PODCAST · education
Introduction to Philosophy
by Grace Podcasts
In these short episodes delve into different philosophical texts and gain a simple understanding of complex topics.
Episodes
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Leibniz's Discourse on Metaphysics
Leibniz argues for God's creation as the best possible world, defining God's attributes (omniscience, omnipotence) and explaining the relationship between God, individual substances (monads), and the universe. He distinguishes between efficient and final causes, highlighting the role of God's…
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Leibniz's Monadology
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's Monadology proposes that the universe consists of simple, indivisible substances called monads, each possessing perception and appetition. These monads, differing in quality, are distinct from one another and represent the entire universe from their unique perspective....
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Descartes' Discourse on Method
The first rationalist we will cover is Rene Descartes. Descartes details his methodical approach to doubting established beliefs, aiming to construct a firm foundation for truth. The excerpt covers his skepticism, his four maxims for reasoning, and his proofs for the existence of God and the…
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Descartes' Meditations
The Meditations introduces Descartes's innovative method of achieving certain knowledge by systematically doubting all previously held beliefs, ultimately establishing the Cogito ("I think, therefore I am") as a foundational truth.
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Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding
The third of the "British Empiricists" is John Locke, also known for his political philosophy and his Treatises on Government (check out our episode on the second treatise). Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, presented here in excerpts, explores the origins and nature of human…
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Berkeley's Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge
The second of the "British Empiricists" that will be covered is George Berkeley. George Berkeley's A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge argues against the existence of matter, asserting that all things exist only in the mind of God. He refutes the concept of abstract ideas,...
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Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is much shorter than the Treatise but is known to be more precise and clear. Hume argues for an empiricist and instrumentalist approach to knowledge. He emphasized the role of experience and custom over reason in forming beliefs, notably concerning...
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Hume's Treatise of Human Nature
Kick off the new season Rationalism vs. Empiricism with the empiricist David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature explores the nature of human understanding and the passions. Sections cover topics like inference, belief, probability, causality, and the will. The text further investigates the nature…
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Plato's Republic
Plato's Republic explores the nature of justice. Socrates, through dialogues with various interlocutors, investigates different definitions of justice, ultimately arguing that a just life is superior to an unjust one, both in terms of individual well-being and societal harmony. The discussion...
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Plato's Meno
Plato's Meno primarily explores the question of whether virtue can be taught. Socrates and Meno engage in a discussion that examines various definitions of virtue, ultimately concluding that it is neither innate nor learned but rather a divinely bestowed gift. The text also introduces Plato's...
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Plato's Crito
Plato's Crito is a dialogue depicting a conversation between Socrates.and his friend Crito in prison, shortly before Socrates' execution. Critourges Socrates to escape, emphasizing the negative consequences for Crito and other friends if Socrates remains. Socrates, however, refuses, arguing that...
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Plato's Apology
Plato's Apology is a transcription of Socrates' defense speech at his trial in Athens. Socrates recounts accusations leveled against him, including impiety and corrupting the youth. He defends himself by explaining his philosophical method of questioning those believed wise, revealing their lack…
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Plato's Phaedo
Plato's Phaedo is a dialogue exploring the immortality of the soul. Socrates, awaiting execution, presents various arguments for the soul's pre-existence and continued existence after death, engaging his disciples in philosophical debate. These arguments draw upon Pythagorean and other...
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Plato's Timaeus
This text is an excerpt from Plato's Timaeus, a dialogue focusing on cosmology and the creation of the universe. Socrates, Critias, and Timaeus discuss the ideal state, leading to Critias recounting a legend from Solon about Atlantis, a powerful island civilization destroyed by natural…
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Plato's Symposium
Plato's Symposium is a dialogue exploring the nature of love through speeches given by various characters at a banquet. The text provides an introduction analyzing the dialogue's structure and philosophical depth, followed by the full dialogue itself. Socrates' speech, recounted by Aristodemus…
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Plato's Allegory of the Cave
Plato's Allegory of the Cave, uses the metaphor of prisoners chained in a cave, only seeing shadows projected on a wall, to illustrate the difference between perception and reality. The prisoners mistake shadows for reality until one escapes, experiencing the painful transition to the outside…
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 14
Season Finale!! Aristotle critiques earlier philosophical attempts to explain the fundamental principles of reality using numbers. Aristotle argues against the idea that numbers, either as abstract entities or as "Forms," are the ultimate constituents of the universe. He challenges the...
