Hegel was clear: history is a slaughter-bench. Depressing? Of course. But does history also allow the increase of rationality and freedom? Indeed it does. This is often accomplished by world historical figures who inspired great battle victories such as Alexander, Washington, Lincoln, and Churchill. And it was often unknown to themselves just what great forward progress they enabled. This episode discusses war from the standpoint of conflict resolution resulting in a better outcome. The opposite...
Apr 14, 2022•24 min
The tragic events in Ukraine have brought to the surface many old quandaries of war. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 caused some to believe that a new world order had arrived. A few scholars even claimed it to be the "end of history." Francis Fukuyama published his book "The End of History and the Last Man," in 1992, where he presents the thesis that humanity had reached "not just ... the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history...
Mar 29, 2022•25 min
"Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? . . . The Shadow knows" began a famous U.S. radio show from the 1930s and 40s. The Shadow is also a psychological term used by Carl Jung to describe those parts of us that we do not want to recognize in ourselves and in effect, bury. While it is most associated with our baser instincts and unattractive parts of our personality, we can repress worthy aspects as well. This can lead to projection of these traits on to others. The notion of t...
Mar 13, 2022•22 min
Hegel foresaw a problem with the advanced liberal democracies of his day. It is when the self interests of groups within the nation become more important than the principles that uphold the state itself. He called it a "knot" that will need to worked out in the future. Well the future has arrived and the problem remains. In fact it is much worse than in Hegel's day. The Internet has fostered a return to tribalistic identity groups that threaten the very concept of the nation-state...
Mar 02, 2022•20 min
Does Hegel have in mind a systematic procedure, technique, process, or plan underlying his philosophy? Some say yes, others say no. It is my belief that there is in fact a method; and it is the movement, the life, the evolution of thought itself. Hegel referred to this as dialectics. And his important notion of sublation plays a crucial role in dialectical thinking. Some say Hegel's method develops as his logic unfolds, but that at the beginning of his Science of Logic Hegel's philosop...
Feb 14, 2022•24 min
This episode explores three elements of Charles Peirce's philosophy and how it relates to Hegelianism. Peirce held that Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness are core functions of the Cosmos itself, three "worlds" if you will. This has obvious parallels to Hegel's triadic approach of Logic, Nature, and Spirit. Peirce's notion of Tychism is also examined, that the universe contains a degree of pure randomness, foreshadowing the findings of quantum physics. How this relates...
Jan 30, 2022•28 min
Philosophers and scientists speak of the "hard problem of consciousness." But what exactly is the problem? The issue seems to be more with the narrow view of naturalistic materialism, that excludes "everything mental - consciousness, meaning, intent or purpose" (Nagel). At the center of the disagreement is what is now termed "qualia" (a variation of this term was first used by Charles Peirce). This is the experience of seeing the color red, hearing a robin sing, or ...
Jan 09, 2022•24 min
As author Og Mandino states, Paul the Apostle was perhaps the "Greatest Salesmen in the World" in bringing the "good news" to Jew and Gentile alike. And what is very interesting is that Paul's views correspond in several respects to Hegel's unique take on Christianity. This episode discusses one of the "New Perspective of Paul" interpretations by Pauline scholar N.T. Wright. And that both St. Paul and Hegel recognized that Spirit's work is to be done ...
Dec 26, 2021•18 min
Hedge fund head Ray Dalio, in his book "Principles" states, "To be 'good,' something must operate consistently with the laws of reality and contribute to the evolution of the whole; that is what is most rewarded. Evolution is the single greatest force in the universe; it is the only thing that is permanent and it drives everything." Dalio is not a trained philosopher but has plenty of street smarts. And street smarts should never be discounted. American pragmatic ph...
Dec 13, 2021•23 min
Once again Hegel's "true infinity" is the focus an episode. This time, there is new attention paid to several areas, including: - a better definition of "bad infinity," - how true infinity corresponds to right-brain reasoning, - how bad infinity corresponds to left-brain understanding, - how true infinity relates to societal issues at large, - how business innovation develops through true infinity, - how gratitude can serve as a lever for true infinity. Also covered in t...
