Dr. Paul Katsafanas is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Boston University. He works on ethics, moral psychology, and nineteenth-century philosophy. He’s the author of the books Agency and the Foundations of Ethics: Nietzschean Constitutivism, and The Nietzschean Self: Moral Psychology, Agency, and the Unconscious.

In this episode, we talk about some of Nietzsche’s insights on human psychology, and how that relates to his moral philosophy. We start off by discussing the importance of studying human nature to do good moral philosophy, and the issues with some approaches in ethics like rationalism and intuitionism. Then we get into some of Nietzsche’s observations on the differences between reflective and unreflective action; the dynamical relationships between the conscious and the unconscious; and how concepts acquired through culture might influence our thinking. Referring to topics directly related to morality and ethics, we also talk about freedom, agency, and responsibility; Nietzschean drives; and the Will. We finally discuss Nietzsche’s morality, and if it was relativistic or subjective.

Follow Dr. Katsafanas’ work:

Faculty page: http://bit.ly/2MW2U96

Personal Website: http://bit.ly/2OTilS5

Articles on ResearchGate: http://bit.ly/2ZYhXCO

Books: https://amzn.to/2KFm0gT

Relevant books:

Agency and the Foundations of Ethics: Nietzschean Constitutivism: https://amzn.to/2Mcy38T

The Nietzschean Self: Moral Psychology, Agency, and the Unconscious: https://amzn.to/2TotusO

The Nietzschean Mind: https://amzn.to/2MRG0zM

A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORDE, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, BRIAN RIVERA, ADRIANO ANDRADE, YEVHEN BODRENKO, SERGIU CODREANU, ADAM BJERRE, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, AIRES ALMEIDA, BERNARDO SEIXAS, HERBERT GINTIS, RUTGER VOS, RICARDO VLADIMIRO, BO WINEGARD, JOHN CONNORS, ADAM KESSEL, AND VEGA GIDEY!

A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, ROSEY, AND JIM FRANK!

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