The Living Philosophy

God is dead - Nietzsche's most notorious line and also one of his most commonly misunderstood. The Nietzsche God is dead statement is a New Atheist sentiment but the warning of a Postmodernist. It is commonly mistaken for a modernist sentiment proclaiming the death of Christianity’s God. But that is not what Nietzsche intended. It was not a declaration of atheism; atheism was already a trivial point of view (if still controversial) by the end of the 19th century. Nietzsche was not echoing a common sentiment but pushing beyond to its unseen implications. Nietzsche was pioneering the postmodern perspective. This is obvious from the aphorism it occurs in. In The Gay Science Nietzsche tells the parable of the madman who declares the death of God. The madman’s audience are not religious believers or members of the Church as one would expect from a declaration of God’s death. The audience was a crowd of jeering non-believers. This points to the real intention of Nietzsche’s statement. In this episode we are going to explore the meaning of this statement in light of this insight and see what exactly Nietzsche meant by his provocative statement that God is dead and we have killed him. _________________ ⭐ Support the channel (thank you!) ▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy ▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy________________🎶 Music Used:1. Magnetic — CO.AG Music2. End of the Era — Kevin MacLeod3. Mesmerise — Kevin MacLeodSubscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusicSubscribe to CO.AG Music https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav... _________________⌛ Timestamps:0:00 God is Dead: Introduction1:33 The Madman's Audience5:03 Nietzsche Contra 10:10 The Real Meaning of God’s Death_________________#Nietzsche #thelivingphilosophy #godisdead #philosophy

Spoiler Alert - this look at the philosophy of the Metamodern masterpiece Everything Everywhere All At Once deals with the whole movie so there will be spoilers. The Nihilism of the internet age's apology Everything Everywhere All At Once is an amazing movie. It is one of those rare movies that is not only unbelievably entertaining but also incredibly profound. Not only does it give a brilliant exposition of Nihilism but it offers a diagnosis of Nihilism's causes and proposes a way past it. It's a beautiful funny rollercoaster through the multiverse that has so much heart. Like any Metamodern work of art it oozes sincerity beneath its absurd humour. This podcast is my attempt (after many drafts approaching its philosophy from many different angles) at giving voice to the philosophy of this 7x Oscar-winning classic. Hope you enjoy it _________________ ⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy_________________ 💬 More from The Living Philosophy▶ Discord https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9▶ 📨 Subscribe with email: https://thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/________________🎶 Media Used:1.  Long Note Three  — Kevin MacLeod2.  Dark Times — Kevin MacLeod3.  Despair & Triumph — Kevin MacLeod4. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod5. Mesmerize — Kevin MacLeodSubscribe to Kevin MacLeod [https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic](https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic)_________________⌛ Timestamps:0:00 Introduction2:59 The Black Bagel - Nihilism Embodied10:08 Behind the Nihilist Mask13:36 Googly Eyes - the Anti-Bagel15:11 (Rootsy) Love is the Answer

It's become common to appeal to our evolutionary past to justify present ideologies. In this episode we are honing in on a vegan account of human diet and contrasting it with a less ideologically motivated piece published by The Atlantic. There's a few interesting discoveries to be had. For one it's always interesting to see how subtle warpings of facts can lead to very different perspectives. It's also interesting to contemplate what such work tells us about the worldview of the writer. It's also interesting to see how evolutionary arguments are misused in the name of an agenda. All of this comes into play with this PETA article on veganism but there's a mirror of this sort of ideological work going on among the Carnivore and Paleo subcultures online. ____________________📚 Further Reading:- PETA article: https://www.peta.org/living/food/really-natural-truth-humans-eating-meat/- The Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/02/when-humans-became-meateaters/463305/- A carnivore history article: https://fitawakening.co.uk/2022/08/17/carnivore-history/________________⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy_________________ 💬 More from The Living Philosophy▶ Discord https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9▶ 📨 Subscribe with email: https://thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/_________________⌛ Timestamps:0:00 Introduction4:48 The Atlantic Article's History of Human Meat-Eating8:08 PETA's Account17:16 Reflections and Conclusion 

This episode is an attempted revaluation of the much maligned Ego. Drawing on Jung, Freud, New Age thinking and the myth of Icarus and Daedalus we pick apart the many meanings of Ego as we try to unearth the infamous reputation of Ego in the culture and to restore to it some of its lost dignity. ____________________Further Reading:- Basic Writings of Nietzsche edited by Walter Kaufmann- The Freud Reader edited by Peter Gay________________⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy_________________ 💬 Discord ▶ https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9________________Media Used:1.  Long Note Three  — Kevin MacLeod2.  Mesmerize  — Kevin MacLeod3.  Dark Times — Kevin MacLeod4.  Lightless Dawn — Kevin MacLeod5. Despair and Triumph — Kevin MacLeod6. Procession of the King — Kevin MacLeod7. Fresh Air — Kevin MacLeodSubscribe to Kevin MacLeod [https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic](https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic) _________________⌛ Timestamps:0:00 Introduction0:50 Ego's Origins3:55 The Heroic Freudian Ego5:40 The Jungian Ego Container9:20 The Evil New Age Ego12:04 The Inflated Mainstream Ego Part 1: Nietzschean Decadence15:59 The Inflated Mainstream Ego Part 2: Icarus and Daedalus

