Episodes

  • Hegel's "Unhappy Consciousness" (Part Two)

    Hegel's "Unhappy Consciousness" (Part Two)
    Feb 5 2026
    We're up to sec. 208 in The Phenomenology of Spirit, still trying to figure out how and why individual consciousness is related to "The Unchangeable," which could be the Kantian thing-in-itself, or perhaps specifically the human soul as a thing-in-itself, or maybe Platonic Forms or God or some other Parmenidean One. Because this "part two" discussion was so enthralling, I'm sharing it on this feed, but to get parts 3 and 4, you'll need to sign up to support us: patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Hegel's "Unhappy Consciousness" (Part One)

    Hegel's "Unhappy Consciousness" (Part One)
    Jan 31 2026
    We're within the Self-Consciousness chapter of The Phenomenology of Spirit, specifically starting at sec. 206, which is the transition between two sections we've already considered on this podcast: Stoicism (and Skepticism) and Reason. The more famous part of the self-consciousness portion of the book is on the Master-Slave conflict, and in this section, we've got a similar dividedness, but it's all within one psyche, like you're being tortured by a voice in your head that you don't realize is just part of you. We go between three different translations here: Pinkard, Inwood, and finally Miller, which is what we normally use and will use going forward. You can choose to watch this on unedited video. To get future parts, subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    56 mins
  • Latour on Materialism

    Latour on Materialism
    Jan 20 2026
    Mark and Wes read and discuss the short 2007 article, "Can We Get Our Materialism Back, Please?" Here Bruno Latour complains that materialism as modern common sense conceives of it is actually idealist: It is a social construction. Instead, a "thick" concept of material things acknowledges and details their historical (i.e. material in the Marxist sense) origins. Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Fanon on Hegel

    Fanon on Hegel
    Jan 10 2026
    On Franz Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks, ch. 7, B. "The Negro and Hegel." Hegel describes the abstract attainment of self-consciousness through recognition, but is this actually how it works in real slavery and its aftermath? Read along with us, p. 216 (PDF p. 234). You can choose to ⁠watch this on video⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Aquinas and Scotus on Law (Part One)

    Aquinas and Scotus on Law (Part One)
    Dec 18 2025
    While we modern folks have a generally clear distinction between law as in descriptive laws of nature and law as in ethical or civil commandments, these Medieval philosophers saw these as very much related if not actually the same thing, given that humans can ignore the dictates of their nature, i.e. reason, whereas the rest of nature just proceeds according to natural law, which for these theologians means God's dictates. So what actually is the relation, in general, between law and reason? Our text includes Aquinas' presentation of this issue and his near-contemporary Duns Scotus' commentary on it. Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. To get future parts, subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    57 mins
  • Josiah Royce on Interpreting Other People

    Josiah Royce on Interpreting Other People
    Dec 12 2025
    On "The Problem of Christianity," vol. 2, lecture 12, ch. 9, "The Will to Interpret." The point is to help explain Royce's idea of a community of interpretation, and the idea is that in the very act of interpreting a single individual, I'm bringing in some kind of public lexicon, i.e. other people beyond us two. Even though other people are fundamentally separate from us, we make some sort of leap that is the foundation of community: the will to interpret you as if your mind were accessible to mine. Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Hegel on Reason (Part One)

    Hegel on Reason (Part One)
    Nov 14 2025
    On Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, Part C (AA) Reason, V. The Certainty and Truth of Reason. This section comes right after the self-consciousness sections, and so its big puzzle is why? Why is full recognition by another self-consciousness necessary for Reason, and consequently what is Hegel's conception of Reason? Read along with us, on PDF p. 175, i.e. section 231. You can choose to watch this on YouTube. To get future parts, subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    58 mins
  • Dispute Between a Man and His Ba

    Dispute Between a Man and His Ba
    Nov 6 2025
    In this famous, impossibly ancient (ca. 1900 BC!) Egyptian text, a man negotiations with the part of his soul that's supposed to help him in the afterlife. Can he kill himself now and still get all the benefits of an honorable death? His ba says no. Is this actually philosophy, or just a glimpse into the strangeness of a long-gone culture? You decide! Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Get this ad-free along with every Closereads recording at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    57 mins