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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

9:16

Differences between Schopenhauer and Indian philosophy

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/09

When Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) studied Indian or Hindu philosophy, he didn’t restrict himself to the foundational texts. He read the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita but those lack the subtle interpretations made by Hindu thinkers across the centuries. Schopenhauer adopted early in his career some Hindu tenets and conveyed them, in his own words, in his book “The world as will and representation” first published in 1818. For instance, Schopenhauer wrote that the pursuit of short- term pleasure

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5:39

Practical examples of Michel de Montaigne’s thoughts

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/04

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) wrote extensively but the structure of his thoughts is sometimes disrupted. The reason is not difficult to fathom. He did not have a word processor and it was hard for him to edit his handwritten texts. In this respect, he was facing the same problem as any other author during the Renaissance. Nonetheless, his essays remain entertaining even when he goes into tangents. I have reread Montaigne through the years and red-marked my favourite essays. Despite the vast

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7:19

Michel de Montaigne’s thoughts on risk

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/04

In his pursuit of reason, effectiveness and happiness, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) devoted extensive efforts to assess risks; he recorded his reflections and conclusions in essays like “On one saying of Caesar.” Montaigne refers to a saying from Caesar just to start his discussion about risk. He wants to establish the role played by reason and luck in human achievement and happiness. Here is the saying from Caesar that Montaigne is employing to start the discussion: “It is not for the well-born

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6:54

Michel de Montaigne and humanism

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/04

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) is the archetypical writer from the Renaissance, the archetypical example of Humanism. Nowadays, his ideas are almost forgotten. They are no longer taught in today’s education system; the study of classical Greek and Roman history, philosophy and literature are no longer a priority. What is Humanism? The concept is related to “humanity” in the sense of ethical values, but it possesses a larger meaning. When we talk about Humanism, we mean classical learning, that is,

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6:41

Examples of Michel de Montaigne and humanism

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/04

In his “Essays,” Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) often called for reason and tolerance. Those are distinctive features of humanism, together with critical thinking, a love of ancient history, and a strong preference for experience over theory. Montaigne was aware that sheer distance, whether temporal or geographical, can prompt people to suspicion. He wrote that “every person calls barbarous things that he is unaccustomed to.” Indeed, we tend to consider the opinions, customs, and prejudices of the

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6:45

Michel de Montaigne and the Renaissance

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/04

Critical thinking is the key characteristic of the writings of Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), who symbolises the spirit of the Renaissance. Mind you, the social and political context at that time was very different from our century. Daring to say what you think was far from self-evident in the Renaissance. Montaigne exercised critical thinking in his “Essays,” which address dozens of different subjects. He writes about literature, history, theology, friendship, love relationships, and his own

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5:45

Practical examples of Michel de Montaigne’s thoughts

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/04

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) wrote extensively but the structure of his thoughts is sometimes disrupted. The reason is not difficult to fathom. He did not have a word processor and it was hard for him to edit his handwritten texts. In this respect, he was facing the same problem as any other author during the Renaissance. Nonetheless, his essays remain entertaining even when he goes into tangents. I have reread Montaigne through the years and red-marked my favourite essays. Despite the vast

en

7:23

Aristotle’s theory of rhetoric and persuasion

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/02

In his work “Rhetoric,” Aristotle (384-322 BC) presents the three principles of effective communication and persuasion. He names them “ethos,” “pathos,” and “logos.” “Ethos” refers to the persuasive appeal of the speaker’s own personality. If a speaker possesses credibility, trustworthiness, and charisma, he can influence the audience more easily. Aristotle called for speakers to cultivate their “ethos” day in and day out. A speaker can gain influence in his community if his actions demonstrate

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6:50

Aristotle’s philosophy of aesthetics

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/02

Aristotle (384-322 BC) presented his theory of aesthetics in his work “Poetics,” which is primarily devoted to literature and theatre. For defining art, Aristotle employed the Greek word “mimesis,” which means “imitation.” Every form of art involves an imitation of reality according to the artist’s standpoint. The artistic imitation of reality can be more or less accurate, but needs to be recognisable. A random shape on a canvas or a meaningless poem do not constitute art because they have nothing

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7:44

Aristotle’s theory of virtue and character development

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/02

In contrast to thinkers preaching altruism and self-sacrifice, the theory of virtue developed by Aristotle (384-322 BC) aims at the achievement of happiness. Similarly, Aristotle regarded character development as a tool for facilitating happiness. Aristotle wrote two treatises presenting his theory of virtue and character development, namely, the “Nicomachean Ethics” and the “Eudemian Ethics.” He wrote or dictated those two works in the years between 335 BC and 321 BC, while he was teaching at the

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7:23

Modern attacks against Aristotle’s thoughts on human...

