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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),

science social sciences

All Episodes

5:48

Schopenhauer’s views on love and relationships

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/27

John Vespasian explains that Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) had unduly pessimistic, gloomy ideas on love and relationships. The study of his ideas in this respect serves an educational purpose because it enables us to learn from Schopenhauer’s mistakes. Schopenhauer’s theory of the will (“life force”) underlies his views on love and relationships. This theory predicates that the will is constantly driving all living creatures towards survival, reproduction, and pleasure, without paying attention to

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6:20

Refutation of Schopenhauer’s views on love and...

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/27

The ideas of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) on love and relationships contain fundamental mistakes. John Vespasian explains that Schopenhauer did not devote to these matters sufficient attention. As a result, his observations and conclusions leave a lot to be desired. His conception of love and relationships is instinctual. They are driven by the Will (“life force”), argues Schopenhauer, and this explains why people behave erratically when they fall in love. The Will prompts them to pursue the

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6:09

Idealism in Schopenhauer’s views on love and...

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/27

In his works, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) pointed out that love relationships often fail because people will initially idealise their beloved, and experience a disappointment when they realise that their expectations do not match reality. John Vespasian explains that Schopenhauer presented those views in “The world as will and representation” (1818) and in “Parerga and Paralipomena” (1851). He warned readers against seeking short-term pleasure without assessing the cost and risks involved

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4:35

Impact of Aristotle’s theory of justice

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/25

The justice definition given by Aristotle in “Nicomachean Ethics” is simple, but accurate and profound. A person behaves in accordance to justice only if he has “an habitual disposition to render to each person his due.” John Vespasian explains that the definition demands giving consistently and regularly to each person his due, not only occasionally, not only from time to time. Aristotle’s predecessors such as Socrates (469-399 BC) had not been able to come up with such a complete definition

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10:55

Critique of Aristotle’s theory of justice

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/25

John Vespasian explains that, after Aristotle’s death in 322 BC, the next generation began to question the principles of identity and causality, and rejected Aristotle’s concept of justice. Epicurus (341-271 BC) completely distorted Aristotle’s idea of justice. Instead of viewing it as a major virtue, Epicurus did not even consider it worth pursuing. He talked of pursuing serenity and happiness, but defined them in a vacuum. He regarded them as individual experiences detached from morality,

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7:14

Aristotle’s understanding of human flourishing and...

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/25

Aristotle (384-322 BC) addressed human flourishing in his work, “Nicomachean Ethics.” John Vespasian explains that the key idea of “Nicomachean Ethics” is that the goal of human life should be happiness (in Greek “eudaimonia).” For Aristotle, happiness means “leading the good life” or “flourishing.” It means that the concerned person has attained steady, overall well-being, not just a fleeting pleasure. According to “Nicomachean Ethics,” eudaimonia requires cultivating intellectual and moral virtues

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7:33

Key ideas in Aristotle’s understanding of human...

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/25

John Vespasian explains that Aristotle’s understanding of human flourishing and success, as presented in the “Nicomachean Ethics” and the “Eudemian Ethics,” can be summarised in three principles. Those three key ideas are common to Plato, Taoism and Confucianism. The first principle is the need of knowledge to achieve self-actualisation, that is, to achieve one’s potential. The process of self-actualisation or flourishing is essential to happiness, said Aristotle. You need to take action and pursue

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5:10

Aristotle’s understanding of human flourishing and...

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/25

The largest successes and failures always start with a simple principle, namely, Aristotle’s principle of causality. If you understand it and adhere to it, you should do well in life. If you ignore its existence or fail to obey it, it will wipe you out. After Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) had rediscovered every key principle of Aristotelian philosophy, one might expect later generations to observe those principles, right? Actually not, explains John Vespasian. History is not linear. It often happens

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5:10

Aristotle’s concepts of potentiality and actuality

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/25

John Vespasian explains that Aristotle defined “potentiality” as “the capacity for change that creatures and entities possess.” In contrast, he defined “actuality” as the realisation of their potential. From this perspective, the whole dynamics of the world can be explained by the activities of creatures and entities to attain their potential. Thus, change of any sort (chemical, mechanical, biological, or psychological) can be regarded as potentiality turning into actuality. If you take clay and

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7:33

Key ideas in Aristotle’s concepts of potentiality and...

