G.W.F. Hegel on Universal Principles and their Accessibility

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"We do not need to be shoemakers to know if our shoes fit, and just as little have we any need to be professionals to acquire knowledge of matters of universal interest."

-Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

A video that simply explains Hegel's Dialectic:

Primary Source: The Hegel Reader (Blackwell Readers) by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and edited by Stephen Houlgate

Secondary Source: The Accessible Hegel by Michael Allen Fox

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Bertrand Russell on Capitalism, Liberty, and Tyranny

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"Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate."

-Bertrand Russell

A part of the BBC Radio "Reith Lectures," Bertrand Russell gives a lecture on Social Cohesion and Human Nature:

Primary Source: Bertrand Russell Bundle: Unpopular Essays (Routledge Classics) by Bertrand Russell

Secondary Source: Russell: The Great Philosophers (The Great Philosophers Series) by Ray Monk

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Thomas Hobbes on Mankind and its Insatiable Desire for Power

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"I put for the general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death."

-Thomas Hobbes

David Gordon gives a lecture on Thomas Hobbes. This video was published and distributed by the Ludwig von Mises Institute:

Primary Source: Leviathan (Oxford World's Classics) by Thomas Hobbes

Secondary Source: Hobbes and the Law of Nature by Perez Zagorin

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Baruch Spinoza on the Universe, Determinism, and Divine Nature

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"Nothing in the universe is contingent, but all things are conditioned to exist and operate in a particular manner by the necessity of the divine nature."

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]-Baruch Spinoza

BBC Radio's "The Life and Philosophy of Baruch Spinoza":

Primary Source: The Ethics, Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect, and Selected Letters by Baruch Spinoza

Secondary Source: Baruch Spinoza: Knowledge Products (Giants of Philosophy) by Professor Thomas Cook

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Friedrich Nietzsche on Faith and the Asylum

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"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

A video on how we think we science, with an excerpt of Friedrich Nietzsche's thoughts on knowing the universe:

Primary Source: The Portable Nietzsche by Friedrich Nietzsche and translated by Walter Kaufmann

Secondary Source: Introducing Nietzsche: A Graphic Guide by Laurence Gane

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Socrates on Wisdom and Humility

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"True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us."

-Socrates

Karen Armstrong speaks about the need for Socratic dialogue in today's world:

Primary Source: The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues (Dover Thrift Editions) by Plato and translated by Benjamin Jowett

Secondary Source: The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life by Bettany Hughes

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Boethius on God and the Origin of Good and Evil

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"If there is a God, whence proceed so many evils? If there is no God, whence cometh any good?"

-Anicius Boethius

Dr. Illo Humphrey and Jim Downing discuss Anicius Boethius and the origins of the Medieval University:

Primary Source: The Consolation of Philosophy: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics) by Anicius Boethius

Secondary Source: Boethius (Great Medieval Thinkers) by John Marenbon

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Gorgias Of Leontini: Nothing Exists

The Sophist Philosopher Gorgias came from Leontini in Syracuse wrote and argued from 485 to 375 B.C.E. I double-checked and made no mistake about it; most scholars believe he lived over a 100 years. For his legendary work, Gorgias is even considered the "Father of Sophistry."

Gorgias came to Athens in the last quarter of the fifth century B.C.E. as a political ambassador from Syracuse. Like Protagoras, he too accepted students to teach the art of rhetoric for political and legal purposes. Most consider Protagoras and Gorgias to be the first of the Sophist Philosophers.

In ancient resources, we find evidence that Gorgias studied under Empedocles. Gorgias wrote four works of which we are aware:Encomium on Helen, Epitaphios, On Non-Existence, and the Defense of Palamedes. The former pair exist in their entirety, but however, the last work On Non-Existence only exists in a summary and particular fragments.

In his Greek world, he was rather unique because he staunchly exonerated skepticism in unlikely places, most notably of which are metaphysics and epistemology. In fact, some now even considered him to be one of the first nihilists.

Using his Sophist rhetoric, Gorgias wishes to demonstrate that it was just as easy to prove "nothing exists" as it is to prove Parmenides' argument "something exists." To review this argument, which is found in On Non-Existence, I will merely summarize his argument.

We can all assume that something exists. To accept this proposition's opposite, "nothing exists," is absurd, but for the sake of argument we may suppose for a second "non-existence exists." This statement issues a quite obvious contradiction, so we "should" be same to assume that something exists.

