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PODCAST

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

7:35

Critique of Schopenhauer’s views on the unconscious

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/29

Specifically in the works of Carl Rogers, Wilhelm Reich and William James, the twentieth century brought strong criticism of the views on the unconscious presented by Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860). Their definitions of the unconscious are based on the ideas developed by Schopenhauer, but only after having narrowed them down to a point where they are almost unrecognisable. In their own ways, Carl Rogers, Wilhelm Reich and William James emphasise particular aspects of Schopenhauer’s concept of the

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7:00

Schopenhauer and the nature of truth

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/29

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) devoted his whole life to the pursuit of truth. He acknowledged that truth is sometimes unpleasant and harsh, but humans are better off when they face problems and take action to solve them. In his major work “The World as Will and Representation,” (1818), Schopenhauer categorised the will (“life force”) as the main driver behind human actions. It exerts massive influence on perception, motivation, and on how people take decisions. Schopenhauer criticised mainstream

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5:52

Examples of Schopenhauer’s views on the nature of truth

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/29

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) gave us valuable insights on human behaviour. Let us take a look at historical examples of Schopenhauer’s views on the nature of truth. First of all, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), a French philosopher, as a worthy predecessor of Schopenhauer. Like Schopenhauer, Montaigne remained outside academic circles, but wrote essays on the nature of truth. Montaigne did not offer answers as sophisticated as Schopenhauer, but spent years doing research on the reliability of

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5:59

Michel de Montaigne’s biography: tradition versus change

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/24

John Vespasian explains that Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was one of the most realistic philosophers in history. He was remarkably talented at analysing problems, reviewing possible solutions, discarding the unworkable, and selecting the most promising amongst the rest. Let me underline the step “discarding the unworkable.” It is something that most philosophers forget to do. They will fall in love with their favourite plan and keep defending it long after it has become obvious that it cannot

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5:59

Michel de Montaigne and the art of living

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/24

John Vespasian explains that Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) made it particularly clear that he wanted to differentiate himself from his peers. His vast literary achievements are not the result of luck. His philosophy is not the outcome of random circumstances, but of persistence and determination. Montaigne was a master in the art of living because of his unusually high productivity. Even with a busy professional life as a lawyer in Bordeaux, he became extremely well-read and raised a family

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6:08

Michel de Montaigne’s art of living quietly

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/24

John Vespasian explains that Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was aware of the dangers associated to popularity. He also knew the financial advantages that one can draw from it, but after careful reflection, he opted for a quiet lifestyle in the countryside. Montaigne’s choice is remarkable because it entailed a series of drastic changes; he had lived for decades in a sizeable city, pursued a demanding career, and interacted with hundreds of people; why did he choose to leave behind his professional

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6:49

Michel de Montaigne’s key lesson on the art of living

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/24

John Vespasian explains that Montaigne’s essay titled “On the inequality amongst us” is conveying the key lesson from his life, namely, that we should accept without complaints the fact that each person is different, and that all attempts to homogenise people are doomed to fail. Individuals are unequal in intelligence, agility, beauty, skills and personal interests, just to mention a few aspects. Luckily, Montaigne accepted inequality as a fact early in life and spared himself lots of trouble. In

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6:26

Michel de Montaigne’s impact on early modern philosophy

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/24

John Vespasian explains that Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) had zero impact on early modern philosophy because his great merit was to look to the past, not to the future. As a result, Montaigne developed a new, fresh, truly modern mentality that put him decades ahead of his literary peers. When Montaigne looked at history, mostly antique history, he picked up ideas and facts that he found useful. He was very familiar with the doctrines of Pyrrho (360-270 BC) and Sextus Empiricus (160-210 AD), but

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5:29

Why Michel de Montaigne had no impact on early modern...

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/24

John Vespasian explains that Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) produced a compelling collection of essays, but historians have exaggerated his impact on early modern philosophy. Take for instance Montaigne’s essay titled “On the custom of wearing clothes.” When Montaigne wrote this piece, he was in his early forties, living quietly in the countryside. Day after day, he retired to the tower of his castle to read and write, and kept churning out one essay after another. Historians sustain that Montaigne

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6:33

Michel de Montaigne’s contribution to early modern...

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/24

John Vespasian explains that Montaigne is an extraordinary author in many aspects, great in erudition and wisdom, but not a philosophical innovator. If anything, he looked at the past more than he was looking at the future. He had drawn his more enlightened ideas from antiquity in the formulations given by Seneca (4 BC-65 AD), Plutarch (46-120 AD) or Aristotle (384-322 BC). Even his theological views draw more from medievalism than from modernity. Nevertheless, Montaigne surpassed all his

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6:46

Michel de Montaigne’s impact on French literature and...

