Vertical Thinking with Nathan Cheever Nathan S. Cheever

In this episode, I talk about the allure of correctness, how I fell into a correctness trap in high school and lost some friends by my over-vigilance in correcting their grammar. Then I try to do a deep dive into what is behind political correctness (PC), trying to do a philosophical examination of alternate justifications for it. Is it sensitivity? Progress? Respect? Love of humanity/society? Tolerance?

I end by discussing the effects of PC on our ability to learn and think, and if not political correctness, what can we seek to aim at a more tolerant and humane world.



https://www.nathancheever.com/post/political_correctness/

C.S. Lewis is best known for his work as a Christian Apologist and his fiction series, The Chronicles of Narnia. Yet he considered one of his less well-known works one of his most important. It’s called The Abolition of Man. My guest today, Dr. Michael Ward, has written a guide to The Abolition of Man called After Humanity. In our conversation we dive into what The Abolition of Man was about, what Lewis meant by the doctrine of objective value he dubs the Tao, and what it means to develop your chest. 


After Humanity Book
Michael Ward's website

Imagine if famous writers, scientists, philosophers, and social change-makers who died long ago could give a TED-like style talk. What would they say?

This is the first of the DeadTEDS -- speeches composed from the words and thoughts of some of the famous and noteworthy people who influenced our culture and history, but who died long before TED Talks were around.

This speech was composed using words, phrases, and sentences pulled from his book "The Gay Science", published in 1882. 

Narration talent is provided by Adam Barr.

Friedrich Nietzsche has been called the most influential and significant philosopher of our times. Yet his works and sayings can be enigmatic . My guest today helps me unpack some of Nietzsche's most famous assertions in his philosophy such as "God is Dead", the value of art, and eternal recurrence, and Zarathustra. His name is Karl Schudt, a long-time student and teacher of Nietzsche at various universities. In this conversation with Karl we talk about the consequences of Nietzsche's statement "God is Dead", what that means, and where values come from. In the true Nietzschean spirit of making one's life worth living, Karl's mission is to help people become more glorious in mind and body. You can find more about him at:


Karl's Website 
Karl's Barbel Logic Coaching page
Karl's Instagram
Online Great Books

If you're interested in a show Karl did on this same topic on the Online Great Books podcast, be sure to check out Episode #28 "We Believe in Nothing"

Nate and Tyler discuss one of Tyler's recent articles On Our Duties. We explore the foundations of duty, why duty depends on justice, and finally how justice depends on an objective moral standard.

This week, Nate and Tyler discuss a short essay by Ian T. Ramsey called Models and Mystery. And as the name implies, we go beyond the syntax and into Ramsey's ideas of cosmological connection that metaphor makes possible. This isn't like how you learned about metaphors in high school. 

We'll discuss what metaphors are, not just syntactically, but how they function as "signposts of disclosure" to meaning. We range far and wide, discussing Led Zeppelin, science, theology, and beyond.

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