In this episode I dive deeper into William James' lecture series Talks to Students with the essays On a 'Certain Blindness in Human Beings' and 'What Makes a Life Significant' as presented in Ralph Barton Perry's collection of James' essays, Essays on Faith and Morals. I look particularly at the practicality of this blindness and the balance between ideals and practicality.

In this episode I arrive at Richard Weaver's classic statement of post-war Conservatism, Ideas Have Consequences, in particular the the traditionalist, hierarchical, formal aspects of enduring culture.

In this episode, I discuss William James' consequential essay Philosophical Conceptions and Practical Results and his lecture to students, The Gospel of Relaxation, as collected in The Heart of William James, edited by Robert Richardson.

In this episode I continue my examination of Darwinism and Human Affairs, this time exploring the connections between cultural evolution and genetic evolution. I focus on ways that cultural evolution both aligns with and betrays our genetic drive to reproduction.

In this episode I return to evolutionary theory, discussing the controversy surrounding group selection and its relationship with kin selection and inclusive fitness as described by Richard Alexander in his book Darwinism and Human Affairs.

In this episode I look at William James' further discussions of psychology in Talks to Teachers, in which he draws on prior psychological writings to address the needs of teachers. I pay particular attention to the practical and pragmatic aspect of his discussion of competing drives and ideas, and his limited domain of the activity of the will.

In this episode I return to John Dewey for a look at his essay The Practical Character of Reality, included in the compilation Pragmatism: The Classic Writings edited by H. S. Thayer. I focus on Dewey's examination of the nature of knowledge and awareness.

In this episode I look at John Dewey's overview of the early history of pragmatism as described in Pragmatism: The Classic Writings edited by H. S. Thayer. I examine the major themes of pragmatism, including the importance of consequences, human conduct, the vaguery of ends, and the approximateness of knowledge.

In this episode I revisit History of Political Philosophy to look at Leo Strauss' examination of the political theory of Plato. I look at the attempts to define Justice, the viability of absolute communism, and make my first foray into Plato's theory of ideas.

In this episode I look at the classic text of Western philosophy, Plato's Republic, as detailed by Constance Meinwald in her wide-ranging book Plato. I focus on the early portions of The Republic dealing with the quest for a definition of Justice, including the arguments of Glaucon and Thrasymachus.

In this episode I analyze I. F. Stone's critique of Socrates and his followers, as described in his book The Trial of Socrates. I focus on Socrates' hostility to democracy, the inadequecy of universalist philosophy, and the classical understanding of the gods.

In this episode I revisit Thucydides as discussed by David Bolotin in the classic History of Political Philosophy edited by Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey. I focus on Alcibiades, Nicias, and the Sicilian Expedition.

In this episode I look at the conflict between Democracy and Oligarchy in the Peloponnesian War as described by Thucydides and translated and abridged by Paul Woodruff.

In this episode I look at the late 19th Century Darwinian Conservatism of Herbert Spencer, William Graham Sumner, and reactions by William James and others as described in Richard Hofstadter's Social Darwinism in American Thought.

In this episode I look at Gregory Kavka's 'Hobbes's War of All Against All' in The Social Contract Theorists edited by Christopher W. Morris, with a special focus on the prisoner's dilemma and nation size.

In this episode I return to Strauss and Cropsey collection, History of Political Philosophy, to focus on Alan Bloom's examination of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the general will, and the potential conflict between nature and custom.

In this episode I wander through Rousseau's final book, published posthumously, The Reveries of the Solitary Walker. I look at the difference between youth and old age, trusting yourself and others, and the nature of reverie itself.

In this episode I take a first look at Scottish Common Sense Philosophy as described by Douglas McDermid in The Rise and Fall of Scottish Common Sense Realism, with the aim of providing an overview of the major themes of Thomas Reid and his contemporaries.

In this episode I examine Buchanan's case for non-interventionism, or isolationism, as made in A Republic, Not an Empire. I take a look a the League of Nations and US policy after the Cold War.

In this episode I look at Jonah Goldberg's examination of the fascist tendencies of President Woodrow Wilson in his classic book, Liberal Fascism.

In this episode I look at two Republican Presidents, Taft and Harding, as detailed in Heather Cox Richardson's history of the Republican Party, To Make Men Free.

In this episode I look at Letwin's collection of philosophical biographies, The Pursuit of Certainty, with a special focus on David Hume and his thoughts on virtue, prudence, and politics.