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/24

John Vespasian explains that Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) left behind ethical guidelines, practical and tangible, but roving and disorderly. Why? Because he cared for finding the path to happiness, but not for the implicit metaphysics, epistemology, politics and aesthetics. Due to his philosophical limitations, Montaigne has exerted a narrow influence on French literature and cultural identity. It would be an exaggeration to claim a vast influence from ideas, values and behavioural models that we

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6:18

Michel de Montaigne’s relevance today

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/22

Before devoting time to reading a classical work, it is fair to ask about its relevance today. Why should I devote my energy to reading a classic? What lessons can I possible learn from an author who lived centuries ago? John Vespasian explains that Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) is one of the few classics that passes this test with flying colours. What is the relevance level of his works today? My answer is: hundred per cent; each time that I re-read his essays, I learn new things; I mean useful,

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5:40

Why Michel de Montaigne remains relevant today

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/22

John Vespasian explains that Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) made it his life’s mission to compile the wisdom of the past. He devoted twenty years of his life to writing essays, condensing the wisdom of Aristotle (384-322 BC), Seneca (4 BC-65 AD), and other ancient Greek and Roman sources. It is fair to ask whether the lessons from ancient authors are still relevant today. In fact, people had asked the same question in the sixteenth century, when Montaigne was researching and writing his essays

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15:56

Aristotle’s theory of the four causes

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/08

Aristotle adopted a systematic approach to studying the world, explains John Vespasian. His theory of the four causes entails that, if you want to fully understand something, you should consider four distinct causes. First, a material cause that pertains to the material substance that makes up an item or creature. For example, the material cause of a woollen suit is wool. Second, the a formal cause that relates to the object’s shape or structure. In the case of the woollen suit, the formal cause

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17:14

Aristotle’s concept of teleology

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/08

“Teleology” is derived from the Greek word “telos,” which means end, purpose, motivation or intent. Aristotle’s teleology postulates that every action in nature has a specific purpose. In Aristotle’s words, such a purpose is called “final cause.” John Vespasian explains that Aristotle believed that teleological considerations apply to living creatures and, to a lesser extent, to natural phenomena. It is a concept that applies to human development, animal actions and natural events such as storms,

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9:15

Aristotle’s theory of the soul

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/08

Aristotle did not invent the concept of the soul. John Vespasian explains that the concept was already existing in older cultures such as those of ancient Egyptians and Hinduism. In those cultures, people believed that the soul was the animating energy or force behind life, also including human life. For the ancient Egyptians and Hindus, the sole involved ideas of immortality, reincarnation, and the soul’s journey after death. Ancient Egyptians practised mummification of corpses to safeguard their

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14:51

Happiness and Aristotle’s theory of the soul

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/08

The process of philosophical development is similar to the process of learning to walk after you have suffered an injury. It takes lots of training for your muscles to work properly and in a coordinated manner. John Vespasian explains that Aristotle’s ethical philosophy is tied to his conception of the soul, but he was more reality-oriented than Plato. He did not worry so much about abstract “Forms” existing in a hidden realm. For Aristotle, the soul’s functions are practical, not ethereal. In his

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12:22

Aristotle’s views on ethics, virtue and happiness

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/08

Aristotle (384-322 BC) believed that ethics have a clear, definite purpose. He defined ethics as the science of achieving eudaimonia, which means “a happy, thriving, flourishing life.” John Vespasian explains that Aristotle argued that human beings can only achieve happiness by living a life of virtue. Unfortunately, in some cases, he wrongly identified virtue with the “golden mean,” a middle-of-the-road attitude between two evils. In general terms, Aristotle’s ethics promote the virtues of courage,

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8:18

Aristotle’s concept of practical wisdom

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/08

Like Schopenhauer would do twenty-four centuries later, Aristotle regarded practical wisdom (“phronesis” in Greek) as a crucial ingredient of a happy life. John Vespasian explains that, in his “Nicomachean Ethics,” Aristotle defined phronesis as a skill that enables us to choose timely the correct course of action and for the correct reasons. In other words, phronesis is the daily implementation of general moral principles. How do you develop practical wisdom? Through experience and rational

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7:00

Schopenhauer and existentialism

John Vespasian ·

2025/04/03

John Vespasian explains that the reasons why philosophy books trace the inception of existentialism to Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) are rather weak. Nonetheless, they have attained the status of mainstream opinion and deserve a robust refutation. First of all, Schopenhauer himself never declared himself to be an existentialist, not anything close to that term. You won’t find such a concept in his works. Neither “On the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason”(1814), “The world as will

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