Category: Videos

How to Change Your Mind

7/3/2020

The Socratic Method is a way of thinking which helps you to become more open-minded and less afraid of being wrong. Socrates felt that we are more ignorant than not, so to achieve excellence, we can’t be satisfied with what we already know, we should keep striving to gain knowledge and get closer to the truth.

Changing your mind is more Socratic than dogmatically clinging to your beliefs throughout life. But it's not always easy to do, and that is what I discuss with my guest Justin Vacula.

We cover the important point that free speech - even controversial free speech - is essential for true critical thinking and for Socratic Dialog and therefore must be protected. Without free speech, we have what happened to Socrates himself - he was imprisoned for speaking freely and committed suicide. Human knowledge cannot be advanced without open discourse, without which, we remain in ignorance.

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Parents! Cut Yourselves a Break

2/16/2019

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Welcome Holly Hamilton-Bleakley, a philosophy professor and mother of six, to my YouTube channel! Holly is the author of the wonderful blog, Philosophy For Parents.
Here she shares wisdom gleaned from 20 years of motherhood and her extensive knowledge of philosophy.

We discuss:

The difficulty of becoming a parent for the first time.
How to best handle the challenges of parenthood.
The strengths and virtues necessary for being a good parent.
How to slow down and cut yourself a break when you have little kids.
Dealing with the feelings of impermanence that parenting brings.
How the issue of raising children is ignored by most Western philosophers, and more.

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Fearless Parent: How to Raise Kids Using Stoic Philosophy

8/12/2018

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Wondering how to be less stressed as a parent? Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy that teaches us how to focus on what we can control in life. Brittany Polat of Apparent Stoic and I discuss how to apply Stoic philosophy to parenting, and how it can make both parents and kids happier.

We discuss:

Overcoming worry and parenting anxiety. Not worrying about what other people think of how you raise your children.
US culture being oriented towards adult lifestyles and careers and not very child friendly.
Thinking that you can control everything and being goal oriented does not work with kids because while you can influence them, you can't control what they do.
You will be happier as a parent/family if you focus on what you can control - the environment, how you respond, getting prepared in advance, etc.
The Golden Rule and other ways to teach kids the value of kindness.

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Video: The Best Philosophy Books For Beginning Readers

5/17/2018

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Which philosophy books are the best for people just starting out? Dr. Greg Sadler and I talk about his recent list of the 10 Best Philosophy Books for Beginners, which is now one of the most popular posts on this site.

We dicuss:

Which thinkers are average people most interested in?
The practical philosophy movement and popular philosophies like modern Stoicism and Aristotelianism that are currently being applied in people's lives.
Philosophy's relevance: the disconnect between academic versus applied philosophy, poor outreach among academic philosophers and the public.
Women philosophers - Greg's love of Mary Wollstonecraft, and why some people argue that Aynd Rand is not a philosopher.
Avoiding agenda-driven histories of philosophy and the importance of reading primary texts.
Poor pedagogy in introduction to philosophy classes - the difficulty of teaching, good versus bad teachers.
Existentialism: reading books of philosophy as a teenager and then again as an adult. What appeals to people?
Interesting tidbits about Anselm's On the Fall of the Devil and many other books.

If you like these types of videos please subscribe to my Youtube Channel.

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The Happiness Triangle: Stoic Secret for Peace of Mind Video

3/18/2018

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What 3 things are necessary for happiness? Leah Goldrick of http://commonsenseethics.com interviews Jonas Salzgeber of http://njlifehacks.com about how to become a tower of strength through Stoic philosophy. (Please note that if you have difficulty hearing the audio, click the "CC," button on the lower right of the Youtube screen to enable subtitles).

We dicuss:

Doing your best/focusing on the process of growth and developing virtue, rather than the outcome.
Is self-compassion missing from Stoic philosophy?
How much do externals/prefered indifferents matter? Is Aristotle correct that we need some externals to be happy or are the Stoics correct that only virtue is necessary for happiness?
Is the Sage a realistic role model?
What is eudamonia?
Jonas' new book

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You Must Master the Media or the Media Will Master You

6/13/2017

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Being angry or depressed over news, politics, Donald Trump and so on, is extremely common at present. Emotions can be useful - they often tell us when something is wrong. But when we are angry or fearful we can't think critically; we just react. It takes intellect to actually break down information piece by piece (critical thinking) and find solutions. Emotionalism overrides proper intellectual process.