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 13
Aristotle's Metaphysics Book 13 discusses the philosophical problem of substance. Aristotle tackles the existence of mathematical objects, such as numbers and geometrical figures, and explores arguments for and against their existence as separate entities. He then critiques Plato's theory of…
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 12
Book 12 of Aristotle's Metaphysics discusses his conception of the unmoved mover, an eternal and immaterial being. The unmoved mover is the ultimate source of all motion and change in the world. He argues that the unmoved mover is not affected by the world, but instead, is the final cause.
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 5
Aristotle examines multiple meanings of key terms, including "beginning," "cause," "element," and "nature," analyzing their various applications and relationships. He further defines concepts like "necessary," "one," "same," "other," "prior," "posterior," "potency," "quantum," "quality,"...
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 11
In Book 11, Aristotle explores the nature of wisdom and its object of study. He argues that wisdom must be a science of first principles, but grapples with defining these principles. He rejects the idea of forms as separate entities, and analyzes the possibility of wisdom being concerned with...
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 10
In Book 10 Aristotle attempts to define the concept of being. In this excerpt, Aristotle explores the concept of unity (or “one”), examining its different meanings and investigating how it relates to concepts like plurality, difference, contrariety, and measure.
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 8
Aristotle begins by outlining various perspectives on what constitutes substance: natural substances like fire and water, mathematical objects, and the more abstract concepts of essence and substratum. He then proceeds to delve into the nature of sensible substances, arguing that they possess...
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 9
In Book 9 Aristotle explores concepts of potency and actuality. Aristotle argues that actuality is prior to potency and that things exist potentially when they have the capacity to become something else, and actually when they have achieved that state of being. He distinguishes between different...
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 5
The text examines the different ways in which terms like "beginning," "cause," "element," "nature," "necessary," "one," "being," "substance," "same," "other," "different," "like," "opposite," "prior," "posterior," "potency," "quantum," "quality," "relative," "complete," "limit," "that in virtue…
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 7
Aristotle’s Metaphysics Book VII focuses on the concept of substance, exploring different understandings of what it means for something to "be". The text examines various categories of being, including essence, universal, genus, and substratum, and how these relate to the concept of substance.
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 6
Aristotle's Metaphysics, Book VI explores the nature of being and its various meanings. Aristotle argues that there are different kinds of being, including accidental being, true being (in contrast to false being), and being qua being.
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 4
In Book 4 Aristotle revisits Being and substance. He examines the nature of unity. This episode will cover contraries, contradictions, and change.
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 3
Aristotle examines several questions about these principles, including: whether there is one science or multiple sciences that study causes; whether these sciences should focus on the first principles of substance or on the principles underlying all proofs; whether sensible substances are the…
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 2
Book two examines first principles and first causes.
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Deep Dive Aristotle Metaphysics Book 1
Welcome to our first deep dive. In this season, we will be focusing on Aristotle's Metaphysics. Each episode will cover one of the 14 books in this text. Book 1 introduces Being and the four fundamental causes.
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Burke Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful
A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful by Edmund Burke explores the psychological and physiological basis of our perceptions of beauty and sublimity. Burke argues that beauty is associated with qualities that induce relaxation and pleasure in the senses,...
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Maurice Merleau-Ponty Phenomenology of Perception
Phenomenology of Perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty is a significant work in the phenomenological tradition that challenges the Cartesian mind-body dualism. Merleau-Ponty argues that perception is not a passive reception of sensory information by a detached mind, but rather a dynamic interaction...
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Michel Foucault Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology
In Michel Foucalt's Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology his unique perspective on the relationship between language, knowledge, and power, is demonstrated as well as his commitment to analyzing how these forces shape our cultural and historical experience. There will be a bonus season available...
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Kant Critique of Judgment
Immanuel Kant's Critique of Judgment provides a glimpse into his philosophical system and the overarching themes explored in the work. Kant emphasizes the importance of critique in philosophy, arguing that we must examine the limitations of our cognitive abilities before making judgments. The...
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Heidegger The Origin of the Work of Art
In Heidegger's Off the Beaten Track, he dedicates a piece 'The Origin of the Work of Art' inquiring into the nature of art, focusing on the relationship between the artwork, the artist, and art itself. He argues art is not just a mere object but holds with it a work-character, and it is this...
