The Wes Cecil Podcast
Wes Cecil
My lectures are dedicated to making Philosophy in particular and the world of ideas in general available to everyone. My exploration of topics and thinkers is designed to provide a foundation for listeners to engage in further reading and thought and develop their own conceptions of the topics I introduce. I have PhD in Literature and Philosophy and was a college professor for over 20 years. I am working to remove the barriers that prevent many from experiencing and understanding the lives and thoughts of some of the world's greatest thinkers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 8, 2025 • 42min
The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q10: So, About God...?
The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q10: So, About God?Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, peer discussions, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 6, 2025 • 35min
Primates In Space: Primates Discover God - Ep. 7
The Anthropological and Archaeological records strongly suggest we love, love, love creating gods. Whether via animism or anthropomorphic super-beings, humans seem to love placing ourselves within the context of a world filled with supernatural beings different from, yet fundamentally similar to humans. Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, peer discussions, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 3, 2025 • 13min
Ishiguro and McEwan
Two well regarded authors to the impact of AI robots and their impacts on humans as their subjects for novels. The results are a fascinating contrast in tone, style, and emphasis that highlights the many different reasons, and ways, we read.Image credit: https://easy-peasy.aiSign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, peer discussions, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 1, 2025 • 48min
The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q9: The New World?
The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q9: The New World?Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, peer discussions, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 29, 2025 • 46min
Primates In Space: Primates Discover Writing - Ep. 6
Perhaps THE breakthrough that makes the major components of civilization possible, writing transformed our capacity to understand both the world and ourselves. Nonetheless, literacy was historically exceedingly rare and even today is not universally considered an important capacity. Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, peer discussions, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 26, 2025 • 20min
Investment is not the Pope
Our powerful belief in the economic narrative of investment and growth blinds us to the actual nature of the world we experience and the problems we face. Much like Luther’s critique of the Catholic church, re-thinking this concept would be so disruptive as to cause a complete rethink of our approach to economic challenges - something we are so far unwilling to do.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, peer discussions, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 24, 2025 • 42min
The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q8: Why is life so hard?
The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q8: Why is life so hard?Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, peer discussions, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 22, 2025 • 51min
Primates In Space: Primates Discover Cities - Ep. 5
With the excess food available from the slow transition to Agriculture, cities began to form approximately 12,000 years ago. Nonetheless, as recently as 100 years ago most humans still did not live in urban settings. We are still learning how to adjust both mentally and culturally to putting so many primates in such a small area. Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, peer discussions, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 19, 2025 • 21min
Your Philosophy is not Right (Neither is Mine) - Ep. 14
A reflection on the way in which Philosophy and its uses is so often misrepresented as an attempt to be RIGHT. However, this mistakes the power of philosophy and how it can help us understand our lives and our world. Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, peer discussions, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 17, 2025 • 44min
The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q7: Where is the universe?
The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q7: Where is the universe?Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, peer discussions, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
