Online Great Books Podcast

Scott and Karl begin their discussion of Martin Heidegger's ten-page lecture "What is Metaphysics?".  This lecture was presented to the faculties of the University of Freiburg on July 24, 1929, as Heidegger's inaugural address. Taking the typical continental approach, Heidegger isn't telling us what metaphysics is; instead, he's instructing us on how to do metaphysics so that it may present itself.  Karl says, "This is a podcast about nothing. In order to talk about beings, you have to be able to talk about what aren't beings." Tune in for Part One of the duo's discussion, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

This week Scott and Karl finish their discussion of Edmund Morris's Ten Acres Enough: The Classic 1864 Guide to Independent Farming.  After giving up city life and buying a small farm in the New Jersey countryside, Morris chronicles his family's experience and ends up writing of the most popular books of the time. He emphasizes that agricultural success depends not on how much you grow but on what and how. The duo picks up where they left off from last week, speaking to the crucial accounting lesson Morris can teach us.  Scott says, "The approaches to dealing with money [in the modern MBA] are not intuitive and not useful for small business. This is just perfect for small businesses stuff— it seems so simple, but we've lost this."  Ten Acres Enough is an inspiration, but it's also very practical. Tune in for Part Two of Scott and Karl's conversation, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

This week Scott and Karl begin their discussion of Edmund Morris's Ten Acres Enough: The Classic 1864 Guide to Independent Farming.  The book chronicles Morris leaving the Philadelphia business world in the early 1800s and buying a small farm in the New Jersey countryside. Karl says, "It's a back-to-the-land book for 1864." Scott later adds, "These back-to-the-land movements certainly do seem to come in cycles, but they never really go away... There is always a large number of people who want to provide for themselves in a less abstract way." Ten Acres Enough is perfect for any would-be owners of small farms, and anyone drawn to the idea of an agrarian lifestyle. Both Scott and Karl have personal and practical contributions to make to the discussion— be sure to tune in next week for Part Two. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

Scott and Karl are joined by special guest Thomas Mirus, Director of Podcasts for CatholicCulture.org, to finish their discussion of Jacques Maritain’s Art and Scholasticism.  What does contemplating beautiful art do for the soul? Mirus says that if you have metaphysics going into your art, "It's going to make you aware of what art is leading you to and also where art is coming from."  The trio also talks about how great art causes an emotional response but its object is not to do that. Scott adds, "If you are yanking everyone's emotional chain, you are not exactly creating art." Tune in for Part Two of their discussion, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

This week, Scott and Karl are joined by special guest Thomas Mirus, Director of Podcasts for CatholicCulture.org, to discuss Jacques Maritain’s Art and Scholasticism.  Maritain argues for an objective view of both art and the artist, bringing an orderly, scholastic, Thomistic approach to understanding aesthetics. Mirus says, "Maritain gets art better than any other philosopher who came before him in the Western Tradition." For Maritain, art is “a virtue of the practical intellect that aims at making." The virtue or habitus of art, Maritain writes, is not simply an “interior growth of spontaneous life”, but has an intellectual character and involves cultivation and practice. The trio also talks about how fine arts and practical arts have been cloven off. How can we hold them both in esteem without denigrating the other?  Scott says, "If we really know what art is then we will be more connected to honest work— that will be a refuge from this intellectual confusion, this metaphysical disgustingness, around us."  Tune in for Part One of their discussion, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

Scott and Karl finish their discussion of “Good and Evil, Good and Bad,” the first essay from Friedrich Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals.  Nietzsche demonstrates that the Christian world is steeped in false piety and infected with slave morality. Slave morality is based on resentment over the beauty, wisdom, power, and glory of the master class of people.  Nietzsche regards this resentment as the greatest weakness of our time. As for resentment politics, Scott says, "It only works if you live in a society that is ruled by that morality." Tune in to hear more of the duo’s discussion on noble morality vs slave morality. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com.

This week, Scott and Karl begin their discussion of “Good and Evil, Good and Bad,” the first essay from Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals.  This essay questions the value of our moral concepts and examines their evolution. Karl says, "Evil is not the same as bad. Once you figure that out, the rest of the essay is easier for you." Nietzche believes the inversion of values develops out of the resentment of the powerful by the weak. He writes, "The revolt of the slaves in morals begins in the very principle of resentment becoming creative and giving birth to values." Have the concepts of good and evil actually been of value to the human race? "Once you figure out the origins [of these terms] you can ask the question of their value," Karl adds.  Tune in for the first part of the duo's discussion. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

What is a lie? What does it take to be a good liar? This week, Scott and Karl finish their discussion of one of Plato’s earlier Socratic dialogues, Greater Hippias and Lesser Hippias.  These two dialogues make you ask all the questions to figure out what is fine, what makes a good person, and whether the liar is better than the non-liar. Karl says, "The problem that this dialogue is pointing out is that there’s something wrong with looking at goodness as simply power or capability." By the end of the show, Karl attests that if you haven’t read your Plato, you might not be a critical thinker. Tune in and join the conversation at onlinegreatbooks.com. 

Scott and Karl discuss one of Plato’s earlier Socratic dialogues, Greater Hippias and Lesser Hippias.  The dialogues are named after Hippias of Elis, an eminent sophist and contemporary of Plato.  What is a sophist? According to Scott, “A sophist is someone who says what he needs to say in order to teach you something so that he can take money from you.” These dialogues show Socrates at work on topics related to the Greek word καλόν, translating to fine, noble, or beautiful. Scott says, “Plato is the best writer ever. Socrates is the best teacher ever. And they are dealing with all the best, most difficult problems ever."  Tune in for a fascinating discussion on sophistry and what it means when something is “fine." Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

This week, Scott and Karl read one of Agatha Christie's greatest mystery novels, Murder on the Orient Express. The novel features Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective known for his shrewd intuition or "little grey cells." While this scrupulous sleuth may be the epitome of refinement and intelligence, Scott points out that he is no Sherlock Holmes.  Unlike Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character, Christie doesn't share Poirot's methods, just his conclusion. "She shares Poirot's reasoning but not how he got to his reasoning," Scott voices.  Still, the duo agrees that Christie's perfection lies in her advancement of the detective genre—the small place, the interrogations, the big revelation—which she used, fairly consistently, in her sixty-six detective novels published between 1920 and 1976.  By the end of the novel, Karl says, “You have the satisfaction of the puzzle box and the satisfaction of justice being served.” Tune in to learn more about what makes Christie one of the most widely celebrated and published authors of all time. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com.