So, if something exists, or has existence, then existence must either be eternal or something else must cause existence. Existence though cannot be eternal because it would be "timeless" and, thus, "limitless." That which is "limitless" cannot exist in space or in this world, because it would exist nowhere.

Thus, existence is not eternal, but something could cause existence. If a thing causes existence, we run into the following problems: a circular argument as existence causes existence, a contradiction as something other than existence, or non-existence, causes existence, or an infinite regressions as existence causes existence, which causes existence, ad infinitum.

As it stands, existence fails to justify existence, and non-existence cannot either because it either doesn't exist or because something cannot come from nothing. Therefore, we conclude that something cannot exist and, by process of elimination, we must accept nothing exists.

Gorgias continues after this to suggest that even if something exists, we can certainly know nothing about it because the mind cannot "hold" existing things. A unicorn, for instance, may exist in the mind but not in the world. This presupposes a dualism but Gorgias merely uses this distinction to illustrate that "thought" things don't come into existence, and the mind, our knowledge, and our thoughts have no capacity for holding "existing" things.

However, even if existence we could comprehend existence, we would be unable to speak about it because we speak "words" not "existing things." For example, Gorgias explains, "How can anyone communicate the idea of color by means of words since the ear does not hear colors but only sounds?"

Gorgias goes to the extremes to "prove" that nothing exists. We cannot be certain whether he actually believed that or not; but, we may more safely assume that we was merely using his sophist rhetoric to demonstrate the problems with absolute truth. In other words, he may have been flaunting his rhetorical ability.

To further support this claim, his three other works employ similar methods. He always promotes an absurd position by disproving or discrediting a popular belief, and challenging popular beliefs was a common Sophist strategy.

Naturally, later philosophers disapproved on this Sophists' methods, particularly Plato, who deemed their words as "rhetoric" and not "argument," or logos. Postmodern Philosophers have revisited Sophistry for its implications for truth and language.

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Albert Camus on Knowledge, Intelligence, and Nihilism

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"The modern mind is in complete disarray. Knowledge has stretched itself to the point where neither the world nor our intelligence can find any foot-hold. It is a fact that we are suffering from nihilism."

-Albert Camus

Professor Robert Solomon (deceased) who taught at the University of Texas, at Austin, on continental philosophy, gives a lecture on Albert Camus and the 'Absurd':

Primary Source: The Myth of Sisyphus: And Other Essays by Albert Camus

Secondary Source: Camus (Blackwell Great Minds) by David Sherman

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David Hume on Beauty and the Mind

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"Beauty is no quality in things themselves. It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them."

-David Hume

A BBC documentary on David Hume and his theory of knowledge:

Primary Source: Selected Essays (Oxford World's Classics) by David Hume

Secondary Source: The Cambridge Companion to Hume (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) by David Fate Norton and Jacqueline Taylor

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Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz on the Material, Immaterial, and Activity

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"I maintain also that substances, whether material or immaterial, cannot be conceived in their bare essence without any activity, activity being of the essence of substance in general."

-Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Anthony Quinton and Bryan Magee talk about Spinoza and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz:

Primary Source: Discourse on Metaphysics and Other Essays by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Secondary Source: Leibniz: Body, Substance, Monad by Daniel Garber

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Karl Theodor Jaspers on History of Philosophy, the Intellect, and Man's Being

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"The history of philosophy is not, like the history of the sciences, to be studied with the intellect alone. That which is receptive in us and that which impinges upon us from history is the reality of man's being, unfolding itself in thought."

-Karl Theodor Jaspers

No good videos that I could find out there on the world wide web, at least not in English anyway. 

Primary Source: Philosophy of Existence (Works in Continental Philosophy) by Karl Theodor Jaspers and translated by Richard F. Grabau

Secondary Source: Karl Jasper's Philosophy: Expositions & Interpretations edited by Kurt Salamun and Gregory J. Walters

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The First Sophist And Grammarian: Protagoras Of Abdera

Protagoras of Abdera in Thrace was born in 490 BCE and died in the year 420 BCE. Being a sophist, he likely travelled throughout Greece, and spent many years in Athens.

Before we begin, let me offer some caution to his work. Because we have very few sources on Protagoras and his historical context highly influenced his thought, I find it appropriate to pause and consider these interpretive issues.

Lacking Sources

Similar to most other Pre-Socratics, very few sources on Protagoras remain today. Our greatest sources are Plato, Diogenes Laertius, and Sextus Empericus. The last two historians lived several thousands years after the death of Protagoras, in which case we may doubt the reliability of their own sources. On the other hand, we depend very heavily on Diogenes for Pre-Socratic accounts.