In this episode we are going to explore Nietzschean spirituality in contrast to Buddhist spirituality (and other Ascetic Ideal spiritualities and religions). This topic was prompted by a question from Kevin Sherman on Patreon so thanks to Kevin for the interesting spark. This script kind of poured out of me and it was only afterwards that as I was listening to it again and again in editing that I found myself inhaling through my teeth a bit with the critique of Buddhism. I feel like I was a bit heavy-handed in places and I'm sure many of you will agree. My qualification for this is that I wanted to be a little bit provocative around the spiritual element to cut past a lot of the inflation you find in New Age circles but in hindsight I feel I didn't give enough space for the value of Buddhism. Maybe I need to make an episode explaining why Buddhism is amazing to counterbalance and in what ways it is preferable to Nietzschean spirituality. In the meantime I thought I'd include this qualification here in the description where I'm not quite sure anyone will see it. For those of you who do read the description, hello. ____________________Further Reading:- Basic Writings of Nietzsche edited by Walter Kaufmann (contains full texts of The Birth of Tragedy, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo) - The Portable Nietzsche edited by Walter Kaufmann (contains Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist)________________⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy_________________ 💬 Discord ▶ https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9________________⌛ Timestamps:0:00 Introduction6:01 The Binary of Ascetic Ideal and Worldliness8:33 A Counter-Ideal12:48 Against Enlightenment

Why it matters is back! And this time we're talking about why Nietzsche matters. We're going to look at why I find Nietzsche so important and why you should too. ___________________⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy_________________ 💬 Discord ▶ https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9_________________ #thelivingphilosophy #philosophy #nietzsche #existentialism #psychoanalysis

In this deeper dive into philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche we are going to look at his big ideas and his overall philosophy through the orienting generalisation of his thought as being health vs. decadence. Through this lens we can fruitfully place Nietzsche's "no-saying" work where he critiques Christianity, science and philosophy as well as his "yes-saying" work in Thus Spoke Zarathustra (with Zarathustra's three great ideas of the Ubermensch, the Eternal Recurrence and the Will to Power) and his fascination with the Greek god Dionysus. Nietzsche is commonly known as the Father of Existentialism but he could just as well be called the Father of Psychoanalysis or the Father of Postmodernism. Along with Marx and Freud, Nietzsche is one of the most influential thinkers in the past 200 years. ____________________📖 Further Learning:Videos: If you're interested in learning more about Nietzsche's biography and philosophy, there's a whole playlist of episodes on him here:Books:- Basic Writings of Nietzsche edited by Walter Kaufmann (contains full texts of The Birth of Tragedy, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo) - The Portable Nietzsche edited by Walter Kaufmann (contains Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist)________________⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy_________________ 💬 Discord ▶ https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9________________Media Used:1. Despair and Triumph - Kevin MacLeod2. End of the Era - Kevin MacLeod3. Anguish - Kevin MacLeod4.  Long Note Three - Kevin MacLeod5. Lightless Dawn - Kevin MacLeod6. Lost Frontier - Kevin MacLeod7. There's Probably No Time - Chris Zabriskie8. Mesmerize - Kevin MacLeodSubscribe to Kevin MacLeod [https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic](https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic)Subscribe to Chris Zabriskie [https://www.youtube.com/c/chriszabriskie](https://www.youtube.com/c/chriszabriskie)_________________⌛ Timestamps:0:00 Introduction1:52 The Crisis of Nihilism10:02 Decadence I: Rationality10:58 Decadence II: Morality12:14 The Ascetic Ideal and Slave Morality15:15 False Counter-Ideals: Science and Democracy16:32 Health: Nietzsche's Counter Ideal17:00 Health I: Dionysus and Greek Tragedy18:57 Health II: Zarathustra19:41 Zarathustra I: the Eternal Recurrence20:37 Zarathustra II: the Übermensch 21:36 Zarathustra III: the Will to Power22:09 Nietzsche New Metaphysics25:23 Signoff 

