Sadler's Lectures

This lecture discusses key ideas from the work of the 20th century novelist and short story writer, Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis" This lecture discusses the transformation or metamorphosis (Verwandlung) that Gregor Samsa experiences at the very beginning of the story, but also throughout the narrative. As it turns out it is not simply his physical form that is changed, but also his own capacities and possibilities, his relationships with other people, his senses and desires, and even his own viewpoint on himself. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3,000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler Purchase Franz Kafka, The Complete Stories - amzn.to/3y29u37

A close reading of Plato's Gorgias about why discussions turn sour. Short remarks spark big revelations about conversational dynamics. Difficulty defining topics leads to mutual misunderstanding. People often assume bad motives and prize victory over truth. The talk warns how arguments slip into personal attacks and offers ways to notice those tendencies.

A close look at a tense exchange from Plato's Gorgias about who can judge a soul. The lecture highlights Socrates' ironic praise and a gold-testing analogy for moral truth. It outlines three traits said to qualify someone as a reliable moral tester: knowledge, good will, and frankness. The talk then questions whether those traits truly appear in Callicles.

This lecture discusses key ideas from the work of the 20th century novelist and short story writer, Franz Kafka, "On Parables" This lecture discusses the terminology used in the story, the distinction between the words of the wise which are parables and the needs and cares of our daily lives, and a metaparable that this short story ends on. Here is the story in its entirety: Many complain that the words of the wise are always merely parables and of no use in daily life, which is the only life we have. When the sage says: ‘Go over,’ he does not mean that we should cross to some actual place, which we could do anyhow if the labor were worth it; he means some fabulous yonder, something unknown to us, something too that he cannot designate more precisely, and therefore cannot help us here in the very least. All these parables really set out to say merely that the incomprehensible is incomprehensible, and we know that already. But the cares we have to struggle with every day: that is a different matter. Concerning this a man once said: Why such reluctance? If you only followed the parables you yourselves would become parables and with that rid of all your daily cares. Another said: I bet that is also a parable. The first said: You have won. The second said: But unfortunately only in parable. The first said: No, in reality: in parable you have lost To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3,000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler Purchase Franz Kafka, The Complete Stories - amzn.to/3y29u37

This lecture discusses the 20th century poet, novelist, and philosopher, Rainer Maria Rilke's work Letters to a Young Poet, and examines in particular advocation of trusting (halten) in what is difficult, and trusting in things. The range of "things" includes those of nature, even the smallest things, but also matters like love and death To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO You can find over 3,000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler Purchase Rilke's Letter to a Young Poet - amzn.to/2XCAhRA

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient philosopher and biographer Plutarch's short work On Having Many Friends. This episode focuses specifically on the reasonings he provides for the impossibility or impracticability of having many friends (poluphilia) in any genuine sense of the term. Some of these stem from the difficulties involved in doing justice to all of our relationships. Others arise from the variance we are bound to encounter among the people we would like to call friends. Yet others are due to the demands that genuine friendships place upon us to support our friends. You can find the copy of the text I am using for this sequence on Plutarch's On Having Many Friends here - https://amzn.to/48LBGZ2 To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler (Amazon links are associate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient philosopher and biographer Plutarch's short work On Having Many Friends. This episode focuses specifically on his advice that, if we want to have good friendships, we need to try and test people before becoming fully friends with them. This echoes advice given earlier by authors like Cicero, Aristotle, and Seneca. Unfortunately, Plutarch says, many people make friends first, and then come to regret their commitment to people whose characters are not particularly good. You can find the copy of the text I am using for this sequence on Plutarch's On Having Many Friends here - https://amzn.to/48LBGZ2 To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler (Amazon links are associate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient philosopher and biographer Plutarch's short work On Having Many Friends. This episode focuses specifically on a number of features of true or genuine friendship that he discusses in the work. Some of these are his own later interpretation of earlier authors who discuss friendship, like Aristotle and Cicero. You can find the copy of the text I am using for this sequence on Plutarch's On Having Many Friends here - https://amzn.to/48LBGZ2 To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler (Amazon links are associate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Guest William James discusses the relationship between certitude and truth, distinguishing empiricism and absolutism. He challenges the idea of absolute certainty in knowledge and explores the limitations of truth criteria throughout philosophy.

This lecture discusses key ideas from the 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant's work, The Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. Specifically it focuses on his discussion in the Second Part Of The Transcendental Problem: How Is Pure Natural Science Possible? Specifically this bears upon Kant's distinction between pure or universal laws of nature, which can be known a priori and which are the conditions for the possibility of experience, and empirical laws of nature, which can be grasped through experience. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3,000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler Purchase Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics - amzn.to/49pc1Xm