Even worse, when we allow ourselves to get upset or angry, we are no longer in control. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus reminds us that "Whoever is capable of angering you becomes your master." We can either master our response to information in the media, or allow it to take control of us via our emotions.

I'm a big fan of Lenon Honor and his work on positive relationships and raising emotionally healthy families. While listening to his channel on Youtube, I was struck by the Stoic overtones in this video (embedded below) and the similarities to my media series, especially 4 Pieces of Stoic Wisdom for Dealing With Negative News Media. While I wouldn't call him a Stoic, Lenon certainly has some philosophical things to say. Technically the video is about race, but overall it's about emotions and dealing with negative media and the subject matter is relevant to everyone. Give it watch!

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Fake it Until You Make It: Aristotle on Becoming A Better Person

4/1/2017

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The word hexis in ancient Greek means an active condition of moral virtue. Hexis is a kind of striving or working to overcome our passive habituation by strength of character. To become good, Aristotle essentially thought that you need to "fake it 'till you make it."

Hexis, or character, is defined as one's virtues or vices - not just any habit but something that affects when we feel pleasure or pain. Since moral virtue involves pleasure or pain, it is to our advantage to choose only those actions which don't cause us pain. We become well habituated by performing virtuous actions over time. These virtuous actions become real virtue when we start to choose them deliberately - when we are motivated by internal good.

Recently my friend Dr. Greg Sadler launched the first in a series of new 45-minute webinars and in-depth online seminars developed and hosted by ReasonIO. His March webinar - which I participated in - introduces the basics of Aristotle's ethics. The video provides a short overview for those like me, who want to learn more about virtue ethics but don't have a ton of time to read. It's up on YouTube and I have embedded it below:

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Pythagoras and Stoic Meditation: Prescription For a Good Life

5/8/2016

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The Stoics used a form of meditation or reflective practice, which they may have borrowed from Pythagoreanism. It involves morning and evening meditations.

The morning meditation consists of being grateful for the new day when you wake up. You take a few moments to compose yourself and then think about your plans for the day ahead, imagining how you can make yourself a better person,
while also accepting that some events are beyond your control.

The evening mediation involves a daily retrospective where you think about what you did well during the course of the day, and also reflect on what you could have done better. The aim is personal growth and intentional cultivation of the four Stoic virtues: moderation, courage, fairness, and wisdom.

The Stoics reflective practice probably derived from the earlier Pythagorean school. Not much of Pythagoras' writings survived antiquity, since the school was destroyed by an angry mob, and Pythagoras himself may have been murdered.

What we do know about the Pythagoreans is that like the Stoics, they believed in the protective virtue of moderation, and that a person who wants to grow will naturally align themselves with the good.

This excellent Youtube video by the scholar Manly P. Hall, gives a great overview of the surviving Pythagorean fragments, entitled the Golden Verses of Pythagoras:

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Are Covert Manipulation Techniques Ethical?

9/24/2013

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Some forms of covert manipulation (propaganda for example), have likely been around for thousands of years. However, new and organized covert manipulation methods like neuro-linguistic programming and pick-up artist techniques, have risen to prominence within the last 15 years or so with the advent of the Internet. It is probable that more average people are now engaging in covert manipulation than ever before.

I might as well state the conclusion that I have drawn first before we examine some of these specific techniques in more detail below. All covert manipulation tactics are unethical and here is why: we may be tempted to employ covert persuasion techniques when it benefits us, but we don't like the thought that someone is secretly manipulating us without our knowledge. You should treat others how you would like to be treated.

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How to Change Your Mind

Parents! Cut Yourselves a Break

Fearless Parent: How to Raise Kids Using Stoic Philosophy

Video: The Best Philosophy Books For Beginning Readers

The Happiness Triangle: Stoic Secret for Peace of Mind Video

You Must Master the Media or the Media Will Master You

Fake it Until You Make It: Aristotle on Becoming A Better Person

Pythagoras and Stoic Meditation: Prescription For a Good Life

Are Covert Manipulation Techniques Ethical?

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