Then & Now: Philosophy, History & Politics

Dive into Rene Girard's concepts of scapegoating, violence, and desire, exploring their impact on literature and culture. Discover how his theories relate to current events like the COVID-19 pandemic and media and politics. Uncover Girard's insights on Christianity and human vulnerability in societal contexts.

In another lockdown special, I look at my introduction to Stoicism video to see if we can learn anything about our attitudes to coronavirus.Then & Now is FAN-FUNDED! Support me on Patreon and pledge as little as $1 per video: http://patreon.com/user?u=3517018 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a lockdown special, I look back at George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's Metaphors We Live By to see if it can offer any insights in a time of Coronavirus pandemic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join George Lakoff, a pioneering linguist known for his work on metaphors, and Mark Johnson, a distinguished philosopher and linguist, as they delve into their groundbreaking ideas from 'Metaphors We Live By'. They discuss how metaphors are integral to our understanding of the world, shaping our perceptions and communication in daily life. Discover the transformative power of metaphors in defining reality, from viewing life as a stage to conceptualizing time as a river, revealing how deeply embedded these linguistic devices are in our thought processes.

Albert Camus was an early twentieth century French philosopher whose works expressed a philosophy of the absurd. In the Myth of Sisyphus, published in 1952, Camus challenges the idea of reason, logic and rationality, describing the limits of our understanding of the world as humans, protesting that philosophy itself is an almost useless and self-negating task.Camus is always asking that age old question – what is the meaning of life? Because if we knew the answer to that question we’d know how to act.The question of acting is an ethical question – what should we do?The traditional answers to these questions have, for millennia, come from religion. Religion tells us what we should do and why we should do it.We should not kill because we’ll go to heaven if we don’t. Answering these questions secularly without the aid of a higher celestial authority becomes more difficult. For Camus, in fact, it’s almost useless. How can we ever know what to do with any certainty when even the clearest questions have exceptions?For Camus, the absurdity of habit and the limits of any transcendental reason are illustrated by the image of Sisyphus – condemned by the gods to roll a rock to the top of a mountain every day, only for it to roll back down for him to repeat all over again. IN Sisyphus, Camus sees the human conditioned at its starkest.But he highlights the moment when Sisyphus returns back down to the bottom of the mountain towards the rock – it’s in this moment that he is most aware, and in an awareness of the truth everything becomes clear, we acknowledge our fate and return to it anyway. Acknowledging the problems of acting and acting anyway takes courage. Knowing that absolute truth is unavailable and being resolute anyway is a demand of being human.He writes that ‘all Sisyphus' silent joy is contained therein. His fate belongs to him. His rock is his thing. Likewise, the absurd man, when he contemplates his torment, silences all the idols.’We become most human – most free- when we acknowledge this.We must live with an awareness of this absurdity or risk falling into a numb and frozen immobility – our fate is to act without being sure of how to act.The important thing, Camus writes ‘is not to be cured but to live with one’s ailments.’ Life is ‘unjust, incoherent and incomprehensible.’ We must live anyway.Then & Now is FAN-FUNDED! Support me on Patreon and pledge as little as $1 per video: http://patreon.com/user?u=3517018 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’re probably already a stoic in someway. It’s part of our culture. Influenced by Socrates and emerging in Ancient Greece in the 3rd century BC, it’s a foundation of Christianity, is maybe the first psychology, contributed to the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, guided a Roman Emporer, and has become increasingly popular in recent years, through events like Stoicon, Annual Stoic Week, and a flurry of new of popular books and articles.Could it really be a guide to the best possible life?This introduction to Stoicism will mix two things: what the Stoics of Ancient Greece and Rome actually said – the original doctrines – and how this might be interpreted and be useful today.IN the first part, I’ll look at the Ancient Stoics – Marcus Aurelius (Meditations), Epictetus (Discourses), Seneca, and Zeno; and in the second part, I’ll look at Stoicism in practice, especially through William Irvine’s A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy.The Greek Stoics divided Stoicism into three parts: logic, physics, and ethics. None of these terms, though, meant what they do today.Logic was formal logic, but also rhetoric, language, poetryPhysics mostly meant the study of God and the world – essentially how things work.They also broke all of this into two parts: theory and practicePhilosophy, importantly, needed to both studied and practiced, learned and executed. Exercises, reflection, and self-improvement were fundamental.Then & Now is FAN-FUNDED! Support me on Patreon and pledge as little as $1 per video: http://patreon.com/user?u=3517018 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Explore the profound contributions of French thinker Rene Girard as he delves into mimetic desire, scapegoating, and culture emergence. Unveil the impact of storytelling in shaping cultural beliefs and community dynamics. Dive into the significance of sacrifice in maintaining societal order and deterring revenge.

In this video I look at the second part of Adorno and Horkheimer’s Dialectic of Enlightenment on the Culture Industry. They write, ‘culture today is infecting everything with sameness. Film, radio, and magazines forms a system. Each branch of culture is unanimous within itself and all are unanimous together. Even the aesthetic manifestations of political opposites proclaim the same inflexible rhythm. The decorative administrative and exhibition buildings of industry differ little between authoritarian and other countries.’For all of the Critical Theorists of the Frankfurt School, the individual lives in a world dominated by highly concentrated capital. The critique has more flexibility that orthodox Marxism, but the emphasis is the same: the drugs that save our lives, the manufacturing plants that build our products, the routine of the worker and the consumer, are dominated by the profit motive and the power of capital.The culture industry is no exception:‘All mass culture under monopoly is identical.’They say that the defenders of the culture industry argue that they are driven by the demand of their customers: They demand cheap, reproducible products that can be accessed easily and everywhere.The effect though is mass standardization: ‘Something is provided tor everyone so that no one can escape; differences are hammered home and propagated.’They argue that the culture industry supports the tiring workday. Rather than think about their positions at the end of day, its much easier to switch off. To consume the same libidinal routines of enjoyment without considering the possibility of difficult change.To be creative, to read something new, to follow a new plot, to take the time to enjoy completely new music is laborious.The culture industry organizes free time in the same way capital organises work time. Everything is defined you without room for individual creativity and difference.Then & Now is FAN-FUNDED! Support me on Patreon and pledge as little as $1 per video: http://patreon.com/user?u=3517018 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The discussion dives deep into the paradox of Enlightenment, revealing how the pursuit of reason can lead to new forms of oppression. Mythology and Enlightenment are intertwined, with Odysseus symbolizing the struggle between individualism and societal constraints. The critique of instrumental reason raises questions on how beauty and art are reduced to mere utility. Fascinating insights connect historical figures like Nietzsche and de Sade to the philosophical roots of totalitarianism, highlighting the darker implications of Enlightenment ideals.

The podcast dives into Pierre Bourdieu's theories on cultural capital, illustrating how our tastes in art and music are shaped by social background. It discusses the intersection of culture and identity, revealing how marginalized communities, through hip-hop and grime, redefine cultural norms. The importance of equal access to cultural institutions is emphasized, promoting recognition of diverse expressions. Listeners explore how cultural knowledge functions as a currency in society, impacting social dynamics and mobility.