Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Do you need help understanding the great books of philosophy? In his podcasts, Professor Laurence Houlgate reads and discusses the classic works of Plato, Thomas Hobbes, Rene Descartes, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, and David Hume. His short readings are based on his acclaimed Smart Student's Guides to Philosophical Classics series (learn more at www.houlgatebooks.com). The episodes begin with the dialogues of Plato and will continue week by week through each chapter of Understanding Plato. For those who want to read along, a digital or print copy of the book can be purchased at Amazon.com at this address: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I5GAIJIThemes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Plato dialogue readings and commentary • Socratic method, logic, argument analysis • justice vs injustice • political philosophy, ideal state and constitutions • soul psychology and virtue • Forms and the Good • law, morality, deathThis podcast offers guided readings and explanations of major works in Plato, presented by Professor Laurence Houlgate in a format aligned with his *Understanding Plato* study guide. Across the episodes, the focus is on following Socrates’ arguments step by step, clarifying what questions are being asked, what answers are proposed, and why particular conclusions are accepted or rejected. The discussions often highlight how philosophical inquiry differs from unsupported speculation, emphasizing reasoning, definitions, and argumentative structure.
A recurring theme is Socrates’ method of testing claims through refutation and cross-examination, especially when interlocutors propose confident but unstable definitions of key moral ideas. The podcast repeatedly returns to the challenge of explaining and defending core ethical concepts—such as piety, virtue, and justice—not merely by listing examples or consequences, but by seeking what these things are “in themselves.” Related to this is attention to how one can have moral knowledge at all, including questions about whether moral truths are objective and how we can justify claims about what is right.
The content also explores how Plato links personal ethics with politics. Extended portions develop the analogy between the individual soul and the structure of a city-state, using that framework to analyze justice, self-control, and moral conflict within a person. Listeners encounter debates about competing accounts of justice, the temptations of wrongdoing, and why someone might choose to be just even when injustice seems advantageous.
Later discussions turn toward Plato’s metaphysical and educational ideas, including the distinction between changing particular things and stable Forms, and the claim that understanding the Good is central to understanding other values. Famous images and thought experiments are used to interpret these ideas and their implications for leadership, education, and civic life. The podcast also covers Socrates’ trial and death, presenting his defenses of philosophical life, his views about law and obligation, and his stance toward death and civic judgment.