Eternalised

The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius remains one of the great works of spiritual and ethical reflection, as well as one of the key works of Stoicism.   It is perhaps the only document of its kind ever made, the private thoughts of the world’s most powerful man. Today Marcus Aurelius is considered as the quintessential Stoic.    The Meditations can be best seen as “spiritual exercises” written as reflections against the stress and confusion of everyday life, a sort of self-help book. He had clearly no expectation that anyone but himself would ever read his Meditations. It seems unlikely that he gave the work a title at all. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Introduction (3:35) Stoicism (4:52) Meditations (5:48) Perceptions of Good and Bad (6:15) Constant Change (6:43) Mortality (7:28) Living according to Nature (7:58) Stoicism and Epicureanism (8:16) Rationality (8:42) The Power of Our Mind (9:25) Pain and Weakness

Twilight of the Idols or How to Philosophise with a Hammer is one of Nietzsche’s last books, written in 1888.    As Nietzsche was starting to become recognised, he felt that he needed a short text that would serve as an introduction to his thought.   In a letter, he wrote: “This style is my philosophy in a nutshell – radically up to criminal…”   The book offers a lightning tour of his whole philosophy, preparing the way for The Anti-Christ, a final assault on institutional Christianity, which would be the first part of his Revaluation of All Values. Which, unfortunately, he could not complete, due to his mental breakdown in 1889.  ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Introduction (0:50) Part I. Foreword (1:17) Part II. Maxims and Arrows (1:37) Part III. The Problem of Socrates (2:25) Part IV. ‘Reason’ in Philosophy (3:32) Part V. How the ‘Real World’ at last Became a Myth (4:27) Part VI. Morality as Anti-Nature (5:57) Part VII. The Four Great Errors (7:07) Part VIII. The ‘Improvers’ of Mankind (7:42) Part IX. What the Germans Lack (8:30) Part X. Expeditions of an Untimely Man (9:11) Part XI. What I Owe to the Ancients (9:34) Part XII. The Hammer Speaks

The Stranger or The Outsider is a 1942 novel by French author Albert Camus. Though it is a work of fiction, it is often cited as an example of Camus’ philosophy of Absurdism.   The Stranger has had a profound impact on millions of readers. Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."    The major themes of the book include: the importance of the physical world, the meaninglessness of human life and the irrationality of the universe. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Introduction (0:40) The Story (5:45) The Importance of the Physical World (6:12) The Irrationality of the Universe (8:24) The Meaninglessness of Human Life

Modern Man in Search of a Soul was published in 1933 and is a comprehensive introduction to the thought of Carl Jung. The writing covers a broad array of subjects such as gnosticism, theosophy, Eastern philosophy and spirituality in general. The first part of the book deals with dream analysis in its practical application, the problems and aims of modern psychotherapy, and also Jung’s theory of psychological types.  The middle part addresses his beliefs about the stages of life and Archaic man. He also looks at the differences between his theories and those of Sigmund Freud.   In the last essays, Jung discusses psychology and literature, the basic postulates of analytical psychology as well as the spiritual problem of modern man, comparing psychotherapists and clergymen. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) - Introduction (0:50) - 1. Dream Analysis in Its Practical Application (1:42) - 2. Problems of Modern Psychotherapy (2:40) - 3. The Aims of Psychotherapy (3:08) - 4. A Psychological Theory of Types (3:50) - 5. The Stages of Life (4:50) - 6. Freud and Jung – Contrasts (5:20) - 7. Archaic Man (6:17)- 8. Psychology and Literature (6:44) - 9. The Basic Postulates of Analytical Psychology (7:30) - 10. The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man (9:05) - 11. Psychotherapists or the Clergy

Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment first published during 1866, remains the most widely known Russian novel as well as one of the greatest achievements in world literature.   The book is disguised as a murder mystery, in which the reader knows from the start who has committed the crime. This in-depth exploration of the psychology of a criminal is at the heart of the novel, delving deeply into psychological punishment.   The main themes include alienation, suffering, morality, faith (or the God-man, Jesus Christ) and the “extraordinary man” (or the man-God), as well as the philosophical themes of nihilism and utilitarianism.   The protagonist Raskolnikov, is an alienated materialistic rationalist, as well as an atheist and nihilist, taken by the idea that God is dead, believing himself to be an extraordinary man allowed to transgress accepted moral standards for the common good, with a clean conscience. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Introduction (0:55) Main Characters (2:19) The Story & Analysis (8:40) Epilogue

Existentialism is a philosophy that explores the problem of human existence, with an emphasis on the individual who starts in an apparently meaningless world, and who seeks to create meaning in a world without inherent meaning.   Existentialism is most commonly associated with several 19th and 20th century philosophers: Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Martin Heidegger, Jean Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus.   Many of these thinkers never used the term “existentialist” to describe themselves, some of them even rejected the label, while others accepted it. What they did share is a common template. Many of them regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies too abstract and remote from concrete human experience and focused on the authenticity of the individual.  Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard is regarded as the father of existentialism, who along with Nietzsche, provided the basic foundations of 19th century Existentialism.    Core ideas to Existentialism include authenticity, individuality, subjectivity, freedom, and responsibility, in order to understand and pursue the meaning of your life. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon

Sigmund Freud was a neurologist most popularly known as the founding father of psychoanalysis. He popularised and structured the concept of “the unconscious”.  Some of his most popular concepts include: id, ego and super ego, Oedipus complex, free association, repression, libido and the psychosexual stages of development. ☕ Donate a coffee ⭐ Support on Patreon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Introduction (0:50) Dream interpretation (1:32) Id, ego and super-ego (3:32) Free association and transference (4:13) Psychosexual development (5:10) 1. Oral Stage (6:10) 2. Anal Stage (7:20) 3. Phallic Stage (8:26) 4. Latent Stage (9:03) 5. Genital Stage (9:31) Why You Should Read Freud

French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan discusses his notable ideas including the Imaginary, the Symbolic, the Real, and the Mirror Stage, exploring the significance of Freud's discovery of the unconscious and proposing a return to Freud.

Martin Heidegger, influential philosopher known for his work in existentialism and phenomenology, discusses key terms from his philosophy such as Being-in-the-world, ready to hand, existentiality, fallenness, and being-toward-death. He also explores his perspective on everyday objects and the pursuit of authenticity in the face of inauthentic existence. Additionally, he delves into the significance of death, time, and historicity in human existence.

Exploring the decline of religious belief, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche criticize organized religion and societal conformity. They share similarities in their views, but have contrasting perspectives on living a fulfilled human life. Kierkegaard emphasizes subjective truth and the transformative power of Christian theism, while Nietzsche challenges the concept of a divine being and advocates for the creation of new meaning. The concept of the ubermensch and the importance of power and growth are also examined in relation to their philosophies.