Nov 28, 2021•22 min
One of the original self-improvement books, "The Science of Getting Rich," (Wattles, 1910), was based on Hegelian principles. And no, it is not about money, but about achieving what one needs so one can accomplish what one is capable of in contributing to the goal of life itself. Wattles states, "The object of life is development; and everything that lives has an inalienable right to all the development it is capable of attaining." And also, "the man who owns all he want...
Nov 14, 2021•33 min
Reincarnation is one of the most widely held beliefs in the world today. It is quite logical, and it explains much about why some suffer. It offers a reasoning and reward for moral and ethical behavior. But is it true? Does one have a separate soul that moves from body to body over time? This episode will explore this question from the standpoint of Hegelian philosophy regarding the finite and true infinity, and the historical movement of Spirit within the world. In addition, the important conce...
Oct 31, 2021•25 min
The Creation of the Cosmos by God is fundamental to Western religions. And the scientific Big Bang event has been pointed to by some as evidence that this did in fact occur. But did it? New scientific evidence shows that something did precede the Big Bang. And In the East, a different notion holds, that of the cyclical nature of reality. And there are different interpretations of whether Hegel believed a creation event occurred or not. This episode shows support for the cyclical position from a ...
Oct 18, 2021•28 min
For many people, philosophy is of little interest. Some see it only as thinking about thinking, and who needs that? Others compare it to contemplating one’s navel. And few people understand how philosophy can actually have any meaning in one’s day-to-day activities. This episode takes the other side. It first shows why philosophy is needed for a rigorous, articulate, systematic, logical, and critical examination of the big questions in life. Next reason itself is discussed, and how it is often d...
Oct 03, 2021•26 min
This episode looks again at the left brain/right brain dichotomy, and how so much is missed when the left brain view dominates, which it does in today’s world almost exclusively (polarization, either/or, us versus them type thinking). With left brain thinking alone, one misses the big holistic picture. The right brain sees relations, movement, processes, and life. While the left brain creates a map, the right brain is living in the territory. Right brain thinking understands that every stick has...
Sep 22, 2021•23 min
Hegel called sublation one of the most important concepts in all of philosophy. Hegel scholar Stephen Houlgate calls it "the absolute immanent 'method' of speculative philosophy." The English word "sublation" is a translation of the German work "aufhebung." But the English term is more or less a placeholder for the Hegel's German word, as there is no direct equivalent term in English. That is because it has two definitions: to preserve, to maintain, a...
Sep 06, 2021•23 min
Is there a difference between a belief having been proven correct versus a belief that while not proven, is still warranted, and not irrational? Contemporary philosopher Alvin Plantinga believes there is. And his method of establishing this speaks directly to Hegel's Spirit (Geist). Plantinga is also known for his controversial theory the "Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism" (EAAN). It goes like this: If our thinking is a product of blind naturalism, how can we trust it? Put...
Aug 22, 2021•28 min
Psychologist Carl Jung identified the quaternity (union of four) as a symbol of wholeness. He used it in portraying his four primary cognitive functions: intuition, sensation, thinking, and feeling (emotions). Similar to this is Russian esotericist George Gurdjieff’s system of harmonious development, called “The Fourth Way,” His “Work” centered on simultaneously developing the body, the emotions, and the mind so one can develop a fourth function - the soul. He used the quaternity metaphor of the...
Aug 09, 2021•28 min
Hegel famously stated that "What is real (actual) is rational, and what is rational is real (actual). What does this statement mean? The question of just what constitutes "reality" will be examined from four different standpoints - from a scientific viewpoint, from the perspective of one strand of Eastern philosophy, from a particular New Age tome, and, of course, from an Hegelian point of view. Hegel postulates Absolute Spirt as the ultimate reality. This does not refer to some s...
Jul 26, 2021•21 min
The great enlightenment document, the U.S. Declaration of Independence, pronounced that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Yet the United States also kept portions of its population enslaved at that time. How were these ideals and the facts at hand kept compatible? New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie has an the answer, “Racism as we understand it now, as...
Jul 11, 2021•31 min
The Scientific Revolution brought tremendous benefit to humanity. But when the scientific method becomes more than a defined procedure of rational inquiry and prediction, and morphs into an ideology with its own set of dogmas, problems can appear. And this is precisely what has happened in today’s world. Scientism is the name given to this world-view. It holds that nature is wholly material and mechanical, with no purpose - and that life itself is a mistake that occurred when a RNA molecule acci...
