Blog post
On the Necessity of Useless Scholarship
There has never been a better time to study ‘useless’ subjects. Get involved!
Search Results for ""
Podcast episode
Episode 35: Mystery and Immortality: Plato’s Phædo
The Phædo depicts Socrates' final hours, spent in philosophical discussion with his circle of friends. Socrates argues that the soul is immortal, and that the philosopher should rejoice to die. But his reasons for believing this are ... mysterious.
Podcast episode
Episode 34: Mystery and Initiation in Plato
The idea of initiation is central to western esotericism, but its origins lie in the mystery-cults of the Græco-Roman world. How do we get from ancient ritual practices to a special kind of transcendent knowledge or wisdom? Via Plato, of course.
Podcast episode
Episode 33: Nowhere to Go But Up: Philosophic Ascent in Plato
Plato looked up with his intellect; the world of eternal truths he fixed his inner gaze on was located above the earthly realm. In this episode we examine the accounts which he gives us of the journey there.
Podcast episode
Episode 32: Maya Alapin on Mathematical Structures in Plato’s Republic
We return to the mathematical structures within the text of Plato’s masterwork, guided by a scholar who has looked deeply into the question. Maya Alapin discusses how harmonic theory, music, ratios and proportions intertwine with textual meaning in the Republic.
Podcast episode
Members only: Adam Tetlow on Mathematics Useful for Understanding Plato
In a conversation ranging from neolithic Scotland to avant-garde Europe in the 1920s, with many stops along the way , geometer and philosopher Adam Tetlow discusses some of the crucial, and oft-ignored, arithmetical and geometrical concepts from Plato’s dialogues.
Podcast episode
Episode 31: Sun, Line, Cave: Plato’s Inner Republic
In this episode we explore three beautiful, linked passages in Plato’s masterwork, among the most influential Platonic texts for the history of western esotericism, which describe a world of transcendent truth accessed through the human mind.
Podcast episode
Episode 30: Introducing Plato’s Republic
Plato’s Republic is widely regarded as his masterwork. It is complex and sly. We introduce the dialogue and try to come to grips with it in a general way, noting the intricate structure of the text itself.
Podcast episode
Episode 29: Otherworlds, Inner Worlds, and Utopias
Plato’s Republic is the world’s first utopia. But what is a utopia, exactly, and how does it differ from the other invisible worlds we encounter in western esoteric traditions, the otherworlds and inner worlds? We survey types of esoteric space.
Podcast episode
Members only: Further Travels in Atlantis with Christopher Gill
In this extended interview, Professor Gill takes us further into the imagined territory of Plato's Atlantis, noting possible historical influences and discussing attempts down the ages to interpret the strange story.
Podcast episode
Episode 28: Christopher Gill on Plato’s Atlantis
Christopher Gill, Emeritus Professor of Ancient Thought at the University of Exeter, takes us deep into the territory of Atlantis, one of Plato’s most puzzling creations.
Podcast episode
Episode 27: Plato’s Timæus
In this episode we introduce Plato’s Timæus, the grandfather of western esotericism’s single most influential dialogue. With this work Plato set the scene for pretty much all subsequent esoteric thought. Dig infinity!
Podcast episode
Episode 26: The Birth of the Symbol: Peter Struck on Ancient Greek Esoteric Hermeneutics
When looking for esoteric wisdom in a text, you need esoteric hermeneutics to find it. We discuss ancient techniques of esoteric reading with Professor Peter Struck, and along the way we learn some fundamental things about esoteric hermeneutics more generally.
Podcast episode
Episode 25: The Esoteric Plato
Plato was long considered an esoteric author who hid his true doctrines within his dialogues. We look at some of the reasons for his reputation as the esoteric author par excellence, and discuss modern academic debates around the ‘esoteric question’.
Podcast episode
Episode 24: Introducing the Grandfather of Western Esotericism: Plato
The greatest philosopher of the western world was a trickster. In this episode we introduce Plato, the father of western esotericism, and discuss his importance to the esoteric traditions.
Podcast episode
Members only: The Greek Iatromanteis: Katabasis, Metempsychosis, Soul-Flight, and the Question of ‘Shamanism’
We discuss Orpheus, Abaris the Hyperborean, Aristeas of Proconnesus, Epimenides of Crete, Hermotimus of Clazomenæ, Pythagoras, and Empedocles, the soul-manipulating healer-seers of ancient Greece. Come for the out-of-body soul-journeying, stay for the katabatic descents.
Podcast episode
Episode 23: Miguel Herrero de Jauregui on Ancient ‘Orphism’
The elusive 'Orphics' of antiquity continue to present a puzzle to scholars after several centuries of debate and the discovery of amazing new evidence. Dr Miguel Herrero helps us to navigate the fascinating question of ancient 'Orphism'.
Podcast episode
Episode 22: Severed Heads and Cosmic Eggs: Orpheus and Esotericism
The greatest musician of antiquity was also the founder of mystery-rites, the author of curious theological poetry, and the most famous man to make the journey to the underworld while still alive. In this episode we examine the myth of Orpheus and the Orphic myths.
Podcast episode
Episode 21: Elementary: Empedocles and the Secret History of the Elements
Empedocles: the last great poetic philosopher of antiquity, and a cosmic thinker of mind-blowing ambition. This episode looks at his influential theory of the four elements – earth, air, fire, and water – but magic, reincarnation, exiled gods, and cosmic catastrophe come into the discussion as well.
Podcast episode
Episode 20: All for One, and One for All: Parmenides of Elea
Parmenides is the original philosopher of pure Being. And he learned all about Being from a goddess on a trip through the underworld. Philosophy used to be really interesting.