Friedrich Nietzsche is commonly known as the Father of Existentialism but he could just as well be called the Father of Psychoanalysis or the Father of Postmodernism. Along with Marx and Freud, Nietzsche is one of the most influential thinkers in the past 200 years. Nietzsche's ideas are famous (and due to much manipulation of his work, infamous) — the Will to Power, the Ubermensch/Overman and the Eternal Recurrence are the three great doctrines of Nietzsche's Zarathustra. They form his positive philosophy. This is the Health side of the equation. But these positive doctrines are only way half of Nietzsche's philosophy. The other side is his critique of Christianity and of Ascetic Ideals in general, his enquiries into the origin of morality and his explorations of the crisis of NihilismIn this brief episode we look at Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy through his distinction between Decadence and Health. This video is a taster of Nietzsche and will be followed up in a future episode by a much deeper dive. ____________________📚 Further Reading:- Basic Writings of Nietzsche edited by Walter Kaufmann (contains full texts of The Birth of Tragedy, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo) - The Portable Nietzsche edited by Walter Kaufmann (contains )

The Living Philosophy is two years old! Two years ago the 100 videos in 100 days began. But before there was the Living Philosophy, there was The Living Myth — an Irish mythology podcast with my friend Barry that gave me my first taste of YouTube and podcasting. I thought it'd be nice to mark this second anniversary by looking back at the origins of this channel. It's also an auspicious time because I've been having some cogitations about how it's been going and how I want to take things further and I've decided to spend the month of November making an episode on Nietzsche. Beyond that I've also been thinking about this canonical video approach in general and the Obsidian work so yeah there's a lot moving and right on the point of the third year. So exciting times.Thanks to Matt for the suggestion about making a masterpiece. Check out Ideas Sleep Furiously's revamped Substack publication that's got a lot of exciting things happening at the moment: https://ideassleepfuriously.substack.com/And for those of you interested in the psychology of Irish mythology check out the Living Myth:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG1V9H3FdD9mEk-75C6VjyA

This is a deeper dive into the Father of Existentialism Soren Kierkegaard. Following on the 5-minute introduction to Kierkegaard, this episode looks in more depth at the philosophy and life of Soren Kierkegaard and why he is one of the greatest philosophers ever.In this episode we look at the three phases of Kierkegaard's work: the First Authorship (and its masterpieces Either/Or and Fear and Trembling), the Second Authorship (including Kierkegaard's third masterpiece Sickness Unto Death) and the final year of his life where he took the gloves off and directly attacked the church. We also look at the "long foreground" to Kierkegaard's work — the curse on his family and his broken engagement to Regine Olsen. Kierkegaard was one of the most prodigious philosophers. In 1843 he published three books in a single day (one of which Fear and Trembling is commonly placed in the canon of great philosophy). In the space of three years he published sixteen books. These books were written using various pseudonyms with many different stylistic devices. This was all part of Kierkegaard's style of "Indirect Communication". Like Socrates he didn't want to give answers he wanted to awaken the quest for individuality in his readers. Kierkegaard was part of the select group of Christian Existentialism (his most famous peer being Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky). Like Nietzsche he hated the Church. His form of Christianity was about the self-making quest of Faith. This self is forged out of the dizzying Anxiety of choosing. This choice of faith can only be made by the individual and this is why Soren Kierkegaard spent his career trying to call people away from the "levelling" of Modernity which was turning everyone into "The Crowd" and away from the Church which kept its congregation like children. He was calling them to the "highest passion" of faith. He was calling them to forge their own selves and not give into the inauthenticity of Despair. In this introduction to Kierkegaard we take a brief look at the most compelling reasons why Kierkegaard is relevant today.____________________📚 Further Reading:- McDonald, William, "Søren Kierkegaard", _The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy_ (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/kierkegaard/- McDonald, William, _Søren Kierkegaard (1813—1855)_, _Internet encyclopedia of philosophy_. Available at: https://iep.utm.edu/kierkega (more in-depth than the Stanford one. Highly recommend) - Søren Kierkegaard: A Biography by Joakim Graff (https://amzn.to/3Sx1Tm5)- Either/Or by Søren Kierkegaard (https://amzn.to/3DrOVBC)- Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard (https://amzn.to/3TxiNCv)- Sickness Unto Death by Søren Kierkegaard (https://amzn.to/3TxiY0D)The above are Amazon affiliate links that let you get an awesome book AND support the channel (with no additional cost to you)________________⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy________________🎵 Media Used:1.  Long Note Three  — Kevin MacLeod2.  There’s Probably No Time — Chris Zabriskie3.  Dark Times  — Kevin MacLeod4.  Mesmerize  — Kevin MacLeod5.  Lost Frontier  — Kevin MacLeod6.  Shores of Avalon — Kevin MacLeodSubscribe to Kevin MacLeod [https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic](https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic)Subscribe to Chris Zabriskie [https://www.youtube.com/c/chriszabriskie](https://www.youtube.com/c/chriszabriskie)