PODCAST · education
Philosophy On The Couch
by Circle Of Insight Productions
For thousands of years, philosophers and religious traditions have wrestled with the same questions that eventually entered the consulting room: Why do we suffer? Why do we repeat the same mistakes? What makes us jealous, resentful, anxious, ashamed, or afraid of abandonment? What is the self? What does it mean to love another person? And why is knowing how we ought to live rarely enough to make us live that way? Philosophy on the Couch brings philosophy, religion, and psychodynamic psychology into conversation. Each episode takes an idea from thinkers and traditions ranging from Stoicism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Taoism to Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Sartre, and Camus, and examines it alongside contemporary psychodynamic thought. Rather than asking which side is right, the podcast explores where these traditions unexpectedly converge, where they fundamentally disagree, and what each can teach us about the hidden forces shaping ordinary human life.<
Episodes
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The Meaning We Invent: Salvador Dalí and the Philosophy of Perception
Why can two people look at the same painting and discover entirely different meanings? Using Salvador Dalí’s surrealist art, this episode explores how philosophers have understood perception, interpretation, and the relationship between reality and subjective experience. Drawing on…
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Why Good People Do Cruel Things: Nietzsche, Freud, and the Psychology of the Shadow
Most of us imagine cruelty as something committed by people fundamentally different from ourselves. But Nietzsche and Freud both suspected that aggression, envy, resentment, and the desire for power exist alongside our better qualities rather than outside them. Psychodynamic psychology goes...
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Why We Want What We Can’t Have: Freud, Buddhism, and the Problem of Desire
Why does desire sometimes become strongest precisely when something remains beyond our reach? Freud believed wanting was woven into the architecture of the human mind, while Buddhist philosophy warned that craving can become one of the engines of suffering. On Philosophy on the Couch, we put…
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Stoicism and Emotional Control: Acceptance or Intellectualization?
Stoicism teaches that much of our suffering comes from trying to control what does not belong to us: other people’s opinions, behavior, judgments, and choices. Psychodynamic psychology largely agrees, but introduces a more uncomfortable question—why do certain things outside our control affect us...
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Sartre’s “Bad Faith” vs. the False Self: The Psychological Cost of Living an Inauthentic Life
Examine the striking convergence between Jean-Paul Sartre’s concept of “bad faith” — the self-deception that denies personal freedom and responsibility — and Donald Winnicott’s psychoanalytic “False Self,” the defensive persona constructed to meet external demands at the expense of authentic...
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Marcus Aurelius and the Internal Citadel: A psychodynamic look at defense mechanisms in Meditations
In this episode of Philosophical Psychodynamics, we explore Marcus Aurelius’ concept of the Internal Citadel through a psychodynamic lens, examining how Stoic practices in Meditations function as sophisticated defense mechanisms against psychological distress. We integrate existential psychology...
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The Ataraxia Analysis: Epicureanism as Affect Regulation
Explore the intersection of ancient Hellenistic philosophy and modern depth psychology. This episode deconstructs the pursuit of *ataraxia* using psychodynamic personality axes, theories of emotional mastery, and concepts of self-fragmentation. Discover if tranquility is a state of mental health…
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Heraclitus and the Fluid Self: The Unconscious River You’re Always Stepping Into
A high-level breakdown of Heraclitus’ philosophy applied to modern psychodynamic theory, exploring the fluid self, unconscious processes, and personality development for EPPP exam success. This episode connects classical philosophy with Freud, Jung, and PDM-2 concepts to clarify dynamic versus...
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Professor and Author John Kaag tells us how William James can save your life1
John is Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and a Miller Scholar at the Santa Fe Institute. He just finished Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life, which was published with Princeton in spring of 2020. John lives with his partner...
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Audio fixed- The Hero's journey in movies
The Hero's journey
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we chat with Professor Edith Hall about the relevance of Aristotle in today's world
Edith Hall is a British scholar of classics, specialising in ancient Greek literature and cultural history, and Professor in the Department of Classics and Centre for Hellenic Studies at King's College, London
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We chat with Professor Barkman's book on imitating saints and superheros
Adam Barkman (PhD, Free University of Amsterdam) is the author and editor of eleven books, most recently A Critical Companion to James Cameron (Lexington, 2018) and Making Sense of Islamic Art & Architecture (Thames & Hudson, 2015). Barkman is internationally-recognized for his work on the...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
For thousands of years, philosophers and religious traditions have wrestled with the same questions that eventually entered the consulting room: Why do we suffer? Why do we repeat the same mistakes? What makes us jealous, resentful, anxious, ashamed, or afraid of abandonment? What is the self? What does it mean to love another person? And why is knowing how we ought to live rarely enough to make us live that way?
Philosophy on the Couch brings philosophy, religion, and psychodynamic psychology into conversation. Each episode takes an idea from thinkers and traditions ranging from Stoicism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Taoism to Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Sartre, and Camus, and examines it alongside contemporary psychodynamic thought.
Rather than asking which side is right, the podcast explores where these traditions unexpectedly converge, where they fundamentally disagree, and what each can teach us about the hidden forces shaping ordinary human life.<
HOSTED BY
Circle Of Insight Productions
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Philosophy On The Couch have?
Philosophy On The Couch currently has 56 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Philosophy On The Couch about?
For thousands of years, philosophers and religious traditions have wrestled with the same questions that eventually entered the consulting room: Why do we suffer? Why do we repeat the same mistakes? What makes us jealous, resentful, anxious, ashamed, or afraid of abandonment? What is the self? What...
How often does Philosophy On The Couch release new episodes?
Philosophy On The Couch has 56 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Philosophy On The Couch?
You can listen to Philosophy On The Couch on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Philosophy On The Couch?
Philosophy On The Couch is created and hosted by Circle Of Insight Productions.
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