Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself - Chief Seattle of the Duwamish and Suquamish In our second o…

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon Man is condemned to be free because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It's up to you to give life a meaning - Jean-Paul Sartre In our first of two episodes on Artificial Intelligence (AI), we look at what AI has been in the past, what it is currently, and what it could b…

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality - Dante Alighieri In our forth episode on the Stoics, we enter into the world of Marcus Aurelius. A name that many have undoubtedly heard of, but can sometimes be misunderstood or overlooked amidst a …

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon Ah, fill the cup: What boots it to repeat how time is slipping underneath our feet: Unborn tomorrow and dead yesterday, why fret about them if today be sweet - Omar Khayyam In this third of our four episodes on the Stoics, we continue our discussion of Seneca. We speak on excerpts from various chapters on …

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon Railing against the past will not heal us. History has happened, it's over and done with. All we can do is to change its course by encouraging what we love, instead of destroying what we don't - Arundhati Roy In this second of four episodes on the Stoics, we introduce Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Seneca, like Ma…

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world - Anne Frank We venture into the world of Stoicism in this first episode of four in a mini-Stoicism series. We begin with the story of Zeno of Citium, one of the first Stoics. We then touch on Chrysippus and his …

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong - Voltaire The fourth episode of our four-part series on Baruch de Spinoza picks up where we left off with the last episode, and finishes our examination of his Ethics. Specifically, this episode focuses on parts two thro…

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion, it is easy in solitude to live after our own, but the great man is he, who in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude - Ralph Waldo Emerson The third episode of our four-part series on Baruch de Spinoza tak…

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CritoGlaucon There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self - Ernest Hemingway The second episode of our four-part series on Baruch de Spinoza is a continuation of his key philosophical ideas and his ideas regarding epistemology. We've selected exce…

We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good - Carl Sagan We begin the first episode of a four-part series on Baruch de Spinoza, a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese origin and one of the great rationalists of early modern philosophy. In our …

Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all - G. K. Chesterton In this episode we continue our discussion of Chinese philosophy, and specifically the I-Ching as our second episode in the two-part series. We examine a variety of different hexagrams and look at what they te…

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has - Margaret Mead In this episode we continue our discussion of Chinese philosophy and look at the I-Ching through a two-part series of discussions. We start by discussing the three principal cosmological theories of the u…

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else – Arthur Schopenhauer In this episode we discuss Lao Zi, an ancient Chinese philosopher, and the Dao De Jing, a combined literary work of 5,000 characters comprising 81 chapters or poems. We also note the meaning within the naming of “Dao De Jing,” as we…

If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul, and get to know a man, don’t bother analyzing his ways of being silent or of talking, of weeping, of seeing how much he is moved by noble ideas. You will get better results if you just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he’s a good man – Fyodor Dostoevsky In this episode we discuss Plato's Phaedo, one of…

Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth - Fyodor Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment) In this episode we continue our discussion as the second part, in a two part series, of Plato's Symposium. As we mentioned in the first part, the Symposium con…

Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck - Immanuel Kant In this episode we begin discussing the first part, in a two part series, Plato's Symposium. The Symposium consists of a gathering of people, including Socrates in this instance, who took turns giving speeches devoted to the God of Love, E…

Everything has been figured out, except how to live - Jean-Paul Sartre In this episode we revisit the Republic by Plato, specifically book 10 and discuss the Myth of Er. This myth is posed by Plato as a way to describe a possibility for the afterlife and a general discussion about reincarnation, free will, determinism, and the universe as a force h…

The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries - Rene Descartes This episode is a continuation of our discussion of Socrates and centers around the Socratic dialogue of Meno. The question posed by Meno is whether virtue is taught, acquired by practice, or whether it comes by nature, and Socrates uses a math…

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence - Aristotle In this episode we continue our discussion the trial and death of Socrates. We pick up from the Apology of Socrates and discuss the Crito. Crito was a wealthy friend of Socrates who sought to help him escape from prison. This dialogue is a well-wr…

Space and time are the framework within which the mind is constrained to construct its experience of reality - Immanuel Kant In this episode we begin discussing the trial and death of Socrates. It begins with the Euthyphro, which we have previously addressed, and then picks up with the Apology of Socrates. It is better understood as Socrates's lega…

In so far as the mind sees things in their eternal aspect, it participates in eternity. - Baruch Spinoza In this episode we speak about Voltaire and specifically his satirical literary work "Candide," as a response to our previous episode on Leibniz. We start off with an overview of Candide, and from there we discuss themes of the work, its applica…