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Hegel's Aesthetics
Our second episode is on Hegel's Aesthetics. In this text, Hegel provides a philosophical framework for understanding the nature and development of art. Hegel believes art represents the ideal, it is the perfect embodiment of truth and beauty. Hegel explores the relationship between art and the...
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Plotinus on the Beautiful
This season on aesthetics kicks off with an essay on the nature of beauty, written by Ancient Greek philosopher Plotinus. Plotinus argues against the tendency of language to conceal truth, and promotes the pursuit of understanding over mere verbal analysis. It explores the nature of beauty, first...
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Albert Camus: The Stranger
In Albert Camus novel, The Stranger, the protagonist Meursault faces emotional detachment and his reaction to his mother's death. There is a theme of absurdity as Mersault faces his trial for murder.
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Albert Camus: Myth of Sisyphus
Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" discusses the concept of the absurd and how it relates to various aspects of human existence. Camus argues that the absurd is a fundamental truth of life, acknowledging that life has no inherent meaning, yet choosing to live with this understanding.
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Friedrich Nietzsche: Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Nietzsche, through the voice of his fictional prophet Zarathustra, explores the themes of individualism, the Superman, the will to power, and the transvaluation of values. In the novel, Zarathustra criticizes conventional morality and traditional religion, proposing a new morality based on...
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Miguel de Unamuno: Tragic Sense of Life
Miguel de Unamuno's "Tragic Sense of Life" is a philosophical treatise that grapples with the human desire for immortality in the face of inevitable death. Unamuno argues that the human condition is inherently tragic because our longing for eternal life is irreconcilable with reason. He explores...
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Friedrich Nietzsche: The Gay Science
Friedrich Nietzsche's The Gay Science is a collection of aphorisms and poems. Nietzsche explores the will to power, the revaluation of values, and the nature of truth. He critiques traditional morality, religion, and philosophical ideas, arguing for a new way of thinking that embraces the…
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Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialism is a Humanism
In "Existentialism is a Humanism", Jean-Paul Sartre questions the meaning of abandonment, anguish, and despair. He argues "existence precedes essence" meaning we create our own identities and must take full responsibility for who they become.
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Jean-Paul Sartre: Being and Nothingness
Sartre's Being and Nothingness focuses on the concept of consciousness, which Sartre terms the For-itself, in relation to being, which he calls the In-itself. Sartre contrasts the For-itself with the In-itself, which is full, complete, and without nothingness. He then examines how consciousness,...
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Soren Kierkegaard: Either/Or
In this episode, Soren Kierkegaard explores the relationship between aesthetics and ethics in Either/Or. Kierkegaard discusses the nature of love, marriage, and ethics as they relate to the pursuit of meaning and happiness in life. The introduction highlights the challenges in balancing the...
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Soren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling
Kick off this season on Existentialism with the "Father of Existentialism" Soren Kierkegaard and his book Fear and Trembling. This episode is a philosophical exploration of the nature of faith. Søren Kierkegaard, argues that Abraham's faith transcends traditional ethical and moral boundaries,...
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John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism
What is the central principle of utilitarianism, and how does Mill define happiness in this context? How does Mill distinguish between higher and lower pleasures? John Stuart Mill explores the philosophy of utilitarianism, arguing that actions are morally right if they promote happiness and wrong...
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Peter Singer: Practical Ethics
Singer argues that ethics should be used to guide decision-making about controversial issues like animal rights, abortion, and euthanasia. He emphasizes that ethical questions require careful consideration, not just emotional responses. He also explores how the principles of universalizability…
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Kant: Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals
Why does Kant emphasize a "pure" moral philosophy derived from reason rather than experience? What does Kant mean by "duty"? What is the categorical imperative, and how does it relate to morality? What does Kant mean by the "kingdom of ends"? Kant argues for the existence of a categorical...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
In these short episodes delve into different philosophical texts and gain a simple understanding of complex topics.
HOSTED BY
Grace Podcasts
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How many episodes does Introduction to Philosophy have?
Introduction to Philosophy currently has 66 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Introduction to Philosophy about?
In these short episodes delve into different philosophical texts and gain a simple understanding of complex topics.
How often does Introduction to Philosophy release new episodes?
Introduction to Philosophy has 66 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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Introduction to Philosophy is created and hosted by Grace Podcasts.
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