

Nature and the Nation
Dylan John
Nature and the Nation explores politics, philosophy, psychology, sociology and economics from a naturalistic, paleoconservative perspective, using the format of a book review.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 3, 2025 • 1h 12min
Existence and Being (What is Metaphysics?) by Martin Heidegger and Werner Brock
In this essay I look at Heidegger's famous essay 'What is Metaphysics?' as well as the accompanying essay by Werner Brock that examines and interprets the essays in the book. I explore Heidegger's assertion that nothingness is a critical component of metaphysics and that metaphysics is a critical compenent of science and the human experience.

Jul 21, 2025 • 1h
Review: The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton
Edith Hamilton's The Greek Way is a masterpiece in helping the reader really understand the vital spirit and love of life that contributed to Classical Greek greatness. In this episode I cover this Greek vitalism and also look at Pindar and the true value of Greek aristocracy.

Jul 11, 2025 • 1h 10min
Review: Adaptation and Natural Selection by George Williams
In this episode I look at George Williams' famous rebuke to group selection theory as outlined in Adaptation and Natural Selection. I focus on secondary adaptations, sexual reproduction as an organic adaptation, and the difference between male and female mating strategies.

Jul 5, 2025 • 1h 14min
Review: Essays in Radical Empiricism by William James
In this episode I examine William James' 1904 address to the American Psychological Association, The Experience of Activity, as presented in Essays in Radical Empiricism. I focus on the illusory aspect of agency and the need to operate within the version of reality that accessible to our experiences.

Jun 29, 2025 • 1h 4min
Review: Essays in Experimental Logic by John Dewey
In this episode I look at John Dewey's 1900 essay Some Stages in Logical Thought, as published in this 1916 collection, Essays in Experimental Logic. I focus on Dewey's assertion that both some fixity and some flexibility is required on the part of ideas for them to serve in the human task of overcoming obstacles.

Jun 14, 2025 • 60min
Review: History of Politics (Kant) edited by Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey
In this episode I return to Strauss and Cropsey's magisterial History of Political Philosophy to examine the essay on Kant. I focus on the split between science and morality, and the contradiction formed by Kant's fundamental mistake.

May 14, 2025 • 1h 58min
Review: Heidegger by Michael Inwood
In this episode I engage in an extra-long two-hour examination of the basic philosophy of Martin Heidegger, as described in Michael Inwood's study, Heidegger. Inwood focuses primarily on Heidegger's magnum opus, Being and Time. In this episode I pay particular attention to Heidegger's discussion of the state of being he calls 'ready-to-hand,' as well as authenticity and being-toward-death.

May 10, 2025 • 59min
Review: Be Like the Fox by Erica Benner
In this episode I revisit Niccolo Machiavelli through the lens of Erica Benner's biography of the Renaissance Italian thinker, Be Like the Fox. I examine Machiavelli's dedication to the ideals of the Florentine Republic and his opposition to leaders who come to rule by the blessings of Fortune.

Apr 11, 2025 • 1h 5min
Review: History of Political Philosophy (Machiavelli) edited by Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey
In this episode I return to Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey's History of Political Philosophy, to look at Strauss' own examination of Machiavelli. I focus on Machiavelli's strategic deployment of virtue and vice, and his comparison of Christianity and Paganism.

Mar 29, 2025 • 45min
Review: The Oldest Dead White European Males by Bernard Knox
In this episode I look again at the Sophists with a focus on their dedication to rhetoric, as described by classicist Bernard Knox in his collection of essays, The Oldest Dead White European Males.