Online Great Books Podcast

Scott and Karl begin their discussion of Martin Heidegger's ten-page lecture "What is Metaphysics?".  This lecture was presented to the faculties of the University of Freiburg on July 24, 1929, as Heidegger's inaugural address. Taking the typical continental approach, Heidegger isn't telling us what metaphysics is; instead, he's instructing us on how to do metaphysics so that it may present itself.  Karl says, "This is a podcast about nothing. In order to talk about beings, you have to be able to talk about what aren't beings." Tune in for Part One of the duo's discussion, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

This week Scott and Karl finish their discussion of Edmund Morris's Ten Acres Enough: The Classic 1864 Guide to Independent Farming.  After giving up city life and buying a small farm in the New Jersey countryside, Morris chronicles his family's experience and ends up writing of the most popular books of the time. He emphasizes that agricultural success depends not on how much you grow but on what and how. The duo picks up where they left off from last week, speaking to the crucial accounting lesson Morris can teach us.  Scott says, "The approaches to dealing with money [in the modern MBA] are not intuitive and not useful for small business. This is just perfect for small businesses stuff— it seems so simple, but we've lost this."  Ten Acres Enough is an inspiration, but it's also very practical. Tune in for Part Two of Scott and Karl's conversation, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

This week Scott and Karl begin their discussion of Edmund Morris's Ten Acres Enough: The Classic 1864 Guide to Independent Farming.  The book chronicles Morris leaving the Philadelphia business world in the early 1800s and buying a small farm in the New Jersey countryside. Karl says, "It's a back-to-the-land book for 1864." Scott later adds, "These back-to-the-land movements certainly do seem to come in cycles, but they never really go away... There is always a large number of people who want to provide for themselves in a less abstract way." Ten Acres Enough is perfect for any would-be owners of small farms, and anyone drawn to the idea of an agrarian lifestyle. Both Scott and Karl have personal and practical contributions to make to the discussion— be sure to tune in next week for Part Two. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

Scott and Karl are joined by special guest Thomas Mirus, Director of Podcasts for CatholicCulture.org, to finish their discussion of Jacques Maritain’s Art and Scholasticism.  What does contemplating beautiful art do for the soul? Mirus says that if you have metaphysics going into your art, "It's going to make you aware of what art is leading you to and also where art is coming from."  The trio also talks about how great art causes an emotional response but its object is not to do that. Scott adds, "If you are yanking everyone's emotional chain, you are not exactly creating art." Tune in for Part Two of their discussion, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

This week, Scott and Karl are joined by special guest Thomas Mirus, Director of Podcasts for CatholicCulture.org, to discuss Jacques Maritain’s Art and Scholasticism.  Maritain argues for an objective view of both art and the artist, bringing an orderly, scholastic, Thomistic approach to understanding aesthetics. Mirus says, "Maritain gets art better than any other philosopher who came before him in the Western Tradition." For Maritain, art is “a virtue of the practical intellect that aims at making." The virtue or habitus of art, Maritain writes, is not simply an “interior growth of spontaneous life”, but has an intellectual character and involves cultivation and practice. The trio also talks about how fine arts and practical arts have been cloven off. How can we hold them both in esteem without denigrating the other?  Scott says, "If we really know what art is then we will be more connected to honest work— that will be a refuge from this intellectual confusion, this metaphysical disgustingness, around us." 

Scott and Karl finish their discussion of “Good and Evil, Good and Bad,” the first essay from Friedrich Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals.  Nietzsche demonstrates that the Christian world is steeped in false piety and infected with slave morality. Slave morality is based on resentment over the beauty, wisdom, power, and glory of the master class of people.  Nietzsche regards this resentment as the greatest weakness of our time. As for resentment politics, Scott says, "It only works if you live in a society that is ruled by that morality." Tune in to hear more of the duo’s discussion on noble morality vs slave morality. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com.

