus Socrates - On sound and leaky barrels!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Byung-Chul Han's The Crisis of Narration - Why information is not enough!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Love's Resurgence - Part 3 - Love as an Activity!
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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.Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Love's Resurgence - Part 1 - The Fall of Eros!
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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.Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Love's Resurgence - Part 2 - Love as Expansion!
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This is Part 2 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.Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Nietzsche on why art is crucially important for us!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Orwell's 1984 - The abuse of language and history!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea - Beyond the customary fishing grounds!
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Exploring the themes of skill and heroism in Hemingway's Pulitzer Prize novel!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Why do we cultivate lawns? Should we have them? Let's explore!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Bertrand Russell - Fear of Public Opinion!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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The disappearance of mystery in a world of technique!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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The benefits of living a more simple life!
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For millennia, voluntarily adopting a more simple life has been a calling by almost all wisdom seekers. For good reason! Find out more!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Final Regular Podcast Episode - The six thinkers and artists that have inspired me the most!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Jung and The Stages of Life - Mid-life crisis and old age!
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We need to start a college course designed to deal with the typical midlife crisis! Or so says Carl Jung! Find out more!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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The degeneration of gift-giving! A Christmas special!
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What's happened to the joy and authenticity of gift-giving? Find out more!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Nietzsche had mixed feelings about Buddhism. Find out more!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Sartre vs. Camus: Revolutionary vs. Rebel - The Big Dispute!
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Once close friends, Sartre and Camus had a huge public falling out. Find out why!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Can you be grateful for life if you're an atheist?
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Can non-theists feel existential gratitude? Let's explore!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Existentialism and Cezanne's Doubt!
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Why is there such a close connection between existentialism and the artist? Let's explore!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Heraclitus - The times they are a-changin!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Thanatos - The fear of, and the desire for, death!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Some thoughts on the notion of the suffering artist!
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Why is suffering and self-destruction associated with the artist? Has it always been this way? Let's explore!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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John Stuart Mill - The marketplace of ideas, and the question of Truth!
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Does the marketplace of ideas really produce the truth? Let’s explore!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Flaubert, le mot juste, and Schopenhauer's philosophy of language!
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Always searching for that exact right word? You're not alone, so did Flaubert and Schopenhauer!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Euripides' Medea - Revenge turned into something inhuman!
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What's this shocking play where filicide happens about? Let's explore!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Vico and The New Science - The Barbarism of Reflection!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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What's the difference between a job and a vocation? And why does the distinction matter? Let's explore!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Saving the sublime and bringing back the awe in awesome!
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What does the word sublime really mean? And why does getting this right matter? Find out!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Some differences between Eastern and Western philosophy
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What are some of the fundamental differences between Eastern and Western philosophy? Find out!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Karl Marx - Religion is a product of social disorder!
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Marx believed that if you fix our social condition, then religion will disappear! Find out why!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Can a bad or evil person be happy? Seems so, but maybe it's not so straight forward after all!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Do you really want to live forever?
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Is immortality all that it's cracked up to be? I don't think so! Find out why!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Are you a Platonist or an Aristotelian?
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Do you share Plato's orientation or Aristotle's? Find out!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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What is nostalgia exactly? And is it beneficial or can it be disadvantageous? Let's find out!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Eros and Agape - Two great but very different kinds of love!
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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Lou Salome - Was Nietzsche actually religious?
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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!Av Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb
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