Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself - Chief Seattle of the Duwamish and Suquamish In our second of two episodes on Artificial Intelligence (AI), we look at what it’s like to have conversations with ChatGPT and AI. We compare its functionality...

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon Man is condemned to be free because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It's up to you to give life a meaning - Jean-Paul Sartre In our first of two episodes on Artificial Intelligence (AI), we look at what AI has been in the past, what it is currently, and what it could be in the future. We also discuss whether AI can learn things, experience time, and what AI may be telling us about what it means to exist. We...

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality - Dante Alighieri In our forth episode on the Stoics, we enter into the world of Marcus Aurelius. A name that many have undoubtedly heard of, but can sometimes be misunderstood or overlooked amidst a packed Roman Emperor pool. But Marcus was different. He was a rare breed of Philosopher-Emperor and someone who, in the face of constant change,...

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon Ah, fill the cup: What boots it to repeat how time is slipping underneath our feet: Unborn tomorrow and dead yesterday, why fret about them if today be sweet - Omar Khayyam In this third of our four episodes on the Stoics, we continue our discussion of Seneca. We speak on excerpts from various chapters on one of his most well-known essays, "On the Shortness of Life." In it, we see Seneca continue emphasizing the importance of friendship, of living...

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon Railing against the past will not heal us. History has happened, it's over and done with. All we can do is to change its course by encouraging what we love, instead of destroying what we don't - Arundhati Roy In this second of four episodes on the Stoics, we introduce Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Seneca, like Marcus Aurelius as we will learn in later episodes, had a life that an outsider may view as incredibly privileged, but was very restrained and...

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world - Anne Frank We venture into the world of Stoicism in this first episode of four in a mini-Stoicism series. We begin with the story of Zeno of Citium, one of the first Stoics. We then touch on Chrysippus and his many contributions, before discussing Epictetus’ Enchiridion at length. The Stoic handbook, like the Dhammapada or Dao De Jing, begin to form a...

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong - Voltaire The fourth episode of our four-part series on Baruch de Spinoza picks up where we left off with the last episode, and finishes our examination of his Ethics. Specifically, this episode focuses on parts two through five. After understanding how Spinoza viewed God in our last episode, we then look at how he viewed the individual within the universe, or...

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion, it is easy in solitude to live after our own, but the great man is he, who in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude - Ralph Waldo Emerson  The third episode of our four-part series on Baruch de Spinoza takes a close look at his Ethics, and specifically focuses on the first part of the five parts within the literary and philosophical work. His idea...

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self - Ernest Hemingway The second episode of our four-part series on Baruch de Spinoza is a continuation of his key philosophical ideas and his ideas regarding epistemology. We've selected excerpts of the text to help highlight Spinoza's thought process, and how he starts from being hesitant to give up certain things for an uncertain...

We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good - Carl Sagan We begin the first episode of a four-part series on Baruch de Spinoza, a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese origin and one of the great rationalists of early modern philosophy. In our first episode, we recount his life and some of the key events that would go on to shape his philosophy and relationship with religion, rational...

Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all - G. K. Chesterton In this episode we continue our discussion of Chinese philosophy, and specifically the I-Ching as our second episode in the two-part series. We examine a variety of different hexagrams and look at what they tell us of reality, social interactions, and the good. We also look at how hexagrams can change, and what the I-Ching’s ability to capture this...

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has - Margaret Mead In this episode we continue our discussion of Chinese philosophy and look at the I-Ching through a two-part series of discussions. We start by discussing the three principal cosmological theories of the universe in ancient Chinese thought, i.e., Tai Ji (Yin and Yang), Wu Xing (Five Elements), and Ba Gua (Eight Trigrams), and work our way towards...

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else – Arthur Schopenhauer In this episode we discuss Lao Zi, an ancient Chinese philosopher, and the Dao De Jing, a combined literary work of 5,000 characters comprising 81 chapters or poems. We also note the meaning within the naming of “Dao De Jing,” as well as possible origins of the book. Our discussion looks at five chapters within the Dao De Jing and demonstrates their applicability today and...

