Nature and the Nation

In this episode I look at the pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides, the goddess Ananke, the biases of scholars, mythology, and determinism in John Burnet's Early Greek Philosophy.

In this episode I examine Philip Wheelwright's Heraclitus, in particular the study of Heraclitus as a pluralist opposed to the monism of Parmenides.

In this episode I look at the beginning of the question of Being in Martin Heidegger's The Beginning of Western Philosophy. I spend the most time in the middle section of the book, which provides a condensed and comprehensible overview of Heidegger's project and his search for the origins of Western philosophy in the pre-Socratic Greek thinkers such as Anaximander.

In this episode I review and respond to Elements of Pantheism by Paul Harrison. I include my comments and questions regarding Reality, Matter, the Universe, Nature, and Justice.

In this episode I look at Nietzsche's early examination of the Pre-Socratic philosophers, with a focus on Anaximander, Heraclitus, and Parmenides. The concepts of being and becoming, and the differences among philosophers regarding these concepts, are addressed.

In this episode I examine Ancient Greek concepts such as aidos, sebas, eulabeia, nomos, and themis through Kerenyi's ground-breaking Religion of the Greeks and Romans. I also examine the ancient acceptance of death, in the context of our own modern hostility to human mortality.

In this episode I examine some of the qualities of polytheism, with a particular focus on Athena as presented by Walter Burkert in his classic treatise, Greek Religion.

In this episode I look at Camille Paglia's Sexual Personae, in particular her deep dive into Apollo and Dionysus as archetypal social drives.More at natureandthenation.com

In this episode, I look at Nietzsche's first book, The Birth of Tragedy. I take care to examine his impressions of Apollo and Dionysus as potentially political archetypes of social, aesthetic, behavioral and ontological experiences.More at natureandthenation.com.

In this episode I look at the most fundamental components of the Basic Writings of Carl Jung including empiricism, the unconscious especially the collective unconscious, and the archetype.More at natureandthenation.com