The Wes Cecil Podcast

Explore the decline of intellectual freedom in modern medicine, as doctors shift from cultural catalysts to narrow specialists. Discover how cynicism and bureaucracy stifle authentic care and creative thought. Delve into the pitfalls of education systems overly focused on metrics, urging a return to deeper engagement. Hear how subjective expression, inspired by George Orwell, is crucial for mental freedom. This discussion underscores the importance of rediscovering personal values in the pursuit of knowledge.

LECTURE 8 - NEOLIBERALISM: THE RISE AND FALL(ISH)Is this at the end of the Reagan, Clinton, Obama, Bush era? This lecture explores the content, rise and decline of the political and economic philosophy of Neoliberalism. Premised on the idea that free markets that reduce trade barriers between nations creates a wealthier world that encourages personal liberty, reduces poverty, and aids in the rise of democracy. While the world has certainly become wealthier over the last few decades, other aspects of the neoliberal concept have turned out to be deeply disturbing.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Karl Marx is one of the most influential thinkers in the history of the world. This lecture reviews his background and some of the events that formed his thinking as a means of putting his core ideas into a historical frame. A hopefully much more listenable version of this early recording. Karl Marx 1847 A link to the Economic and Philosophical manuscripts of 1847 which is perhaps the best place to get an introductory perspective on Marx’s thinking.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q & A #7 - LIBERTARIANISMWes and Jeremy take questions from listeners on Lecture VII: LibertarianismSign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wow, so I did mention this is a crazy, difficult text didn’t I? So Jung’s conscious attempt to break from the thought processes and values of his society created an intellectual and emotional crisis that shaped the creation of the Red Book. The most significant note for contemporary readers is that he is trying to return in some way to the approaches to knowledge and wisdom that shaped the first 4,000 years of civilization. This makes the book difficult to read on a number of levels including his rejection of the assumptions that allow us to understand arguments in general. For next time please read Chapters Three - Five. And be warned, not that you haven’t realized this already, the crazy isn’t going to stop.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

LECTURE 7 - LIBERTARIANISMIs it healthy to pretend that you're doing it on your own? The notion that the best world is one in which each individual is maximally free and operates independently of all other individuals has been a powerful force in American cultural and political history. The expressions of libertarianism we see today are founded on a deep ethos that rejects all forms of government, law, taxation or any limitation on the person as being opposed to a truly great society. I explore the many contradictions and limitations of this outlook and why, given these problems, it still resonates so powerfully in American society.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

DIGNITY AND INTEGRITY: It may seem a bit abstract, which I imagine it is, however I feel the disappearance of the concepts of Dignity and Integrity from the world of education, art, philosophy and culture generally is one of the greatest challenges to a sense of intellectual community today. Recognizing our own dignity allows us to appreciate the value of our contributions to the world of ideas and well as appreciate those of others. This dignity arises from and is reinforced by personal integrity towards ourselves and work. Unfortunately, these concepts have almost completely disappeared. Simply put, these are the only possible foundations on which the House of the Intellect can be built. I would love to hear your thoughts, examples, and questions related to these ideas. Again, I’ll try to respond to them in a future questions and answers segment. For further reading and general confusion:Integrity (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)Dignity (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dive into Nietzsche's fascinating life and philosophy, examining his disdain for Christianity and the rich influence of classical literature on his ethics. Discover how historical figures like Napoleon and Kant shaped his intellectual perspectives amid societal chaos. Explore the tension between order and chaos, embodied in the Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy. Uncover his revolutionary ideas on morality, urging a shift from false humility to authentic self-realization, while challenging us to question our own beliefs and embrace our instincts.

A work that I think embodies, quite consciously on the part of Jung, many of the contradictions, challenges, and paradoxes of the modern mind trying to come to grips with a world that simply does not cohere with our general materialist, rationalist worldview. I hope to use this as both a great text to explore and an example of how one can read in a very different manner. It was working with great teachers who helped me learn to read in this particular way and in doing this exercise together I hope to model and share what I have been fortunate enough to learn. I recommend the reader's guide rather than the larger, more expensive, and more beautiful full sized illustrated version because I am an aggressive notetaker and underliner. However, your tastes may vary. For the first reading session please read the Prologue “The Way of What is to Come” and Chapters One and Two.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ADDENDUM - CALVINISTIC MATERIALISM VS. NIHILISTIC MATERIALISMDoes America practice a particular type of Nihilism? A follow up to clarify the notion of why Nihilism - the belief that there is no order or meaning in the world - is fundamental to the type of materialism practiced in America. Perhaps the clearest example is the rise of off-site storage where people pay to store material goods that, by definition, they cannot readily access - the materiality has become almost completely meaningless.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.