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Combat and Classics logoCombat and Classics is a series of podcasts and online seminars that explores the nature of man in conflict and cooperation through socratic dialogue and the great books. For more info visit combatandclassics.org

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Combat & Classics Ep. 54 Xenophon’s “Anabasis” Book 4

January 14, 2022 by Jeff Black Leave a Comment

Xenophon and the Greek host begin their march north, out of the Persian king's territory, through the icy highlands of Armenia, until at last, from a mountain, they catch sight of "the sea! the sea!"  So how do the demands of the terrain and weather impose necessities on the Greeks, and how does Xenophon deal with these necessities?  Is this easier, or harder, than  Continue Reading …

Combat & Classics Ep. 53 Xenophon’s “Anabasis” Book 3

October 23, 2021 by Jeff Black Leave a Comment

The Greek army has been beheaded: all its generals are dead.  The remaining soldiers lie down on the ground in despair.  And Xenophon has a dream, one that somehow leads him to reanimate the Greeks and start them on their march north out of Persia.  Brian, Shilo, and Jeff talk about how Xenophon revives the troops, why he's in Persia, and whether he disobeyed  Continue Reading …

Whose Country Is It? Whomever It Inhabits

September 6, 2017 by Wes Alwan 9 Comments

Subscribe to more of my writing at https://www.wesalwan.com Follow me on Twitter 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  Continue Reading …

Episode 149: Plato’s “Crito”: A Performance and Discussion

October 17, 2016 by Mark Linsenmayer 6 Comments

Broadway bigwigs Walter Bobbie and Bill Youmans perform Plato's dialogue in which Socrates awaits his execution after being convicted by an Athenian jury of corrupting the youth and dissing the gods. Given that the verdict was clearly unjust, should Socrates take up Crito's offer to help him escape the city? Socrates says no: given that he's lived his whole life benefitting by  Continue Reading …

Ep. 149: Plato’s “Crito”: A Performance and Discussion (Citizen Edition)

October 16, 2016 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Authentic Broadway bigwigs Walter Bobbie and Bill Youmans perform Plato's dialogue in which Socrates awaits his execution after being convicted by an Athenian jury of corrupting the youth and dissing the gods. Given that the verdict was clearly unjust, should Socrates take up Crito's offer to help him escape the city? Socrates says no: given that he's lived his whole life  Continue Reading …

Episode 142: Plato’s “Phaedrus” on Love and Speechmaking

June 27, 2016 by Mark Linsenmayer 8 Comments

Socrates hangs out in the country flirting with his buddy Phaedrus. And what is this "Platonic" love you've all heard about? Well, you use the enticement of desire not to rush toward fulfillment, but to get all excited about talking philosophy. Phaedrus starts off reading a speech by renowned orator Lysias (actually Plato's invention parodying the style of this real guy)  Continue Reading …

Ep. 142: Plato’s “Phaedrus” on Love and Speechmaking (Citizen Edition)

June 27, 2016 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

Socrates hangs out in the country flirting with his buddy Phaedrus. And what is this "Platonic" love you've all heard about? Well, you use the enticement of desire not to rush toward fulfillment, but to get all excited about talking philosophy. Phaedrus starts off reading a speech by renowned orator Lysias (actually Plato's invention parodying the style of this real guy)  Continue Reading …

Socrates’ Attack on Rhetoric in the “Gorgias”

January 19, 2013 by Seth Paskin 18 Comments

  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 agenda that is  Continue Reading …

PREVIEW-Episode 69: Plato on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy

January 12, 2013 by Mark Linsenmayer 27 Comments

Plato

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 …

Episode 69: Plato on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy (Citizens Only)

January 12, 2013 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Plato

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 (speaking as usual through Socrates) thinks that the "art" of rhetoric (persuasive speeches) isn't an art at all, in the sense of something that requires an understanding of one's subject  Continue Reading …

Topic for #69: Plato’s “Gorgias” on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy

December 21, 2012 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

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

November 28, 2011 by Tom McDonald 2 Comments

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, one of the most  Continue Reading …

Myles Burnyeant (and Bryan Magee) on Plato

July 14, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

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 through  Continue Reading …

Episode 18: Plato: What Is Knowledge? (Citizens Only)

April 20, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

On the Theaetetus and the Meno, two dialogues about knowledge. We're returning to Plato for a somewhat more thorough treatment than we gave him in Episode 1. This should be considered part two (Hume being #1) of three discussions intended to convey the main conflict in the history of epistemology between the empiricists (like Hume) and the rationalists (like Plato). We  Continue Reading …

PREVIEW-Episode 18: Plato: What Is Knowledge?

April 20, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 14 Comments

This is a 34-minute preview of a 2 hr, 18-minute 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  Continue Reading …

Episode 1: “The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living.”

May 12, 2009 by Mark Linsenmayer 34 Comments

Socrates

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  Continue Reading …

Episode 1: “The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living”

May 12, 2009 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Socrates

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  Continue Reading …

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The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

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