King Laius died at the Cleft Way, where he got in the way of an emigrant to Thebes who happened also to be his son. The prophecy was that Oedipus would be the death of Laius, and it was in the name of avoiding this fate that father and son worked together to seal it. Yet what truly made Oedipus Continue Reading …
Episode 149: Plato’s “Crito”: A Performance and Discussion
Broadway stars Walter Bobbie and Bill Youmans perform Plato’s dialogue in which Socrates awaits his execution. Should Socrates defy the verdict and try to escape the city? Socrates says no; that would be ungrateful to the city whose benefits he’s enjoyed. Bill joins the full PEL foursome for a lively discussion.
End song: “Fall Away” by Mark Lint and the Fake from the album So Whaddaya Think? (2000).
Ep. 149: Plato’s “Crito”: A Performance and Discussion (Citizen Edition)
Broadway stars Walter Bobbie and Bill Youmans perform Plato’s dialogue in which Socrates awaits his execution. Should Socrates defy the verdict and try to escape the city? Socrates says no; that would be ungrateful to the city whose benefits he’s enjoyed. Bill joins the full PEL foursome for a lively discussion.
End song: “Fall Away” by Mark Lint and the Fake from the album So Whaddaya Think? (2000).
Episode 142: Plato’s “Phaedrus” on Love and Speechmaking
Socrates hangs out in the country flirting with his buddy Phaedrus. And what is this “Platonic” love? Using the enticement of desire not to rush toward fulfillment, but to get you all excited about talking philosophy. Socrates critiques a speech by renowned orator Lysias, who claimed that love is bad because it’s a form of madness, where people do things they then regret after love fades. Socrates instead delivers a myth that shows the spiritual benefits of loving and being loved. With guest Adam Rose.
End song: “Summertime” by New People, from Might Get It Right (2013).
Ep. 142: Plato’s “Phaedrus” on Love and Speechmaking (Citizen Edition)
Socrates hangs out in the country flirting with his buddy Phaedrus. And what is this “Platonic” love? Using the enticement of desire not to rush toward fulfillment, but to get you all excited about talking philosophy. Socrates critiques a speech by renowned orator Lysias, who claimed that love is bad because it’s a form of madness, where people do things they then regret after love fades. Socrates instead delivers a myth that shows the spiritual benefits of loving and being loved. With guest Adam Rose of Great Discourses.
End song: “Summertime” by New People, from Might Get It Right (2013).
Socrates’ Attack on Rhetoric in the “Gorgias”
I have never shared the vitriol in Plato’s dialogues for rhetoric. I understand why he goes after people for holding what he considers to be untenable positions, particularly if they are teachers or otherwise influencers of others. But only insofar as they hold beliefs which don’t accord with his own or if they appear to have a methodology or Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 69: Plato on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy
On Plato’s Dialogue, “Gorgias” (380 BCE or so). Why philosophize? Isn’t it better to know how to persuade people in practical matters, like a successful lawyer or business leader? Plato (via Socrates) thinks that the “art” of rhetoric isn’t an art at all, in the sense of requiring an understanding of one’s subject matter, but merely a talent for saying what people want to hear.
Episode 69: Plato on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy (Citizens Only)
On Plato’s Dialogue, “Gorgias” (380 BCE or so). Why philosophize? Isn’t it better to know how to persuade people in practical matters, like a successful lawyer or business leader? Plato (via Socrates) thinks that the “art” of rhetoric isn’t an art at all, in the sense of requiring an understanding of one’s subject matter, but merely a talent for saying what people want to hear. Learn more.
End song: “Fallen Sun” by New People. Download the album.
Topic for #69: Plato’s “Gorgias” on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy
Listen to the episode. Back in ancient Athens, the big-name intellectuals were not the philosophers and proto-scientists we remember today, but the sophists, who taught people how to argue and make speeches in front of courts of law and groups of people. Plato (speaking as usual through his teacher Socrates) thought this to be a vastly overrated skill, because it’s Continue Reading …
Being Old in a Democracy: Peter Lawler on Plato and Us
Why is oldness found so repulsive in our culture today? Why do old people feel so compelled to make themselves look like worse versions of young people through plastic surgery? The easy answer is ‘it’s natural’, i.e., youth gives a competitive Darwinian advantage, so if we have the bio-technology available to keep ourselves younger we gotta go for it! However, Continue Reading …
Myles Burnyeant (and Bryan Magee) on Plato
Here’s another old Bryan Magee video where he interviews Myles Burnyeant: Watch on YouTube. Anyone who’s listened to our Plato episodes will find nothing new in this first clip, which is just about who Plato and Socrates were, how Socrates died, and what Plato’s dialogues look like. Around 5 minutes in, Burnyeant lays out the evolution from the early dialogues Continue Reading …
Episode 18: Plato: What Is Knowledge? (Citizens Only)
Discussing Plato’s Theatetus and Meno. In the Theaetetus, Plato considers and rejects a series of mostly very lame conceptions of knowledge and replaces them at the end with… NOTHING. In the Meno, knowledge is “remembrance” (maybe).”
End song: “Obvious Boy,” by Mark Lint and the Fake from So Whaddaya Think? (2000).
PREVIEW-Episode 18: Plato: What Is Knowledge?
Discussing Plato’s Theatetus and Meno. In the Theaetetus, Plato considers and rejects a series of mostly very lame conceptions of knowledge and replaces them at the end with… NOTHING. In the Meno, knowledge is “remembrance” (maybe).”
Part 2 of Episode 1: “The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living.”
More discussion of Plato’s “Apology.”
Episode 1: “The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living” (Part Two)
More discussion of Plato’s “Apology.”
Part 1 of Episode 1: “The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living.”
Discussing Plato’s “Apology.” Does studying philosophy make you a better person? No.
Episode 1: “The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living” (Part One)
Discussing Plato’s “Apology.”
This reading is all about how Socrates is on trial for acting like an ass and proceeds to act like an ass and so is convicted. Big surprise. On this our inaugural discussion, Mark, Seth, and Wes talk about how philosophers are arrogant bastards who neglect their children, how people of all political stripes don’t usually examine their fundamental beliefs (but probably should), why it might be better to know you know nothing than to only think that you know nothing, and how Plato was a super genius all of whose texts you should worship uncritically. Plus: podcaster philosophical origin stories, like when Wes was bitten by a radioactive Anaxagoras.