Historical Context and the Sophists' Tradition

We find that, around the fifth century B.C.E., many characterized the term "sophist" with those who were renowned for their great wisdom or those who professionally tutored pupils.

The Old Sophists, comprised of Protagoras, Prodicus, Gorgias, Euthydemus, Thrasymacus, and Hippias, pushed a philosophical agenda that we now characterize as religiously agnostic, morally and epistemologically relativistic, and rhetorically skilled. These older sophists all played an important role in Plato's Protagoras.

By the fourth century B.C.E., the sophists became synonymous with modern-day lawyers. Because they argued well in public, the Greek world found them very useful in its legal system.

As they mastered the art of rhetoric, they became increasingly instrumental in the court system. However, they would often promote justice in one trial, then turn around and argue on behalf of justice, which began to give them a bad reputation. These negative connotations survive today, as we define the term "sophistry" as deception or deception rhetoric.

The Three Major Themes of Protagoras

Orthoepeia, or the study of using words correctly. Many late sources credit Protagoras as the first formal grammarian, which equated to work in what we now consider syntax. We see in Plato's Protagoras a scene in which Protagoras interprets a poem by comparing the writer's intentions and the literal meaning of the words, a method popularly employed in the courtroom.

Man as the measure of all things. "Of all things, the measure is man, of the things that are, and how they are, and of things that are not, and how they are not" (Protagoras, DK80b1). Allow me to elaborate on this.

Imagine a homecoming, where relatives meet in a house at room temperature in the fantastic state of Tennessee. Jane and Wendy are two of those visiting.

Jane insists that it feels cold in the house, while Wendy insists otherwise. Wendy is visiting from Northern Canada, a very cold place indeed, and Jane has come up from an area in North Brazil that sits on the very hot, Equator. Who else can best describe his or her bodily state or perceptions that the individual who experiences them?

Protagoras insisted that we could prove neither girl wrong. While this example is a bit silly, the philosophical implications, namely that absolute Truth has succumbed to relativism, certainly made a grand impression on the Ancient Greeks. Protagoras, in short, ultimately pushed a philosophical agenda of moral and epistemological relativism.

Agnosticism. The Sophists, including Protagoras, all pointed to the absurd stories in the epics of the gods, most namely because of the gods' questionable and inconsistent moralities.

Protagoras was not an unrighteous man, as Plato himself painted Protagoras as a generous and upright individual. Protagoras merely suggested, "Concerning the gods, I have no means of knowing whether they exist or not or of what sort they may be. Many things prevent knowledge including the obscurity of the subject and the brevity of human life." (Protagoras, DK 80 B4).

Protagoras' Overshadowed Influence on Philosophy

Although Protagoras himself did not stir up any particular movement in intellectual history, the Sophists' work in general turned Greek philosophy from the natural sciences to human philosophy. They caused Plato to combat their relativism with his own ideas on absolute Truth, or the World of Forms. And their thoughts still speak meaningfully into recent movements in relativism and subjectivity.

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Carl Jung on Creativity and Imagination

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"All the works of man have their origin in creative fantasy. What right have we then to depreciate imagination."

-Carl Jung

Face-to-face with Carl Jung, a documentary on the great psychologist and philosopher:

Primary Source: The Portable Jung (The Portable Library) by Carl Jung and edited by Joseph Campbell

Secondary Source: The Beginner's Guide to Jungian Psychology by Robin Robertson

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau on Majority Rule and its Unnatural Quality

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"It is unnatural for a majority to rule, for a majority can seldom be organized and united for specific action, and a minority can."

-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Janez Potocnik's lecture on Jean-Jacques Rousseau at the 2010 Eco-Conference in Lisbon:

Primary Source: Rousseau: 'The Social Contract' and Other Later Political Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and edited by Victor Gourevitch

Secondary Source: Modernity and Authenticity: A Study of the Social and Ethical Thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (SUNY Series in Social and Political Thought) by Alessandro Ferrara

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Sigmund Freud on Civilized Society, Humanity, and Hostility

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"Civilized society is perpetually menaced with disintegration through this primary hostility of men towards one another."

-Sigmund Freud

A documentary on the great psychologist Sigmund Freud:

Primary Source: Civilization and its Discontents by Sigmund Freud

Secondary Source: Sigmund Freud (Routledge Critical Thinkers) by Pamela Thurschwell

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