Dr. Jacobs explores how ancient pagan philosophers understood human nature and the good life, examining key thinkers from Plato and Aristotle to the Stoics and Epicureans. The discussion covers metaphysical dualism, the nature of the soul, and competing views on happiness and virtue. This is a series on anthropology, part 1 of 4.

00:00:00 Intro

00:07:04 Metaphysical dualism

00:09:25 Empedocles

00:10:33 Plato

00:14:29 Pantheism

00:15:03 Heraclitus

00:18:52 Evil is a privation or distortion

00:22:13 The human experience of polarity

00:27:24 Four levels of discourse

00:33:46 Manichaeism & Gnosticism (extreme metaphysical dualism)

00:37:15 Plato & Socrates’ nature of the soul

00:54:35 The body and the afterlife

01:00:27 Epicureanism

01:08:31 Happiness and pleasure

01:14:43 The ethics of the stoics

01:37:29 The ethics of Plato and Aristotle

The Pagan Blueprint For the Good Life | Plato, Aristotle, & the Stoics