Wisdom for Life

Being Caught In The Gaze

In this forty-third episode of the Wisdom for Life radio show, hosts Dan Hayes and Greg Sadler discuss the phenomenon that gets called "the gaze" or "the look" (le regard, in French), starting with Jean-Paul Sartre's famous analysis of it, and the examples he provides in Being and Nothingness. They then discuss the notion of the "panopticon" and how it figures into the "surveillance society", and then examine gender and power-relations in the "male gaze".

 

Show Music is by Scott Tarulli - https://www.scotttarulli.com/

Stoicism, Concern, and Care

In this forty-second episode of the Wisdom for Life radio show, hosts Dan Hayes and Greg Sadler tackle a common misconception of Stoic philosophy, namely that it involves withdrawing from the world and from other people, in order to insulate oneself from negative experiences and emotions.  This would mean that Stoicism would be incompatible with caring or concern for other people, and that would be strange, given that classic Stoics life Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius made love, affection, and concern for others central to their own teachings and practice. So, how can a person practice Stoicism and still cultivate healthy relationships with other people?  That's what this episode delves into in depth

 

Show Music is by Scott Tarulli - https://www.scotttarulli.com/

 

AITA Cases Revisited

In this forty-first episode of the Wisdom for Life radio show, hosts Dan Hayes and Greg Sadler go back to the types of real-life moral dilemmas set out in the Reddit AITA forum.  They narrate, discuss, and analyse a number of selected cases, and give their one judgements on whether anyone in these cases is acting like a jerk or not.

Show Music is by Scott Tarulli - https://www.scotttarulli.com/

Truth, Society and The Marketplace of Ideas

In this fortieth episode of the Wisdom for Life radio show, hosts Dan Hayes and Greg Sadler bring their discussion of the topic of truth to a close by focusing on the popular metaphor of the marketplace of ideas as a locus in which true opinions and viewpoints are likely to be discovered, and false ones revealed as such.  They discuss some of the difficulties involved in discovering and articulating truth, whether the "marketplace" really works, and how our current social and political factionalization creates new obstacles and challenges

 

Show Music is by Scott Tarulli - https://www.scotttarulli.com/

The Topic of Truth Take Two

In this thirty-ninth episode of the Wisdom for Life radio show, hosts Dan Hayes and Greg Sadler continue their discussion of the topic of truth.  They review several of the insights and theories about truth from the previous session, including what the correspondence and coherence theories of truth are.  Then they discuss another main approach, the pragmatic theory of truth, looking at some of the diverse formulations of that view, coming in particular from C.S. Pierce, William James, and John Dewey. They discuss how and where a pragmatic approach can be helpful for how we approach truth in our everyday lives.

The Meaning of Truth

In this thirty-eighth episode of the Wisdom for Life radio show, hosts Dan Hayes and Greg Sadler discuss the nature, meaning, and value of something that we all talk about, but which is a bit tough to define - truth.  

 

Among the topics they range over are whether truth can be subjective or objective, whether there is a difference between moral truths about what we ought to do or what has value, and experiential truths about objects in the world. They also discuss several main theories of what truth is or what makes something true, including the correspondence theory of truth, the coherence theory of truth, and the pragmatic theory of truth,

 

Show Music is by Scott Tarulli - https://www.scotttarulli.com/

Memory and Truth

In this thirty-seventh episode of the Wisdom for Life radio show, hosts Dan Hayes and Greg Sadler discuss the relations between human memory and the truth or falsity of matters.  

 

Among the topics that they discuss are what memory is and how it works, how our memories work less like a camera simply recording images and more like an artist putting together a complex mosaic.  They take some detours in discussing Plato's notion of the forms and their importance for knowledge, how our memories can be deceiving, the "Satanic panic" of the 1980s and its connections with supposed repressed memories, and some of the novels of science fiction author, Philip K. Dick

 

 

Show Music is by Scott Tarulli - https://www.scotttarulli.com/

Studying Philosophy Outside of Academia

In this thirty-sixth episode of the Wisdom for Life radio show, hosts Dan Hayes and Greg Sadler discuss some approaches and resources for studying philosophy outside of traditional academia. 

 

Among the topics that they discuss are why it is useful for non-academics to study and apply philosophy to their lives, how the cultural prominence academic philosophy is a fairly recent historical development, the variety of resources available today for independent and lifelong learners, and where and how to find them.

 

Stoicism, Pain, Mental Health, and Lived Philosophy (featuring special guest Matt Van Natta)

 In this thirty-fifth episode of the Wisdom for Life radio show, hosts Dan Hayes and Greg Sadler welcome special guest Matt Van Natta for a dialogue and interview about Stoic philosophy, practices, and their applications in life.  During their conversation, they discuss why practices are important to Stoicism, but that more than just practices is needed even to use the practices effectively.  They also discuss applications of Stoicism to dealing with acute and chronic pain, mental health and illness, relationships, and other areas of challenges in life.

 

The Good Fortune Podcast - https://immoderatestoic.com/good-fortune

 

Matt Van Natta's book The Good Fortune Handbook - https://amzn.to/3tMlrHJ

Matt Van Natta's book The Beginner's Guide to Stoicism - https://amzn.to/3gy56m7

Matt Van Natta's book The 5-minute Stoicism Journal - https://amzn.to/32HBcUh

 

Show Music is by Scott Tarulli - https://www.scotttarulli.com/

Marcus Aurelius' Meditations - Stoic Ideas and Practices

In this thirty-fourth episode of the Wisdom for Life radio show, hosts Dan Hayes and Greg Sadler highlight one important work of practical philosophy, the Meditations by the Stoic Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius.  The 1900-year anniversary of his birth is coming up on April 26, and several events are commemorating it. 

Marcus' Meditations, originally written just to himself, are an important gateway through which hundreds of thousands of people have gotten into Stoicism over the last few decades.  Dan and Greg discuss who Marcus was, how they got into his work, why the Meditations matter, and some of the useful ideas, insights, and practices Marcus provides us.

 

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (Hayes translation) - https://amzn.to/39Xuq0S

 

Modern Stoicism/Aurelius Foundation Event - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marcus-aurelius-anniversary-conference-tickets-141293351217

 

New Acropolis Event - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/roman-banquet-celebrating-marcus-aureliuss-1900-years-of-legacy-tickets-146688311689

 

ReasonIO Event - https://withribbon.com/u/reasonio

 

Show Music is by Scott Tarulli - https://www.scotttarulli.com/