This week, Scott and Karl begin their discussion of “Good and Evil, Good and Bad,” the first essay from Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals.  This essay questions the value of our moral concepts and examines their evolution. Karl says, "Evil is not the same as bad. Once you figure that out, the rest of the essay is easier for you." Nietzche believes the inversion of values develops out of the resentment of the powerful by the weak. He writes, "The revolt of the slaves in morals begins in the very principle of resentment becoming creative and giving birth to values." Have the concepts of good and evil actually been of value to the human race? "Once you figure out the origins [of these terms] you can ask the question of their value," Karl adds.  Tune in for the first part of the duo's discussion. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

What is a lie? What does it take to be a good liar? This week, Scott and Karl finish their discussion of one of Plato’s earlier Socratic dialogues, Greater Hippias and Lesser Hippias.  These two dialogues make you ask all the questions to figure out what is fine, what makes a good person, and whether the liar is better than the non-liar. Karl says, "The problem that this dialogue is pointing out is that there’s something wrong with looking at goodness as simply power or capability." By the end of the show, Karl attests that if you haven’t read your Plato, you might not be a critical thinker. Tune in and join the conversation at onlinegreatbooks.com. 

Scott and Karl discuss one of Plato’s earlier Socratic dialogues, Greater Hippias and Lesser Hippias.  The dialogues are named after Hippias of Elis, an eminent sophist and contemporary of Plato.  What is a sophist? According to Scott, “A sophist is someone who says what he needs to say in order to teach you something so that he can take money from you.” These dialogues show Socrates at work on topics related to the Greek word καλόν, translating to fine, noble, or beautiful. Scott says, “Plato is the best writer ever. Socrates is the best teacher ever. And they are dealing with all the best, most difficult problems ever."  Tune in for a fascinating discussion on sophistry and what it means when something is “fine." Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

This week, Scott and Karl read one of Agatha Christie's greatest mystery novels, Murder on the Orient Express. The novel features Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective known for his shrewd intuition or "little grey cells." While this scrupulous sleuth may be the epitome of refinement and intelligence, Scott points out that he is no Sherlock Holmes.  Unlike Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character, Christie doesn't share Poirot's methods, just his conclusion. "She shares Poirot's reasoning but not how he got to his reasoning," Scott voices.  Still, the duo agrees that Christie's perfection lies in her advancement of the detective genre—the small place, the interrogations, the big revelation—which she used, fairly consistently, in her sixty-six detective novels published between 1920 and 1976.  By the end of the novel, Karl says, “You have the satisfaction of the puzzle box and the satisfaction of justice being served.” Tune in to learn more about what makes Christie one of the most widely celebrated and published auth

Scott and Karl break with tradition to talk about the OGB seminar standard of conduct.  As our members know, the seminar experience is really the backbone of the program. Written by Karl, these ground rules have been a great help in setting boundaries that lead to better discussions.  The duo also dives into the role of dialectic as aided discovery and how this mode of learning is crucial. Scott says, "Dialectic won't work if you don't believe in capital-T Truth. We don't have to agree on what it is, but we have to agree it is there." Tune in to learn more about the overwhelming benefits of the type of discussions had in OGB seminars. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

Scott and Karl wrap up their discussion with special guest  Malachy Walsh, author of Socratic Scribbling. If you don't know what goes into good writing, it may look like a mystical art form or exclusively for the gifted. Malachy argues that we can all use the socratic method to deal with the blank pages in our life, empowering us to pick our own minds for ideas we didn't even know were there. Scott says, "The Blank Page Syndrome is really because you don’t know how to do the pre-thinking. That’s key." How can you use writing to collect and sort your ideas? Socratic Scribbling provides a fresh take on how classical rhetoric can help you generate the kinds of questions and answers that improve your thinking and your phrasing. Be sure to go to socraticscribbling.com to learn more and purchase your copy. 

Scott and Karl are joined by special guest Malachy Walsh to talk about his new book, Socratic Scribbling. As a retired advertising man, Malachy had to write on demand for 30 years. In Socratic Scribbling, he reveals secrets he learned from Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintillion, Shakespeare, and other Great Writers and Thinkers that helped him make his mark in advertising. Tune in for the first part of their discussion and visit socraticscribbing.com for more information and to purchase Malachy's book. 

