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John Vespasian

JOHN VESPASIAN is the author of sixteen books, including “When everything fails, try this” (2009), “Rationality is the way to happiness” (2009), “The philosophy of builders” (2010), “The 10 principles of rational living” (2012), “Rational living, rational working” (2013), “Consistency: The key to permanent stress relief” (2014), “On becoming unbreakable” (2015), “Thriving in difficult times” (2016), “Causality: Aristotle’s life and ideas” (2024), “Foresight: Schopenhauer’s life and ideas” (2024),

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All Episodes

5:56

Michel de Montaigne and cultural identity

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/13

In his essays, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), addresses frequently the subject of cultural identity. I can summarise his conclusions in two sentences. First, he acknowledges that each culture has its own rituals, likes and dislikes. Second, he rates those differences as minor if compared with the traits shared by humans in all cultures. Montaigne underlines the second aspect in his essay titled “That we all love and cry for the same thing.” He is conveying the idea that human emotions (joy,

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7:07

Errors in Montaigne’s views on cultural identity

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/13

Despite his erudition and hard work, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) never grasped the need for an objective morality. I find in his essays a relentless effort to obscure ethical truths in order to preach moral relativism and contorted ethical equality. Montaigne employed ethical fallacies as arguments once and again; he employed “universal emotions” to call for ethical indifference, and “diverse cultural identity” to call for empathy towards immorality. His essay “That men through various ways

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6:52

Michel de Montaigne and political philosophy

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/13

I can summarise in three sentences the political philosophy of Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592). He outlined his political ideas in several essays, giving many historical examples, but the ideas themselves are straightforward. First, when good people govern, everything will be fine, irrespective of the political system. Second, even the very best political system can be abused by bad people. Third, since it is inevitable that, now and then, some bad people gain political power, abuses can be

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6:48

Michel de Montaigne and the nature of personal growth

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/13

“The best human attribute is rising after every downfall,” wrote Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592). Like no other author before the Renaissance, Montaigne devoted two decades of his life to identifying the keys to personal growth, and recording them in his essays. The above citation is taken from Montaigne’s essay “That no man should be called happy until his death,” which is one of my favourites. However, recommendations on personal growth can be found in every essay he wrote. Montaigne regarded

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5:15

Michel de Montaigne’s advice on personal growth

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/13

“Let us allow fortune to do her thing, and she will then give us the chance to do ours,” wrote Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) in his essay “That no man should be called happy until his death.” Montaigne is not telling us that human life is shaped by luck and that we should be happy with our circumstances. Neither is he implying that we are all doomed to a short, miserable life in which countermeasures are pointless because death is awaiting us at the end of the path. I regard the following twin

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6:31

Schopenhauer’s views on the nature of evil

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/11

The philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) about the nature of evil stands in sharp contrast to other thinkers. For Schopenhauer, evil is a natural phenomenon. It’s the inevitable outcome of the will (“life force”) when left to operate freely. Schopenhauer attributes evil to the life force that prompts all living creatures to secure their survival and reproduction, seek pleasure and maximise short-term gains. This life force doesn’t care about risks, costs, and consequences. According to

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6:05

Schopenhauer’s views on religion

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/11

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) deployed large efforts to study Christianity and Eastern religions. His goal was to draw the best ethical advice from religion. When I say “best advice,” I mean practical, tangible, hands-on advice. I find it remarkable that Schopenhauer devoted long years to studying religion. His theory of the will (“life force”) has no direct connection to religion and his ethics are equally far from divinities and devotionals. The key idea in Schopenhauer’s philosophy is that the

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6:40

Schopenhauer’s views on genius

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/11

For Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), creativity is the key element in genius. However, Schopenhauer defined creativity in an unusual way. He wasn’t referring to the ability to create new concepts by recombining existing ones. No, he was referring to the rare ability to come up with breakthrough, surprising ideas. His theory of the will (life force) doesn’t attribute creativity to nature. Schopenhauer viewed the will as a wild, blind force that drives all living creatures to secure their reproduction

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5:44

Schopenhauer and the problem of evil

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/11

The problem of evil was addressed by Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) by referring to the theory of the will (“life force”), which constitutes the pillar of his philosophy. Schopenhauer defined the will as the force driving living creatures to secure their survival and reproduction, and seek pleasure. According to Schopenhauer, the will creates endless human desires. As soon as one desire is fulfilled, another one arises. It is simply impossible to satisfy them all. As a result, frustration and

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6:00

Schopenhauer’s views on intellectual pursuits

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/11

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) devoted his whole life to intellectual pursuits. In particular, he gave extensive thought to their contribution to happiness. Schopenhauer outlined his philosophy in “The world as will and representation,” a book he published in 1818. The essential insight of the book is that the will (“life force”) is driving all living creatures to secure their own survival and reproduction. In addition, the will is pushing animals and humans to seek short-term pleasure without

