Introduction “There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it.” So wrote Cicero.[1] The immediate occasion of his remark was the claim that it is wrong to eat beans. Cicero attributes this claim—as do other sources—to Pythagoras and his followers. The Pythagoreans held that eating beans disturbs not just the body but also the soul. Or so Cicero reports. A Continue Reading …
The Ship of Theseus and “The Outer Limits of Reason”
In his book The Outer Limits of Reason, MIT computer scientist Noson S. Yanofsky explores a number of paradoxes that, he argues, are intrinsic to the process of cognition. According to his argument, the universe does not contain contradictions, but our thinking about it does and must. If this is true, any representation of the universe must be inaccurate, not simply in details, Continue Reading …
Entering the Stoic World, Part 2: Metaphysics
This post examines the metaphysics or philosophy of nature behind the Stoic views on community and detachment described in Part 1, and how this metaphysics changed in the later centuries of the school's history. Before going into detail, it will be helpful to contextualize the Stoics' metaphysics within their broader tradition of philosophy. Despite preferring their porticoes Continue Reading …
Feeling Good About Oppression
In the Nietzsche episode, I made a point relating Nietzsche's "bright side" of slave morality with Hegel's account of the master-slave encounter. To refresh: Nietzsche's story in the Genealogy of Morals involves the oppressed turning in on themselves for satisfaction, because they can't get satisfaction in the usual brutish, masterful way. Nietzsche is often taken in telling Continue Reading …
Speaking Across History (And Other Expanses): Two Models of Reading
My concern here, as is often the case, is with our methodology at PEL. As we go through these various readings and figure out what we want to say about them, I periodically figure out some articulable point about how I'm reading and why I feel the need to express what I do as opposed to something else. On three different recent occasions, I've had someone (one of these was 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 …