In this episode, I explore Eric Hoffer's description of the various types of people that constitute the leaders and followers of mass movements, as described in his classic 1951 book, The True Believer.

In this episode I examine the competing forces of Physis (Nature) and Nomos (Custom) as detailed in the erudite examination The Sophists by W. K. C. Guthrie.

In this episode I examine the connections between Nomos, Physis, and Moira in early Greek philosophy as detailed by Cornford in From Religion to Philosophy.

In this episode I look at the violent glory of war in Homer's Iliad, as detailed in Bernard Knox's introduction to the Robert Fagles translation of this classic epic poem of war, and several choice readings of the battle for the Argive ships.

In this episode I look at Thomas Cahill's examination of Ancient Greece in Sailing the Wine Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter. I pay special attention to the first three chapter where Cahill discusses Homer and his great works, The Iliad and the Odessey.

In this episode I explore another essay in Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey's massive History of Political Philosophy 3rd Edition. This time it's David Hume and his so-called skepticism, which I call into question on account of his deference to habit and custom. This episode is the fourth of a series.

In this episode I explore another essays in Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey's massive History of Political Philosophy 3rd Edition, this time looking at an essay by David Lowenthal that discusses Montesquieu and the various types of regimes, and the English synthesis of them. This episode is the third of a series.

In this episode I explore another essays in Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey's massive History of Political Philosophy 3rd Edition, this time looking at an essay by Robert A. Goldwin discussing John Locke and his theories of the state of nature vs the state of war, and his thoughts on the right of rebellion. This episode is the second of a series.

In this episode I examine one of the many essays in Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey's massive History of Political Philosophy 3rd Edition, detailing the thoughts of Thomas Hobbes. This essay by Laurence Berns discusses the weaknesses of Hobbes' conception of sovereignty. This episode is the first of a series.

In this episode I revisit the history of trade policy in America, with Gill's book Trade Wars Against America. I look especially at the 2nd half of the 19th Century and Woodrow Wilson.

In this episode I revisit Louis Menand's collection of Pragmatist writings, Pragmatism: A Reader, with an eye toward the more recent writers. I discuss Richard Rorty's Postmodernist Bourgeois Liberalism and Richard Bernstein's Pragmatism, Pluralism, and the Healing of Wounds.

In this episode I look at some of the early pragmatist writings, in particular The Will to Believe by William James, and The Ethics of Democracy by John Dewey. This episode is the first of a two part series on this book.

In this episode I look at the evolutionary exposition of Richard Dawkins in his classic The Blind Watchmaker, with a closer look at how DNA replicates and evolves.

In this episode I look at a few of William James' early essays What Is an Emotion? and The Function of Cognition, and I make a particular examination of his essay The Dilemma of Determinism.

In this episode I examine the deterministic vision of the nature of the universe as described by P. W. Atkins in The Creation.

In this episode I explore the myth of the divine child, viewed through both historical myths and the archetypes of the collective unconscious, in the collaborative book by both Carl Jung and Carl Kerenyi, Essays on a Science of Mythology.

In this episode I look at the ancient Roman god of Saturn and the festival of Saturnalia, as described in Samuel Macey's Patriarchs of Time.

In this episode I explore the lack of myth in our modern world, as described by Rollo May in The Cry for Myth.

In this episode I look at The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, with a particular emphasis on his definitions of myth, archetype, metaphor, and transcendence.

In this episode I look at the phenomenal book Free Trade Doesn't Work by Ian Fletcher. I focus on Fletcher's overview of trade deficits and his explanation of the theory of comparative advantage.

In this episode I look at one of the most important of protectionist treatises, The National System of Political Economy by Friedrich List, with a particular focus on Book 2: The Theory.

In this episode, I look at the connections between ecosystems and economies, as described by Jane Jacobs in The Nature of Economies.

In this episode I look at Henry Clay's attempts to get tariff legislation passed in the early 19th Century, in Maurice Baxter's Henry Clay and they American System.

In this episode I look at the basic premise of economic theory as presented by Henry Hazlitt in his classic Economics in One Lesson. I look closely at his discussion of tariffs, and provide a counter-argument that examines the tax burden of tariffs and the elasticity of supply and demand.

In this episode I examine the case for protectionism and against free trade, as described by Pat Buchanan in his book The Great Betrayal.

In this episode I look at several types of American Nationalism as described by F. H. Buckley in his book The Republican Workers Party. I argue against his position on Liberal Nationalism.