Jun 27, 2021•24 min
Psychologist C. G. Jung coined the term 'synchronicity,' which is a powerful psycho/physical concept that ties together causality with meaning. In comparing the Western and Eastern mind, he states "While the Western mind carefully sifts, weighs, selects, classifies, isolates, the Chinese picture of the moment encompasses everything down to the minutest nonsensical detail, because all of the ingredients make up the observed moment" (Foreward, The I-Ching or Book of Changes, Wi...
Jun 13, 2021•27 min
Martin Heidegger called this question the most fundamental of all metaphysics: Why is there something rather than nothing? As author Jim Holt states, "It's a question so profound it would only occur to a metaphysician, yet so simple it would occur only to a child." Yet is the question valid? Is something/nothing an either/or proposition? Or as contemporary philosopher Robert Nozick states it, "So why is there something from nothing? There isn't. There's both." ...
Jun 01, 2021•24 min
Physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman famously said, “I think I can safely say that nobody really understands quantum mechanics.” His teacher, John Archibald Wheeler, took the meaning of quantum physics to be that "no phenomenon is a real phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon." On the other side of this view stood Albert Einstein, who expressed his concerns with quantum physics by saying "God does not play dice." He maintained a 40 year debate with Niels Bohr, ...
May 16, 2021•25 min
Spirit is an overused and often misused word. It also plays a prominent role in Hegel's philosophy. What is it supposed to mean? Is any talk of Spirit just fuzzy fairy-tale thinking? Or is Spirit, in its actual meaning, the driving-wheel behind Nature? The German word for Spirit is Geist, which translated into English has two meanings, Spirit and Mind. It is also similar to two Greek words, Nous (Mind) and Pneuma, (Spirit/Breath ). Pneuma in turn corresponds to the Hebrew word Ruach (the br...
May 02, 2021•24 min
This episode discusses how the materialistic neo-Darwinian conception of evolution does not tell the whole story of what is going on here. As Thomas Nagel states, “Mind, I suspect, is not an inexplicable accident or a divine and anomalous gift but a basic aspect of nature that we will not understand until we transcend the built-in limits of contemporary scientific orthodoxy.” What is missing from naturalistic materialism's view of evolution is purpose . Aristotle put purpose at the center o...
Apr 18, 2021•23 min
Hegel's unique and non-traditional understanding of the resurrection of Jesus echoes his overall system of Logic, Nature, and Spirit. According to Hegel, God others himself in Jesus; and in Jesus' death, Spirit becomes fully finite. As a result of this, Spirit is then reborn in the community. Similarly, in Hegel's overall approach, Logic others itself in Nature; and Spirit is then reborn in Nature through a historical process of individuals in society coming to recognize Spirit th...
Apr 05, 2021•26 min
The notion that substance is subject is perhaps the major tenant of Hegel's philosophy. Hegel said "Everything turns on grasping and expressing the True, not as Substance , but equally as Subject " (Phen. of Spirit, Miller trans. ¶17). Hegel explains that the self, the subject, is the process of creating a void, a negation, which allows for the purposeful movement of reason. This process is identical in both thought interrupting pure being and the void interrupting the material wo...
Mar 21, 2021•26 min
Is the world an illusion? Are we part of a computer simulated reality as in the Matrix movie? Are we actually brains in a vat dreaming of an external world? Was the world created by a devil when God was not looking, as Bertrand Russell thought was plausible? Was the world created in error by a lesser deity as in the Gnostic scripts? Or, as in the allegory of Plato’s cave, is there one true reality that underlies all and everything? This episode explores the concept of nonduality from three diffe...
Mar 07, 2021•29 min
Philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, in his 1981 book "After Virtue," argues that moral discourse since the Enlightenment is not rational and therefore empty. He believes the reason for this is that the morals of the Enlightenment lack purpose - teleology. The scientific revolution, armed with Darwinism, brought an end to "purpose." One was left to define morality on their own terms. This led to the moral relativism of the individual. But now a new tribalism has returned, with the...
Feb 21, 2021•22 min
