If you love philosophy, this is the episode for you. Our guest for this episode is Dr. Joel Smith. He's a philosophy lecturer at the University of Manchester. He's written a fantastic book: Existentialism: A Philosophical Inquiry. I've read quite a few books on philosophy over the years, but I particularly enjoyed Joel's because of its clarity and stated goals from the outset. Joel wants to reclaim existentialism to a degree--to bring it back from being little more than slogans like, "existence precedes essence." Don't worry; we're going to be talking about that particular statement and what Sartre actually mean. We wrestle with names like Sartre, Nietzsche, Kant, Kierkegaard, Hegel, de Beauvoir, Hume, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few more. As always, if you appreciate the work here, let me know by hitting the subscribe button, the like button, and sharing the show with a friend. Join our growing community of individuals who care about civil discourse.

// EPISODE LINKS //
Routledge Press: https://www.routledge.com/Existentialism-A-Philosophical-Inquiry/Smith/p/book/9780367466367
Amazon (Affiliate Link): https://amzn.to/3CfqLth
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MancPhilosophy

// EPISODE OUTLINE //
00:00 Teaser on Nietzsche
00:38 Introduction--I miss teaching philosophy
02:35 Start of conversation
03:15 How do you approach existentialism in your book?
09:01 What role did Kant and the Enlightenment play in developing existentialism?
16:20 Kierkegaard and the relationship between truth and value
25:32 How do you approach teaching the value of truth in class?
32:09 Did your students find comfort in philosophy during the height of the pandemic?
35:38 Why was Nietzsche interested in suffering and how it related to gods?
43:30 How does Nihilism emerge in Nietzsche's mind?
55:29 How did existentialists like Sartre and de Beauvoir respond to Nietzsche's worries about Nihilism?
1:01:45 What is de Beauvoir's story of Monique and how does it teach us about living in bad faith?
1:14:09 How do we live in self-deception?
1:23:01 My thank you to Joel
1:24:48 My closing thoughts: I'm brining in Rousseau and the chains--you know what I mean

// WEBSITE //
Head over to the website to learn more about me and to contact me. https://theneutralgroundpodcast.com/
// EPISODE SUGGESTIONS //
1. Why we crave narrative? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVqv1TIwLU4&t=129s

2. What we don't hear about incel culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynYdpuhqjLw&t=43s

3. Why not violence? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohhht-zwNaU&t=1010s

4. The need for the heroic narrative - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoCLHOpM03o&t=202s

5. Why are we fascinated with psychopaths? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQgL13gP9ZE&t=50s

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