This is the best of all possible worlds. - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz In this episode, we introduce Leibniz. We begin speaking of his many achievements and contributions to the world, and also give some background to the other rationalists with whom he was a part of. We consider his principles, theory of monads, and how his faith was instrumental in…

...no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact which it endeavors to establish. David HumeIn this episode, we consider objections and critiques to the ontological argument, as set out by St. Anselm/Plantinga. We specifically look at Gaunilo's r…

Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time - VoltaireIn this episode, we look at St. Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God put forth in 1077. The version we examine is Alvin Plantinga's because it is better structured for discussion. It seeks to prove the ex…

Be a philosopher, but amidst all your philosophy, be still, a man - David HumeIn this fourth episode of our Descartes series, we closely examine the ideas of truth and falsity, as proposed by Descartes. We also consider the compelling notion of Dualism he sets forth. We start to see the formation of the rationalist and empiricists positions clearly…

Happiness is not the reward of virtue, but is virtue itself; nor do we delight in happiness because we restrain from our lusts; but on the contrary, because we delight in it, therefore we are able to restrain them - Baruch SpinozaIn this third episode of our Descartes series, we take a close look at his third meditation, and in this Meditation Desc…

In practical life we are compelled to follow what is most probable; in speculative thought we are compelled to follow truth - Baruch SpinozaIn this second episode of our Descartes series, we take a close look at his second meditation, which builds off of, and tries to answer to, the first meditation. We pick the story back up where Descartes does n…

If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things - Rene DescartesIn this first episode of our Descartes series, we take a close look at his first meditation. We also look at his dedicatory letter to the Sorbonne, as it provides both questions and insights into possi…

I think, therefore I am - Rene DescartesThis is our fourth episode in a series of four taking a look at Plato's best-known work, The Republic. We discuss Book Two specifically in this episode, looking at the continued argument for justice, but with a specific focus on the state. Plato responds to the argument put forth in last episode by Glaucon an…

Man is the measure of all things - ProtagorasThis is our third episode in a series of four (we recently decided to make Book Two into two episodes) where we will be taking a look at Plato's best-known work, The Republic. We discuss Book Two specifically in this episode, looking at the continued argument for justice, beginning in Book One with Thras…

To be is to be perceived - George BerkleyThis is our second episode in a series of three where we will be taking a look at Plato's best-known work, The Republic. We discuss Book Seven specifically in this episode, looking at knowledge, metaphysics, and the allegory of the cave. We also talk about how this information is applicable in looking back, …

What is rational is actual and what is actual is rational - G. W. F. HegelThis is our first episode in a series of three where we will be taking a look at Plato's best-known work, The Republic. We discuss Book One specifically in this episode, looking at justice, both how it was defined then, as well as now - and whether it can ever be known or rea…

Life must be understood backward. But it must be lived forward - Soren KierkegaardHere is our second episode exploring virtue, but this time by Aristotle. We discuss the idea of virtue as the mean, and how our subjective views can be understood through an objective metric. We also continue our discussion of courage, and look at how Aristotle define…

The brave man is he who overcomes not only his enemies but his pleasures - DemocritusOur next two episodes explore virtue, with this episode specifically discussing Plato's view of virtue, as explained through his Laches dialogue. The dialogue explores ideas of courage, bravery, and virtue. We ask whether or not we can ever know the definition of c…

As we continue to explore the moral, in this fourth part of the series, we look at utilitarianism. We ask whether the morality of a situation should be consequence-driven, or whether the act itself is determinative of the morality. In examining the trolley problem, and a few examples from Fyodor Dostoevsky's work, we start wondering if utilitariani…

In our continued discussion of the moral, we'd like to delve into the Euthyphro Dilemma, as presented in Plato's dialogue Euthyphro. The central question posed is, "Is the pious loved by the Gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the Gods?" We also discuss possible origins of the moral, and how to think about the way conven…

In the last episode we discussed if the truth can be relative, can morals? What if an individual were raised by wolves? What is to say about cultures that differ in their values, or maybe more importantly, what about the things that are shared? Join Glaucon and Crito in our discussion of relative vs. objective morality. Always feel free to let us k…

Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me - Kant On today's episode of Two Guys Searching For Truth On The Road That Never Ends, Crito and Glaucon explore whether or not the truth is relative. They discuss what i…