We discuss Un-Willing: An Inquiry into the Rise of Will's Power and an Attempt to Undo It (2014) with the author, covering Socrates, Augustine, Aquinas, Heidegger, Nietzsche, Sartre, compatibilism, the neurologists' critque of free will, and more. What is the will? Is it an obvious thing that we all can see in ourselves when introspecting? If so, then why is there so much Continue Reading …
Episode 120: A History of “Will” with Guest Eva Brann (Citizen Edition)
We discuss Un-Willing: An Inquiry into the Rise of Will's Power and an Attempt to Undo It (2014) with the author, covering Socrates, Augustine, Aquinas, Heidegger, Nietzsche, Sartre, compatibilism, the neurologists' critque of free will, and more. What is the will? Is it an obvious thing that we all can see in ourselves when introspecting? If so, then why is there so much Continue Reading …
Topic for #120: Guest Eva Brann on Will (and Aquinas, Augustine, Heidegger, etc.)
On 6/26/15 Dylan Casey visited Annapolis, Maryland to talk with Eva Brann, bringing the rest of us in via Skype to talk with her about her 2014 book, Un-Willing: An Inquiry into the Rise of Will's Power and an Attempt to Undo It. We all read chapters I "Before Will" (about the ancient Greeks), II.C. on Augustine, III.A. on Aquinas, VI. "A Linguistic Interlude" about the word Continue Reading …
Interviewing Eva Brann
So Eva was a terrific guest and a great sport on the podcast and while Dylan had talked her up to the rest of us, I didn't realize what a towering figure she is. She has been teaching at St. John's for 57 !?!?! years, which is longer than most of us have been on this planet. She's the author of 15 books, not including translations, on subjects as diverse as Time, Plato and Continue Reading …
Episode 79: Heraclitus on Understanding the World (Citizens Only)
Eva Brann discusses her book The Logos of Heraclitus (2011). What is the world like, and how can we understand it? Heraclitus thinks that the answer to both questions is found in "the logos," which is a Greek word with multiple meanings: it can be an explanation, a word or linguistic meaning, science, rationality (the Latin word is "ratio"), the principle of exchange between Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 79: Heraclitus on Understanding the World
This is a short preview of the full episode. Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more Continue Reading …
Topic for #79: Heraclitus’s Metaphysics of Tension with Eva Brann
On Saturday 6/22 the regular foursome sat down with Eva Brann, Dylan's colleague at St. John's in Anapolis, to talk with her about her book The Logos of Heraclitus. Heraclitus (who was active around 500 BCE) is the "Pre-Socratic" philosopher with probably the most influence today and together with Parmenides (it's not clear which of the two lived first or whether they read Continue Reading …
Come Join My Heraclitus Not School Group
For Episode #79 (to be recorded in late June and released in July), we'll be reading Eva Brann's The Logos of Heraclitus and interviewing her about it. She was a colleague of Dylan's at St. John's, and her book exhibits that love of etymology that has come up recently on PEL whenever Heidegger is mentioned, for which St. John's is notorious. This is pretty much what you have to Continue Reading …