Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
I will discuss some of the great philosophers and their ideas on ethics and metaphysics. Classcial philosphy is always my starting point; Plato and Aristotle will start things, but I will discuss various Hellenistic schools, and more modern thinker such as Mill , Kany, Nietzsche, and Whitehead.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Classical philosophy survey • Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic schools, Plotinus • ethics frameworks: utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, virtue ethics • metaphysics: Forms, substance, soul • logic/critical thinking • rhetoric theory • Greek myth divination/seersThis podcast presents short, course-oriented lectures on philosophy, centered on ethics and metaphysics with a strong emphasis on classical and late-classical sources. Much of the content follows major figures and schools from ancient Greek thought through Roman-era philosophy, using primary texts and core problems as organizing points. Listeners are introduced to Socrates and Plato through key dialogues that explore questions such as piety, ethical knowledge, the nature of the soul, and the emergence of the theory of Forms, and then move into Aristotle’s framework for explaining reality and change, including causation, substance, and the psychology of soul and intellect.
A substantial thread focuses on normative ethics and how competing theories justify moral judgment. The podcast surveys utilitarian approaches associated with Bentham and Mill, including ways of weighing consequences, and contrasts them with Kant’s deontological ethics, especially the role of duty, good will, and categorical moral requirements. Related discussions touch on challenges posed by empiricism and the problem of grounding moral claims, including brief engagement with ethical relativism.
Alongside historical coverage, the podcast also teaches foundational skills for philosophical analysis. Several episodes break down formal and informal reasoning tools—statements and propositions, soundness and validity, syllogistic forms, and basic propositional (“if–then”) arguments. Another cluster introduces rhetorical theory as it relates to persuasion, drawing on Aristotle’s modes of appeal and later frameworks that analyze audiences, exigence, and constraints. Additional material explores religious and mythic themes from antiquity, including divination and figures described as seers within Greek myth.
