Humane Arts

The second lecture in my American Literature course explores the three great migrations taking place simultaneously in American history between 1900 and 1950.

This is a cultural background to American Literature that I usually present in class but, alas, we are not allowed in class at the moment so I thought I would make this available for my students and anyone who might be interested.

This lecture explores how we think about he worth of other people and how we perceive our own value. And the link to my friends novel Benghazi is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlhMb...​

A reflection on the vexed relationship between diversity and identity and how it impacts institutions and concepts like cultural appropriation.

The second part of my translation of Thus Spake Zarathustra. Illustrations by Axel Void.

An audio book version of my translation of Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra. I'm translating all four books and working with illustrator Axel Void. This is reading is from the rough draft version of the translation, so the final version will be a little different. I'll try an post a section a week of Book I.

I ponder the common refrain that global warming is going to lead to the end of civilization. The article that prompted these reflections is here: https://www.resilience.org/stories/20...​ but there are many others. The sailing La Vagabonde folks are here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl35t...​

A short consideration of the definition of Feminism. Too often, so called 'discussions' amount to nothing because of the lack of a shared definition. Let me know if you think there are other important features of feminism as a concept that I forgot.

A selection of works that are accessible, important, and mind expanding. I chose these to help folks who find many of the 'classics' of philosophy unintelligible - think Kant and Heidegger. The works I mention and recommended translator: Ecce Homo by Nietzsche Kaufmann or Hollingsdale Meditation my Marcus Aurelius George Long Lives of Imminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius Charles Yonge Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy Van Norden and Ivanhoe Plato Symposium and Phaedrus Jowett Schopenhauer Essay and Aphorisms Penguin edition Plutarch's Essays Penguin Classics William James Pragmatism and Other Writings Penguin Descartes Discourse on Method and Other Writings Penguin

A brief overview of the definition and complexities of Capitalism. Delivered as an attempt to address the all too common occurrence of arguments that have no grounding in an actual definition of capitalism or the real world complexities of economies as we experience them in our lives.

A few thoughts of difficulty of not knowing during a time of stress and fear and how that creates tension in the social contract.

A quick overview of the Frankfurt school and a response to this odd theory I encountered while researching for the Germans series. There seems to be an idea that this school has had some incredibly powerful influence on contemporary culture. Spoiler alert, no evidence for this. The picture is Herbert Marcuse, likely the best known member of this school in the United States.

This lecture explores the unique history of Germany and how it helped produce three centuries of artistic, intellectual and scientific excellence that continues to influence the world today. Presented by Wesley Cecil PhD.

he original introduction to the Humane Arts series failed to record so, unless you were live at the series, it has been unavailable. So I thought I would do a new introduction for the series as a means of giving a background for the other lectures. Presented by Wesley Cecil, PhD.

A brief consideration of the history and present of women's contributions to Science, Philosophy and the intellectual world in general. Presented by Wesley Cecil PhD. The image is mathematician Emmy Noether

A couple of more fallacies and a possible analogy for our current interesting situation

Interesting developments as our society moves through these uncharted waters. The next couple of weeks will be quite telling about the evolution of our response to a pandemic and an economic collapse.

A couple of more fallacies and a possible analogy for our current interesting situation.

Interesting developments as our society moves through these uncharted waters. The next couple of weeks will be quite telling about the evolution of our response to a pandemic and an economic collapse.

This lecture explores the common fallacy "Texas Sharpshooter" and our almost irresistible desire to select for data that supports our idea.