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/02

It’s unfortunate that modern philosophers have devoted vast efforts to attacking the self-confident and optimistic views put forward by Aristotle (384-322 BC) on human nature and life’s purpose. Aristotle conveyed his main premise in his works “Politics,” “Eudemian Ethics” and “Nicomachean Ethics,” namely, that it is the essence of human beings to be rational. In contrast to all animals, we can think, assess facts, develop theories, draw our own conclusions, and test them against reality. While

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8:48

Examples of Aristotle’s theory of rhetoric and...

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/02

History provides compelling illustrations of the rhetoric and persuasion techniques identified by Aristotle (384-322 BC) in his work “Rhetoric.” Each example is using the Aristotelian ethos (speaker’s reputation), pathos (emotional tone) and logos (rational arguments) in various proportions. Demosthenes (384-322 BC), who was born in the same year as Aristotle and died roughly at the same age as Aristotle, gave inspiration for the Aristotelian principles of rhetoric. He made repeated speeches in

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5:47

Opponents to Aristotle’s views on education

John Vespasian ·

2025/12/02

After Aristotle’s death in 322 BC, it did not take long for the world to forget his contributions to educational theory. His idea that the purpose of life is happiness received attacks from all sides. His definition of virtues as “habits leading to happiness” fell into oblivion. His view of education as a process of teaching virtues became a minority opinion. In the Middle Ages, education became deeply dominated by religion. Its contents became anti-Aristotelian, even if the ideas put forward by

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6:04

History in Michel de Montaigne and the Renaissance

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/27

The approach to history adopted by Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) offers a sharp contrast to what his contemporaries were doing. They revered history and studied it assiduously; it gave them an ideal to emulate. In contrast, Montaigne regarded history as a source of practical wisdom, a source to be assessed and contested as necessary. Take for instance, Montaigne’s essay “On the arms of the Parthians.” Superficially, Montaigne is speaking about ancient battle strategies, weapons and armour. At the

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6:20

Risk taking in Montaigne and the Renaissance

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/27

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) lived in dangerous times, but he adopted suitable countermeasures. He protected himself and his family by steering away from honours and competition that could have easily turned sour. He assessed the risks, kept his eyes open, and did overall much better than his peers. The Renaissance was a period of open-mindedness coupled to intellectual progress. Montaigne favoured inquiry and wrote against prejudice, but did not fool himself about human nature. He knew how hard

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7:04

Cato in Michel de Montaigne and the Renaissance

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/27

Ancient Stoicism plays an important role in the “Essays” by Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592). The essays contain a large number of references to Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, two of the leading thinkers in Stoicism. In addition, Montaigne refers on many occasions to Cato (95-46 BC), who also falls in this philosophical movement. He devoted to Cato a specific essay, which carries the title “On Cato the Younger.” As it was his usual practice, Montaigne employs the essay’s theme as a starting point for

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6:14

Simplicity in Michel de Montaigne and the Renaissance

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/27

Historians attribute to Tacitus (and Cicero to a lesser extent) a style characterised by short, profound sentences that can be interpreted at different levels. Tacitus and Cicero were highly admired in the Renaissance, precisely for that reason. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) produced many quotable texts, but did not follow Tacitus’ and Cicero’s approach. Those must have spent hours polishing each sentence, trying to get their ideas across in a distinctly concise manner. For Montaigne, speed was

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6:16

Results orientation in Michel de Montaigne and the...

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/27

Renaissance art is reputed for its proportion and harmony. It represents the human figure in an idealised manner, which also remains realistic. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) represents the Renaissance in literature, but he cared more for results than for proportion, harmony, and idealism. Montaigne did not even care to be entertaining or brilliant. I find some of his “Essays” chaotic in structure and unequal in style. Montaigne’s Latin quotations sometimes contain errors, and his retelling of

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6:40

Michel de Montaigne and classical philosophy

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/27

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) loved classical authors, philosophers or not, and read their books in Latin. For Greek authors such as Aristotle, he resorted to Latin translations that were already available in the sixteenth century. The efforts displayed by Montaigne are remarkable. Keep in mind that he was not a professional scholar. He was doing all the research himself, and purchasing those books with his own money. After moving to live in a farmhouse, he had no access to any large library in a

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6:19

Analysis of Schopenhauer’s views on intellectual...

John Vespasian ·

2025/11/25

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) regarded intellectual and cultural pursuits as potentially detrimental; he recommended to steer away from pursuits that generate unworkable desires and ambitions. Before investing oneself in those, one should figure out the consequences. Schopenhauer’s views on intellectual pursuits are innovative and surprising. Schopenhauer is contradicting the opinions of philosophers from previous centuries. Never before in history had a Western thinker held intellectual pursuits

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