Free Will is a Scam!

This one stretched to a discussion of Art, particularly Bada Shanren (1626-1705 CE), then we wandered into a discussion of teleology, religion, and progress in society. For some background on Wang and the tradition of Neo-Confucianism that he was at once a part and a critic of, click here. Enjoy!

Excerpt from Two Ages: A Literary Review 1846It is a review of Thomasine Christine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd's 1845 novel, Two AgesEnjoy!

We broke this week's content up into two episodes. In this first part we mostly wrestle with Spinoza's logic and the question of a naturally determined reality vs. a pre-determined one. Stay tuned for Part 2! 

In the "Depressingly Prophetic" file, just behind Forster's The Machine Stops, lies this week's essay, E Unibus Plurum, by David Foster Wallace. We enjoyed the conversation, and promise zero irony, and only minimal cynicism. Enjoy!

This week we discuss Appiah's In My Father's House chapters 1-5, and assorted other works by and about Appiah. 

The theme for this week (and next) is Feminism, and we read several brilliant works, including: Luce Irigaray - When Our Lips Speak TogetherJulia Kristeva - Powers of Horror (Chapter One - Approaching Abjection)and discussed several more: Delouze and Guattari - A Thousand PlateausIrigaray - The Forgetting of Air in Martin HeideggerEnjoy!

This week we dig into the first 7 chapters of the classic proto-Daoist text, the Zhuangzi, named for Master Zhuang, or Zhuang Zhou. We worked primarily from Brook Ziporyn's excellent translation. Some other texts mentioned, and also worth reading are listed below, linked to their publisher's sites. Buy them! But not from Amazon. Victor Mair's Wandering on the WayVictor Mair, ed, Experimental Essays on ZhuangziLivia Kohn's Zhuangzi Text and ContextGeling Shang's Liberation as Affirmation - the...

Welcome to Free Will is a Scam! A new Philosophy podcast, in which I (mawkishly? Tepidly?) attempt to stay out of a fight with my brother, and we both defer to the better judgment of my sister-in-law. We are all teachers, and we love to talk with each other. So, we also hope you enjoy our conversation as much as we did!Additionally, as I made no attempt to acquire copyright approval to use the scant recordings that exist of Nietzsche musical oeuvre, here is some lovely violin and piano m...