New Humanists
New Humanists
Latest Episodes
Thymos, feat. Ian Dagg | Episode CXVIII
Leontius was passing by the corpses of executed Athenians and tried not to look. But eventually, giving in, he ran over and leaned in to stare. "Have your fill!" he shouted at his own eyes. Socrates tells this story in Book IV of Plato's Republ...
BONUS: Underrated Greek Lawgivers
Everyone knows Solon and Lycurgus. But what about Charondas? How about Zaleucus?In the Bibliotheca Historica, Diodorus Siculus takes off on a tangent from the story of the Peloponnesian War to discuss these fascinating and und...
Erotics and Harmonics, feat. Patrick Downey | Episode CXVII
Patrick Downey, professor of philosophy at St. Mary's College of California, returns to New Humanists to discuss Book Three of Plato's Republic. Why does Socrates permit lies in his city? And why does he kick Homer out? Downey gives answers to ...
BONUS: On Translating Plato, feat. Colin Redemer
Can a translator get back "behind" Plato, figure out his true meaning, and then convey that into English? In his preface to his translation of Plato's Republic, Allan Bloom considers the sacred task lying before the man who studies the greatest...
The Ring of Gyges and the City of Pigs, feat. Pavlos Papadopoulos | Episode CXVI
Glaucon restarts the conversation about justice at the beginning of Book Two of Plato's Republic with this stipulation: Socrates must prove that justice is good in itself, not just good for the reputation it buys. Socrates says - perhaps to the...