If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul, and get to know a man, don’t bother analyzing his ways of being silent or of talking, of weeping, of seeing how much he is moved by noble ideas. You will get better results if you just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he’s a good man – Fyodor Dostoevsky In this episode we discuss Plato's Phaedo, one of his most notable works. In this episode, we lay out the four arguments Socrates puts forth before he dies. The first is the Cyclical Argument,...

Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth - Fyodor Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment) In this episode we continue our discussion as the second part, in a two part series, of Plato's Symposium. As we mentioned in the first part, the Symposium consists of a gathering of people, including Socrates in this instance, who took turns giving speeches devoted to the God of Love, Eros. Each person...

Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck - Immanuel Kant In this episode we begin discussing the first part, in a two part series, Plato's Symposium. The Symposium consists of a gathering of people, including Socrates in this instance, who took turns giving speeches devoted to the God of Love, Eros. Each person would go around giving their own take on what they believe love is and how that relates to the God of Love, with each similar,...

Everything has been figured out, except how to live - Jean-Paul Sartre In this episode we revisit the Republic by Plato, specifically book 10 and discuss the Myth of Er. This myth is posed by Plato as a way to describe a possibility for the afterlife and a general discussion about reincarnation, free will, determinism, and the universe as a force holding all those things together. We also briefly contrast it with the Buddhist notion of reincarnation. These topics will also appear in greater...

The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries - Rene Descartes This episode is a continuation of our discussion of Socrates and centers around the Socratic dialogue of Meno. The question posed by Meno is whether virtue is taught, acquired by practice, or whether it comes by nature, and Socrates uses a mathematic puzzle to answer the question. We discuss the dialogue, its broader context, its relevance, and how it ties into the episodes and topics...

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence - Aristotle In this episode we continue our discussion the trial and death of Socrates. We pick up from the Apology of Socrates and discuss the Crito. Crito was a wealthy friend of Socrates who sought to help him escape from prison. This dialogue is a well-written exchange between the two over the moral implications of escaping and the role of the individual within the state. There is a brief...

Space and time are the framework within which the mind is constrained to construct its experience of reality - Immanuel Kant In this episode we begin discussing the trial and death of Socrates. It begins with the Euthyphro, which we have previously addressed, and then picks up with the Apology of Socrates. It is better understood as Socrates's legal defense to the two charges of impiety and corruption of the youth, rather than Socrates apologizing. We talk about some of the arguments put...

In so far as the mind sees things in their eternal aspect, it participates in eternity. - Baruch Spinoza In this episode we speak about Voltaire and specifically his satirical literary work "Candide," as a response to our previous episode on Leibniz. We start off with an overview of Candide, and from there we discuss themes of the work, its applicability in other areas we have discussed on the podcast, and also how Leibniz might respond to this critique. We also discuss some of the critiques...

This is the best of all possible worlds. - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz In this episode, we introduce Leibniz. We begin speaking of his many achievements and contributions to the world, and also give some background to the other rationalists with whom he was a part of. We consider his principles, theory of monads, and how his faith was instrumental in both his rational thought and his thoughts of metaphysics. We briefly discuss free will and his thoughts on God's role in the world. In the next...

...no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact which it endeavors to establish. David Hume In this episode, we consider objections and critiques to the ontological argument, as set out by St. Anselm/Plantinga. We specifically look at Gaunilo's response, as well as critiques by Kant and Aquinas. In response to St. Anselm, there have been many interesting points made over the years, and the...

Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time - Voltaire In this episode, we look at St. Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God put forth in 1077. The version we examine is Alvin Plantinga's because it is better structured for discussion. It seeks to prove the existence of God through deductive argument using a reductio ad absurdum form of argument. This argument can also be seen as an extension of our...