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Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners

From Heraclitus’ fragments on change to Hannah Arendt’s reflections on responsibility, this series traces the story of Western moral thought. Each episode introduces the life, context, and ideas of the philosophers who shaped how we think about right and wrong, freedom and duty, justice and power. Designed for newcomers yet rich enough for curious thinkers, it offers a guided journey through the great debates that still shape our world today.What does it mean to be human?Western Moral Philosophy for

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

36:32

12 Deep Dive Democritus The Laughing Philosopher

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/16

12 Deep Dive Democritus The Laughing PhilosopherDemocritus, often dubbed the "Laughing Philosopher," hails from ancient Greece, specifically from Abdera, where he flourished around the 5th century BCE. This title points to both his philosophical approach and his wide-reaching influence in various domains of thought, particularly regarding natural philosophy and ethics. The juxtaposition of laughter with philosophy suggests a unique perspective about life and existence, one that challenges

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38:59

11 Deep Dive Anaxagoras

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/14

11 Deep Dive AnaxagorasAnaxagoras is a pre-Socratic philosopher who lived in the 5th century BCE, known for introducing the notion of Nous, or Mind, as a cosmic principle governing the universe. He hailed from Clazomenae in present-day Turkey and spent significant time in Athens, where his ideas greatly influenced not only contemporary thinkers like Socrates and Plato, but also the development of Western philosophy. Therefore, understanding Anaxagoras is essential for grasping the evolution of

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33:52

10 Deep Dive Empedocles

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/14

10 Deep Dive EmpedoclesEmpedocles, a pre-Socratic philosopher from the 5th century BCE, is often remembered for his dualistic cosmology and unique view of the nature of reality. His ideas laid foundational stones for later philosophical inquiries, intertwining natural philosophy with ethics in ways that would echo through the ages. While he is widely recognized for his contributions to metaphysics and natural science—such as the concept of the four classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water—he

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39:09

09 Deep Dive Zeno of Elea

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/12

09 Deep Dive Zeno of EleaZeno of Elea, a pre-Socratic philosopher from the 5th century BCE, is best known for his paradoxes, which challenge our understanding of space, time, and motion. He was a student of the philosopher Parmenides, who proposed that reality is unchanging and that all perception of change is an illusion. Zeno's work serves as a bridge between abstract philosophical inquiry and the more concrete questions of morality and ethics. Through his paradoxes, Zeno raised fundamental issues

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37:37

08 Deep Dive Parmenides of Elea

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/08

08 Deep Dive Parmenides of EleaParmenides of Elea was a quintessential figure in early Greek philosophy, famed not only for his metaphysical ideas but also for laying foundational concepts that would ripple through the history of Western thought. He lived in the fifth century BCE and is primarily known for his poem, "On Nature," which presents a radical challenge to the common perceptions of reality. Here, we’ll explore Parmenides’ contributions to moral philosophy, unpacking his arguments, their

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36:22

07 Deep Dives Heraclitus Panta Rei

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/06

07 Deep Dives Heraclitus Panta ReiHeraclitus was a pre-Socratic philosopher active in ancient Greece around the 6th century BCE, known primarily for his assertion that "everything flows," captured by the phrase "Panta Rei." This idea has profound implications not only for metaphysics but also for moral philosophy, illuminating how we might interpret change and permanence in our lives.Heraclitus’s philosophy revolves around the concept of change as a fundamental essence of existence. One of his

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38:01

05 Deep Dive Pythagoras 570-495 BCE

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/04

Deep Dive Pythagoras 570-495 BCEPythagoras, the ancient Greek philosopher who lived from 570 to 495 BCE, is perhaps best known for his eponymous theorem in mathematics involving the relationship between the sides of a right triangle. However, his influence goes far beyond mathematics, extending deeply into moral philosophy and the idea of living a good life in alignment with higher realities. Pythagoras is foundational to the development of ethical thought in Western philosophy, and although we have

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37:03

04 Deep Dives Pherecydes of Syros 580-520 BCE

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/04

Deep Dives 04 Pherecydes of Syros 580-520 BCEPherecydes of Syros, who lived between 580 and 520 BCE, holds a distinctive place in the fabric of early Greek philosophy. Not only is he credited as one of the first to explore the intersection of mythology and philosophy, but also as a precursor to subsequent thinkers, including Pythagoras. His contributions are pivotal as they introduced ideas about the cosmos and the divine that would reverberate through the ages.At the heart of Pherecydes' work lies

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38:20

06 Deep Dive Xenophanes 570-475 BCE

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/04

Deep Dive Xenophanes 570-475 BCEXenophanes, the pre-Socratic philosopher from the ancient city of Colophon, invites us into a world of intellectual inquiry that bridges the gap between mythological understanding and rational explanation. Living during the 6th century BCE, a time when certain philosophical ideas began questioning traditional religious views, Xenophanes stands out for his critical approach to the gods and moral considerations that stem from his observations of the natural world and