Scott and Karl finish their two-part discussion of Unrestricted Warfare: Two Air Force Senior Colonels on Scenarios for War and the Operational Art in an Era of Globalization.  As Scott points out, this book was largely born out of an analysis of the Gulf War. Karl asks, “If the media, as these Chinese authors argue, was a weapon of war in the First Gulf War, when did it stop being a weapon of war?”  While Unrestricted Warfare is marketed as an anti-American manifesto, Karl and Scott agree that it’s a military manual, and it’s even-handed. Tune in to learn more about the nature of modern warfare, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

This week, Scott and Karl read Unrestricted Warfare: Two Air Force Senior Colonels on Scenarios for War and the Operational Art in an Era of Globalization. Written in 1999 by two colonels in the People's Liberation Army, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, this book offers a sobering study on war in the modern era. Karl says, "We don't kill each other very much anymore. But we sure do try and impose our will on others." As the authors point out, Modern American military doctrine is typically led by technology. Scott adds, "Because of the interconnectedness of the world, this modern, unrestricted type of warfare does not have a discreet battlefield and can be brought to bear. But should it be?" Unrestricted Warfare explores this new class of weapons and how it exposes a crucial weakness that disadvantaged nations might take advantage of to successfully attack powerhouses like the United States. 

Scott, Karl, and special guest Brett McKay finish their discussion of Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove.  The trio discusses the novel's unforgettable assortment of characters and their virtues (or lack thereof). Brett says, "This book makes me reevaluate my telos. What is guiding me through mortality? If you don't have it, you might end up like some of these guys in Lonesome Dove." Tune in to hear more about this classic written about the last defiant wilderness of America. Also, be sure to sign up for Brett's platform, The Strenuous Life, designed to help you put your abstract intentions into action. 

This week, Scott and Karl are joined by special guest Brett McKay, founder of The Art of Manliness, to discuss Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove.  An epic of the frontier, Lonesome Dove may be the grandest novel ever written about the lawless American West. It also happens to be Brett's favorite fictional novel of all time.  While western novels are some of the most genre-specific books, Lonesome Dove takes a slightly different approach. Scott says, “I turn to my Westerns for idealism, for heroism, for a picture of the good, for a picture of what freedom best-lived looks like. That ain’t in here.” As Brett points out, one of McMurtry's main themes you'll find throughout his fiction is how one can deal with uncertainty. Karl argues, "For me, it wasn’t necessarily about uncertainty. It was a novel about the border of civilization. The border has gone past these guys, and they don’t like it.” Tune in to hear Part One of the trio's conversation on this monumental novel. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

Scott and Karl finish their discussion of The Tower Treasure, the first volume in the Hardy Boys Mystery Stories.  The Hardy Boys books have never been out of print since first coming onto the scene in 1927, have been translated into 25 different languages, and continue to sell over a million copies annually. Is there a formula for creating a page-turner? The founders of the Hardy Boys clearly saw a way to minimize cost, maximize output, and standardize creativity. Scott says, "The Stratemeyer Syndicate that created these books had principles, and while they had commercial concerns, there's no hippy stuff. Just good characters, doing good things."  Tune in to learn more about one of the most popular and enduring teen mystery series of all time. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

Scott and Karl read the first volume in the Hardy Boys Mystery Stories, The Tower Treasure. While the book appears to be authored by Franklin W. Dixon, it was actually written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate by Leslie McFarlane in 1927.  There's a good chance many of our listeners grew up with Frank and Joe Hardy as literary companions. Tune in for Part One of Scott and Karl's discussion of America's favorite detective duo. Brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

Scott and Karl finish their discussion of Philip Rieff’s book The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith after Freud.  Thanks to Freud, idioms of therapy have successfully invaded the education and religious spheres. Scott says, "If Freudianism is around us and some of his bedrock assumptions are that man is sick because he questions the meaning and value of life and "objectively neither has any existence" we need to consider whether or not he should be seeping on in." Rieff documents with devastating insight the ways in which truth has been displaced as a value and replaced by psychological effectiveness. Karl adds, "If you're stuck in Freudianism, there's no right or wrong."  Tune in to hear more of the duo's conversation, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com.