
History of Philosophy Audio Archive
Curated lectures, interviews, and talks with philosophers, social scientists, and historians together in one place. Each week, we explore brand new research in history, economics, psychology, political science, philosophy, indigenous studies, and human rights while presenting the work of canonical scholars in a way that is accessible to newcomers while retaining interest for students and specialists. If you are an author in nonfiction or a scholar in the humanities/social sciences and are interested in being interviewed for the show please email me at williamengels@substack.com or @Bluesky.
Latest episodes

Dec 13, 2024 • 9min
Letter to the Shareholders 2025
Reach out and share your thoughts!
williamengels@substack.com
Congratulations on a great 2024 - a couple of channel-exclusive messages and announcements as we take the podcast into 2025. Cheers to a great year.
References:
The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, Jonathan Rose.

Dec 11, 2024 • 1h 15min
#145 - Wittgenstein: Norman Malcom on Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophy of Language, Analytic Philosophy, the Vienna Circle, Bertrand Russell, and Language Games
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https://patreon.com/HemlockPatreon
“Whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must remain silent”
-Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus
Original Video:
https://youtu.be/371LobXpUlo

Dec 10, 2024 • 5h 26min
#144 - The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche: Rick Roderick on Postmodernism, the Eternal Recurrence, Ressentiment, Master & Slave Morality, the Übermensch, and the Last Man
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https://patreon.com/HemlockPatreon
"The philosopher as we understand him, we free spirits - as the man of the most comprehensive responsibility who has the conscience for the collective evolution of mankind: this philosopher will make use of the religions for his work of education and breeding, just as he will make use of existing political and economic conditions….the will to self-mastery is always increasing - religion presents them with sufficient instigations and temptations to take the road to higher spirituality, to test the feelings of great self-overcoming, of silence and solitude.-Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 1886
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(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:41) - Nietzsche as Myth and Mythmaker
(00:44:34) - Nietzsche on Truth and Lies
(01:23:54) - Master of Suspicion, the Immoralist
(02:04:23) - The Death of God
(02:46:06) - The Eternal Return (Time is a Flat Circle)
(03:25:04) - The Will to Power
(04:08:08) - Nietzsche as Artist
(04:49:20) - Nietzsche's Bastard Children

Dec 8, 2024 • 1h 52min
Hemlock #8 - Rituals of Fire: Astika Royal Mason on Symbols of Spiritual Transformation, the Internalization of Religious Ceremonies, Developing Spiritual Maturity, and Buddhism's Reaction to Hinduism
Buy Astika's book while you still can!
https://a.co/d/bggZEtW
Come join my Patreon!
https://patreon.com/HemlockPatreon
“He no longer cared to live in a house, and he rose once more into the air, this time on the breath of a breeze so sheer and transparent not even the gods felt it. This is the wind that further frees even the free. As his soul rose on that wind, it seemed to expand and flow out in all directions at once. Rising steadily upward, he passed through the arched windows of that celestial mansion and began a journey that would penetrate even the most distant, the most veiled mysteries of heaven. He slipped stealthfully across secret skies, across worlds and all their skies, growing deeper and wider as he did so, traveling beyond the starry reach of any sky, of any universe, to a place where no one could follow. There, lost in the divine and infinite distances of nothingness itself, he too disappeared, his last breath released, like a luminous song, into the void of a transcendent eternity.”-Astika Royal Mason, A Dream Immortal, 2023
References:
“From Here to Enlightenment” - HH the Dalai Lama
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12505636-from-here-to-enlightenment
Ardor - Roberto Calasso
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/134839029-ardor-by-roberto-calasso
The Mirror of Simple Souls - Marguerite Porete
https://youtu.be/HvivvGZydFA
Agni in Hinduism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agni
Rig Veda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda

Dec 4, 2024 • 49min
#143 - The End of Empire: Chris Hedges on Gaza Genocide, US Complicity, and the Fate of Conquerors
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https://patreon.com/HemlockPatreon
Original YouTube:
https://youtu.be/fO0OkdUuvDk

Dec 3, 2024 • 2h 40min
#142 - Aristotle: Thomas Brickhouse on the Golden Mean, Virtue Ethics, the Prime Mover, the Athenian Constitution, and Why Aristotle was Dante's "Master of Those Who Know"
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https://patreon.com/HemlockPatreon
-//-
Professor Thomas C. Brickhouse:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_C._Brickhouse

Dec 3, 2024 • 2h 7min
#141 - Out of Your Mind: Alan Watts on Exploring Consciousness, The Illusion of Self, Practical Meditation Advice, the Difference between Hinduism and Buddhism, and the Wisdom of Insecurity
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https://patreon.com/HemlockPatreon
“Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate and the governor is out of the country and there’s no chance for a pardon. Write like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff, white knuckles, on your last breath, and you’ve got just one last thing to say, like you’re a bird flying over us and you can see everything, and please, for God’s sake, tell us something that will save us from ourselves. Take a deep breath and tell us your deepest, darkest secret, so we can wipe our brow and know that we’re not alone. Write like you have a message from the king. Or don’t. Who knows, maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to.” -Alan Watts

Nov 23, 2024 • 2h 27min
#140 - Albert Camus: Robert C. Solomon on the Absurd Hero, The Stranger, The Plague, Existentialism in Literature, and the Benign Indifference of the Universe
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“And he knew, also, what the old man was thinking as his tears flowed, and he, Rieux, thought it too: that a loveless world is a dead world, and always there comes an hour when one is weary of prisons, of one's work, and of devotion to duty, and all one craves for is a loved face, the warmth and wonder of a loving heart.”
-Albert Camus, The Plague, 1947
(00:00:00) - Intro & Host Promo
(00:00:40) - The Stranger, Part 1
(00:30:36) - The Stranger, Part 2
(01:00:33) - The Myth of Sisyphus
(01:29:22) - The Plague & The Fall
(01:58:45) - The Fall, Part 2
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Robert C. Solomon (1942-2007)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_C._Solomon

Nov 23, 2024 • 1h 15min
#139 - Machiavelli Double Episode: Michael Sugrue & Quentin Skinner on Renaissance Politics, the Philosophy of Ruthlessness, Nihilsm, and Why It Is a Double Pleasure to Deceive the Deceiver
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https://patreon.com/HemlockPatreon
-//-
Original Sugrue Video:
https://youtu.be/mU7hdGKOGyk
Original Skinner Video:
https://youtu.be/CKGuzJ6GwHM
Enjoy.

Nov 23, 2024 • 43min
#138 - The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Michael Sugrue on the Stoic Ideal, Absolute Power, Resistance to Temptation, and Who Writes a Book to Themself?
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https://patreon.com/HemlockPatreon
Original Video:
https://youtu.be/Auuk1y4DRgk
Enjoy.