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/25

John Vespasian explains that the concepts of potentiality and actuality occupy the central position in Aristotle’s metaphysics. They supply an invaluable intellectual tool to assess people and events for what they are, and for what they could become. Aristotle’s concepts of potentiality and actuality encompass three key ideas. Each of them has been proven by history, but was harshly attacked by its opponents. Let us explore these three key ideas in detail. The first key idea in Aristotle’s concepts

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8:14

Aristotle’s pursuit of knowledge and truth

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/25

John Vespasian explains that the books by Aristotle (384-322 BC) on metaphysics and logic are impressive, but we can draw practical lessons more directly by looking at his life. It’s a simple, straightforward manner to see philosophy in action. In 384 BC, Aristotle was born in Stagira, a small city on the northern coast of the Aegean Sea. Aristotle’s father (his name was Nicomachus) was the personal physician to King Amyntas of Macedonia. Thanks to his elevated position, Nicomachus gave Aristotle

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8:55

Aristotle’s four key contributions to philosophy

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/25

John Vespasian explains that 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

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6:23

Aristotle’s philosophy of mind and consciousness

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/25

Aristotle (384-322 BC) outlined his philosophy of mind and consciousness in his work “Metaphysics.” For the first time in history, he proposed a universal method for analysing reality in all its aspects: the cosmos, nature, and human beings. John Vespasian explains that, to develop his views on mind and consciousness, Aristotle had to let go first of Plato’s theory of forms. Plato had taught in his Academy that, in addition to the present world, there exists one intangible world of pure

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6:10

Schopenhauer and Freud: similarities and differences

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/20

In terms of chronology, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) preceded Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) by two generations. The worlds they inhabited were different, but Freud’s psychological insights rest upon the philosophy developed by Schopenhauer. John Vespasian explains that Schopenhauer outlined his philosophy in “The world as will and representation,” a book published in 1818. The theory of the will (“life force”) constitutes the backbone of his ideas. According to this theory, the will drives living

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7:13

Schopenhauer’s influence on Freud

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/20

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) did not acknowledge at every opportunity an intellectual debt towards Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) because he claimed to have come up himself with the theory of the unconscious (instincts) as a driving force. John Vespasian points out that anyone familiar with Freud’s and Schopenhauer’s ideas cannot possibly fail to notice the close similarity between Freud’s theory of the unconscious and Schopenhauer’s ideas, in particular, the theory of the will (“life force”). Freud

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5:25

Schopenhauer on psychology

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/20

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) did not believe that real-life problems can be solved through psychological tricks. The purpose of philosophy is to understand the world, so that one can take real action to solve real problems. John Vespasian explains that, although Schopenhauer made contributions to psychology, his focus was on philosophy. He never lost sight of his primary goal, namely, to identify the principles driving the cosmos in general, and human nature in particular. In his book “The world

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5:45

Opponents to Schopenhauer’s views on psychology

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/20

In contrast to the fragmentary prescriptions often given by psychologists, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) aimed at one comprehensive explanation for the world, including all living creatures. In his work “The world as will and representation” (1818), he argues that the will (“life force”) prompts all living creatures to ensure their own survival and reproduction, seeking short-term pleasure as well but without considering the costs and risks. John Vespasian explains that, according to Schopenhauer,

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5:36

Schopenhauer’s biography (4 of 5): the years of...

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/20

Even for a genius like Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), it’s far from self-evident to define success; the feeling of achievement will wane fairly quickly if people are admiring you for reasons that have little to do with your life’s purpose. John Vespasian explains that Schopenhauer started to experience success in 1830. He was already forty-two years old and had spent decades in obscurity, despite his remarkable work. As of 1830, universities and other institutions started to invite Schopenhauer to

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5:25

Schopenhauer’s biography (3 of 5): the struggling decade

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/20

The struggling decade in the life of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) encompasses the period between 1817 and 1827, that is, the year he had devoted to writing “The world as will and representation” and the ensuing nine years. John Vespasian explains that Schopenhauer had very optimistic expectations for his work “The world as will and representation” and did not hesitate to pay for its publications. In the early nineteenth century, we are talking about a substantial investment. In contrast to

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6:18

Schopenhauer’s biography (2 of 5): the path to the...

John Vespasian ·

2025/03/20

As a student at the University of Berlin, Schopenhauer went to philosophy lectures given by Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) focusing on the metaphysical ego of the German people. John Vespasian explains that Fichte’s lectures were extremely popular, but Schopenhauer found them nonsensical. He viewed Fichte’s arguments for the existence of a metaphysical German ego as inventions lacking evidence and consistency. In a word, Schopenhauer considered Fichte’s ideas worthless. In contrast to his former

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