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37:04

03 Deep Dive Anaximenes 586-526 BCE

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/04

Deep Dive 03 Anaximenes 586-526 BCEAnaximenes, living between 586 and 526 BCE, was a pre-Socratic philosopher from Ancient Greece, hailing from the city of Miletus. He is often grouped with his mentor, Anaximander, and his predecessor, Thales, as one of the early figures who sought to understand the nature of the cosmos through rational inquiry rather than mythology. Anaximenes is particularly known for his belief that air, rather than water or an abstract concept, is the fundamental substance of

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37:47

02 Deep Dive Anaximander 610-546 BCE

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/04

02 Deep Dive Anaximander 610-546 BCEAnaximander, who lived around 610 to 546 BCE, was a pre-Socratic philosopher from the ancient city of Miletus in what is now Turkey. He holds a significant place in early Western philosophy not only for his contributions to metaphysics and cosmology but also for the foundations he laid for moral philosophy. As we delve into Anaximander’s ideas, we’ll explore his central works, the moral concepts he proposed, and how his thoughts resonate with modern issues in

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33:17

John Rawls 1921 - 2002

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/03

John Rawls 1921 - 2002In the late 1930s, an anxious teenager sits in a boarding school in Connecticut, surrounded by the trappings of privilege he doesn’t quite know what to do with. The school is Kent, Episcopalian and elite, a feeder into the American establishment. The boy’s days are filled with chapel services, Latin, math, sports, and the casual assumption that people like him will one day help run things. He is shy, serious, and introspective. The world outside his campus is sliding toward

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30:29

William of Ockham

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/12/01

William of Ockham In the early fourteenth century, when Europe’s universities were packed with monks and clerics arguing about God, logic, and the structure of reality, a quiet Franciscan friar from a small English village began to do something dangerous: he started cutting away at the grand systems of his time. It was not a physical blade he wielded, but a habit of mind, a principle that later generations would remember as a “razor”: do not multiply entities beyond necessity. His name was William

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31:45

Karl Marx

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/11/30

In the middle of the nineteenth century, when factory chimneys were blackening the skies of Europe and trains were stitching cities together with steel, a bearded émigré in a London reading room was trying to understand why so much new wealth seemed to bring so much new misery. Outside, the streets were full of contrasts: fine houses a carriage ride away from slums where whole families crowded into a single room; lavish shops not far from soup kitchens; workers who had left the countryside for the

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32:37

Sextus Empiricus

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/11/29

In a quiet corner of the Roman Empire sometime in the late second or early third century of our era, a physician sits at a wooden table, scratching notes onto a wax tablet by lamplight. Around him the house is dark; outside, the city is sleeping. On the shelves behind him are scrolls by Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Chrysippus, Hippocrates. He has read them all, argued with them in his mind, and found in each something impressive and something unproven. Tonight he is trying to do something different

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35:19

01 Deepdive Thales ofMiletus 624_546_BCE The first...

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/11/29

01 Deepdive Thales ofMiletus 624_546_BCE The first philosopherThales of Miletus, often referred to as the first philosopher, is a figure who emerged in the early 6th century BCE, during a transformative era in human thought. Known for his pioneering inquiries into the nature of the cosmos and the principles governing existence, Thales stands at the cradle of Western philosophy. He is celebrated not only for his explorations in natural science but also for laying the foundational concepts that would

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27:13

Maimonides - Jewish Theology

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/11/28

Picture Córdoba again, the same city where Averroes walked, but in an earlier, more fragile moment. It is the middle of the twelfth century. Once, this city had been the shining capital of an Umayyad caliphate, famous for its libraries and its mixture of cultures. Now power has shifted. A stricter movement, the Almohads, has crossed from North Africa and taken control. Their theology is uncompromising, their vision of Islam purist. For non-Muslims — Christians and Jews — this means pressure:

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36:40

Titus Lucretius Carus 99—c. 55 B.C.E.

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/11/28

On a warm afternoon in the late Roman Republic, in a modest house somewhere near Rome, a man sits at a wooden table, writing verse about atoms. Outside, the streets are noisy with politics: senators scheming in marble halls, generals chasing glory, crowds in the Forum roaring for bread and spectacle. Inside, this man is engaged in something quieter but, in his view, much more urgent. He is trying to free human beings from terror—terror of the gods, of death, of fate—by showing them that everything

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32:01

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/11/27

Imagine a boy in seventeenth-century Leipzig, wandering alone through a university library that is much too large for him. The year is somewhere in the 1650s. Outside, Europe is still reeling from the Thirty Years’ War: cities scarred, farms burned, families scattered. Inside the library, shelves sag under Latin tomes of logic, law, theology, and natural philosophy. The boy’s father has died, but left behind access to these books, and the boy takes advantage of it. He is eleven, maybe twelve, and

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30:22

Western Moral Philosophy for Beginners Trailer

Western Moral Philosophy For Beginners ·

2025/11/27

Western Moral Philosophy for Beginners TrailerIn every age, people have asked the same questions:What is the good life?How should we treat one another?What does it mean to be free, or virtuous, or just?Western Moral Philosophy for Beginners takes you on a guided journey through the minds that shaped the moral backbone of the West — from the earliest Greek thinkers to the modern age.These aren’t dry classroom summaries.They’re lived stories — of struggle, ambition, conflict, revelation — all

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