Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode. Listen to a preview. Lise was one of the hosts of PEL network podcast Combat & Classics and a St. John's Santa Fe tutor. She passed away last year, but not before finishing her life's work, Warspeak, which evolved over many years out of her dissertation on Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals. Dylan and Seth are joined by guests Continue Reading …
Ep. 263: Lise Van Boxel’s “Warspeak” on Strategies for Valuing (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one on Warspeak: Nietzsche's Victory Over Nihilism with guests Jeff Black and Michael Grenke. We get more into how Lise describes the relationship of the feminine principle of Becoming with the masculine principle of Being. This should be "agnoistic" (creative tension!) and involves seduction, just like Nietzsche's writing style seduces readers into Continue Reading …
Ep. 263: Lise Van Boxel’s “Warspeak” on Strategies for Valuing (Part One for Supporters)
Lise was one of the hosts of PEL network podcast Combat & Classics and a St. John's Santa Fe tutor. She passed away last year, but not before finishing her life's work, Warspeak, which evolved over many years out of her dissertation on Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals. Dylan and Seth are joined by guests Michael Grenke and Jeff Black (both teach at St. John's in Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Ep. 262: Nietzsche on Self-Denial (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode in its entirety. Citizens can get the second part here. Mark, Wes, Dylan, Seth explore more of essay three of Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals on the meaning of ascetic ideals. The preview clip here engages in some summarizing, trying to fit asceticism into Nietzsche's overall morality as it moves forward from the slave revolt over Continue Reading …
Ep. 262: Nietzsche on Self-Denial (Part One)
Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode, or listen to a preview. Citizens can get the entire second part here. On Friedrich Nietzsche's The Genealogy of Morals (1887), "Third essay: what do ascetic ideals mean?" featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. When people really get serious, and try to put away frivolous things, is that good or bad? A serious athlete will subordinate Continue Reading …
Ep. 262: Nietzsche on Self-Denial (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing on Friedrich Nietzsche's The Genealogy of Morals (1887), "Third essay: what do ascetic ideals mean?" Listen to part one first. We start out with a little summarizing, trying to fit asceticism into Nietzsche's overall morality as it moves forward from the slave revolt over master/animal morality, turning to how Nietzsche uses asceticism to critique how scientists Continue Reading …
Ep. 262: Nietzsche on Self-Denial (Part One for Supporters)
On Friedrich Nietzsche's The Genealogy of Morals (1887), "Third essay: what do ascetic ideals mean?" featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. When people really get serious, and try to put away frivolous things, is that good or bad? A serious athlete will subordinate everything to their training, an artist may even forget to eat or sleep while crafting a work, and of course at Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics Episode 50. “Warspeak” by Lise van Boxel
Brian and Jeff are joined by Michael Grenke, St. John's College - Santa Fe, to discuss Lise van Boxel's posthumously published book "Warspeak" from PoliticalAnimalPress.com. Purchase your copy here. Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics #33: Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” Part I
We begin our next “close read” series with the first two sections of Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which conclude with the famous line “God is dead.” Lise, Jeff, and Brian discuss Nietzsche’s imagery, allusions, and treatment of questions concerning love, envy, and humanity. Get more C&C on the PEL site or at combatandclassics.org. Continue Reading …
Ep. 214: More Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Part Two)
Concluding Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885). What's the wise way to live? We start in earnest into part three, treating the "spirit of gravity," where socially imposed values cover over your uniqueness; omni-satisfaction vs. being choosy; "Old and New Tablets," where Nietzsche explores various ethical and meta-ethical issues (e.g., is self-overcoming a Continue Reading …
Ep. 214: More Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Part One)
On the remainder of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885). How can we keep our spirits up and avoid nihilism? After all (says Nietzsche), there's no God or other transcendent purpose-giving entity to guarantee that life is worth living. There's just our complex animality, with its cycles of desire, satiation, and more desire, with our in-built character and Continue Reading …
Ep. 214: More Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Citizen Edition)
On the remainder of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885). How can we keep our spirits up and avoid nihilism? After all (says Nietzsche), there's no God or other transcendent purpose-giving entity to guarantee that life is worth living. There's just our complex animality, with its cycles of desire, satiation, and more desire, with our in-built character and Continue Reading …
Ep. 213: Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Part Two)
Continuing on Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, books 1 and 2 (1883). We talk through Nietzsche's symbolism (e.g., a tightrope walker as someone trying to be a bridge between man and overman), the path toward the overman (develop a pure will to create like a child, risk your life for your creation), his various critiques including his screed against the state Continue Reading …
Episode 213: Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Part One)
On Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, books 1 and 2 (1883). What is wisdom? In Nietzsche's most famous book, he gives us his own Socrates, his own avatar to engage the foolish populace, though instead of asking them questions, Zarathustra tends to preach, and the whole book has a very Biblical tone, except more cagey. You see, this is a book "for all and none," Continue Reading …
Ep. 213: Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Citizen Edition)
On Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, books 1 and 2 (1883). What is wisdom? In Nietzsche's most famous book, he gives us his own Socrates, his own avatar to engage the foolish populace, though instead of asking them questions, Zarathustra tends to preach, and the whole book has a very Biblical tone, except more cagey. You see, this is a book "for all and none," Continue Reading …
To Be Re-Bourne: Breathing New Life into the Prophetic Philosophy of Randolph Bourne
Stricken by the influenza epidemic that had spread across the world in the wake of the First World War—the military conflagration that ironically both ruined his “reputation and elicited prophetic words that have the greatest claim on our imaginations today”[1]—Randolph S. Bourne died on a dreary December day in 1918.[2] Dead at 32, Bourne left behind a legacy of social and Continue Reading …
PREVIEWS-Eps 192-193 Allan Bloom & Liberal Education Follow-Ups
A few highlights from recent supplementary discussions on Allan Bloom (his takes on Nietzsche and Freud among other topics) and two new readings originally meant for ep. 193: Leo Strauss's "Mass Education and Democracy" (1967) and Richard Rorty's "Democracy and Philosophy" (2007). Plus, you can help determine the future of PEL audioplays! Become a PEL Citizen or $5 Patreon Continue Reading …
The Panpsycast Christmas Special
The Panpsycast (pan-psy-cast) Philosophy Podcast describes itself as “an ‘informal and informative’ philosophy podcast that aims to inspire and support students, teachers, academics, and free-thinkers worldwide.” Panpsycast episodes span a range of subjects including political philosophy, ancient philosophy, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, and existentialism, and Continue Reading …
Episode 178: Nietzsche as Social Critic: “Twilight of the Idols” (Part Two)
Continuing on Nietzsche's 1888 book. (For Wes Alwan's summary of this book, go here). Is there any ground from which we could judge life as a whole to be good or bad? Is N. more about saying "yes" to life or saying "no" to all the numerous things that piss him off? We also talk Becoming, whether producing great art is more important than being nice to everyone, and whether Continue Reading …
Episode 178: Nietzsche as Social Critic: “Twilight of the Idols” (Part One)
On Friedrich Nietzsche's 1888 book summarizing his thought and critiquing the founding myths of his society: traditional morality, free will, Socratic reason, and the idiocy of "Deutschland Uber Alles!" (For Wes Alwan's summary of this book, go here). Nietzsche defends instinct as the source of values, but these instincts must be "spiritualized" into frenzied creativity. Continue Reading …