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6:58

Schopenhauer’s influence on literature

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/11

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) never wrote any novels and deeply disliked those written by his mother, Johanna. She had attained notoriety by her romantic novels and reciprocated his son’s literary dislike by calling his essays uninteresting. However, the novels written by Johanna Schopenhauer were quickly forgotten, while Arthur Schopenhauer’s works attracted growing interest. Eventually, his ideas have influenced authors and shaped their novels. Schopenhauer’s influence on literature has taken

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6:20

Aristotle’s views on friendship

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/04

Aristotle addressed friendship in his “Nicomachean Ethics.” He viewed friendship as indispensable for leading a happy life, but identified three types of friendships: those based on utility, those based on pleasure, and those based on shared values or virtues. The latter is by far the most valuable. Friendships of utility are based on mutual interest. People collaborate with each other for a myriad of reasons, which are not necessarily linked to business or making money. Business partners constitute

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9:07

Aristotle’s four key contributions to philosophy

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/04

Aristotle (384-322 BC) made four decisive contributions to philosophy. First, in metaphysics, he refuted Plato’s theory of forms. While Plato had believed in a world of pure abstractions (which he called “forms”), Aristotle emphasised observing the material world. Second, Aristotle came up with the concepts of substance and form. He asserted that each item is composed of substance and form. Substance refers to its underlying essence, and form to its individual characteristics. The combination of

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6:43

Key ideas in Aristotle’s teachings on logic and...

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/04

The philosophy of logic and reason developed by Aristotle (384-322 BC) is different from computer logic, religious logic, and other types of logic that have existed in history. There are three distinct features that render Aristotelian logic unique. I’m going to present those three features, one by one. First, Aristotelian logic is linked to language. I would go even further and specify that it is linked to human language. Humans have ways of thinking that are very different from those of computers

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7:13

Aristotle’s thoughts on tragedy and literature

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/04

Aristotle (384-322 BC) outlined his thoughts on tragedy in his work “Poetics.” He regarded tragedy as an art form evoking pity and fear, leading the audience to gain emotional resilience and wisdom. The process of gaining resilience and wisdom from tragedy watched on stage is called “catharsis.” The key plot element in a tragedy is that the hero (who is essentially virtuous) ends up destroying his life due to a judgement error. Aristotle considered the plot structure crucial for delivering the

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6:41

Opponents to Aristotle’s views on knowledge and learning

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/04

In history, only a handful of philosophers have endorsed the views on knowledge and learning developed by Aristotle (384-322 BC). The opposition to Aristotle’s empiricism began before his birth, that is, with his predecessors, in particular Socrates and Plato. Let us take a look at how their views differ from those of Aristotle. Socrates (469-399 BC) never wrote any books, but his ideas have been recorded by Plato and Xenophon in their books. If we trust those sources, Socrates had been born in

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6:13

Putting Aristotle’s views on education into practice

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/04

After the disastrous distortions introduced in late Antiquity, it took twenty-three centuries to put into practice the views that Aristotle (384-322 BC) had developed on education. The reason for the long interval is not that Aristotle’s ideas on education are difficult to grasp. In fact, it only takes a few hours of study to understand Aristotelian ethics, which regards happiness as the goal of human life and virtue as the path to happiness. Aristotelian educational ideas emanate from Aristotelian

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7:41

Michel de Montaigne and moral philosophy

John Vespasian ·

2025/10/30

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) built himself a morality framework by writing essays for two decades. His philosophy resembles a house built little by little, using various techniques and materials, and then painted over several times in different colours. On the one hand, Montaigne embraced scepticism, showing very little confidence in the human ability to establish absolute truths. He studied history extensively, especially ancient Rome and ancient Greece, and realised that even the best people

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7:12

Michel de Montaigne and existentialism

John Vespasian ·

2025/10/30

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) is regarded as the first existentialist philosopher in history because he accepted the inevitability of death, and sought to maximise his happiness in every situation. Instead of fearing death, Montaigne recommended getting acquainted with it, so that it becomes part of our expectations. The consciousness of our limited lifespan can help us make the best of every day and every opportunity. Montaigne’s individualism reinforced his existentialism. He showed little

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8:35

Michel de Montaigne as a precursor of existentialism

John Vespasian ·

2025/10/30

For historians of philosophy, there is a definite proof that Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a forerunner of modern existentialism; they point to Montaigne’s essay titled “To study philosophy is to learn to die” and argue that it contains all key ideas of existentialist philosophy. I cannot deny Montaigne’s position as a precursor of Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and Albert Camus (1913-1960), but I want to underline the uniqueness of his ideas. Neither Sartre, Camus, or any other modern

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