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Episodes
- S1 E1 - The Meaning of the Meaning of LifeJanuary 15, 201133minEstablish the solid ground from which your journey will begin. You'll learn the meanings that the word "meaning," itself, may embody and preview the approaches you will take to the question that gives the course its name. #Music, Philosophy & ReligionFree trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E2 - The Bhagavad-Gita - Choice and Daily LifeJanuary 15, 201130minOne of the core texts of the Mahabharata - a major moral and religious text for most Hindus - introduces you to the critically important skill of truly reading a text, deeply and with comprehension. It also begins your consideration of the concept of human choice.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E3 - The Bhagavad-Gita - Discipline and DutyJanuary 15, 201130minPlunge more deeply into the Bhagavad-Gita's wisdom by grasping the three kinds of yogas, or disciplines, embedded in its metaphors. See why these disciplines of action, knowledge, and devotion are all required if life is to be coherent, integrated, and rational.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E4 - The Bhagavad-Gita - Union and PurposeJanuary 15, 201132minConclude your reading of the Bhagavad-Gita with an appreciation of the theophany - Krishna's revelation of the nature of divinity. True freedom, says the Gita's final message, comes from disinterested action, reflective knowledge, and a finding of value at the cosmic level of a universe divine in its own right.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E5 - Aristotle on Life - The Big PictureJanuary 15, 201131minShift your perspective from India to the roots of Western thought about life's meaning by beginning your study of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. This introductory lecture sets out the framework of Aristotle's view, as set forth in the lecture notes kept by his son and pupil, Nichomacheus.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E6 - Aristotle - The Highest GoodJanuary 15, 201130minExplore Aristotle's search for the "highest good." It is a search that takes you through his famous "function argument" and offers an explanation of the comprehensive state of being known as eudaimonea, the fully flourishing life that may well elude evaluation until long after death.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E7 - Aristotle - The Happy LifeJanuary 15, 201132minYour examination of Aristotle's ethical teachings concludes with his explanation of virtue, its key dimensions, and its necessary coupling with action. Special attention is also paid to the importance of friendship.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E8 - Job's Predicament - Life Is So UnfairJanuary 15, 201130minAs you move to the Hebraic tradition, you grasp how the core question has shifted. Instead of seeking our answer in our relationship to the cosmos, as in the Indian tradition, or to society, as in that of the Greeks, the focus is now on our relationship to a personal God.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E9 - Job's Challenge - Who Are We?January 15, 201132minThe book of Job brings an encounter with a troubling conclusion. Although life may indeed have meaning, it is a meaning shrouded by a mysterious divine, and we may need to live in ignorance of what that meaning may be.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E10 - Stoicism - Rationality and AcceptanceJanuary 15, 201129minYour focus moves to the beginnings of Stoic moral theory in the writings of Seneca and Epictetus. Their accounts of a good life describe one that is moderate, reasonable, and controlled, living in harmony with the universe and society, and accepting of the inevitability of death.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E11 - Human Finitude - The Epicurean SynthesisJanuary 15, 201131minA brief introduction to Lucretius, the foremost Epicurean philosopher, serves as a gateway to the thought of Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius's Meditations synthesizes Stoic ideas about rational order and the importance of emotional control with Epicurean ideas about finitude and impermanence.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E12 - Confucius - Order in the Cosmos and in LifeJanuary 15, 201129minYour focus shifts to China and the ideas attributed to the man known to the West as Confucius. Hear what his teachings have to say about concepts like warm-heartedness, propriety, virtue, filial piety, the nature of the universe, and the achievement of an effortless excellence of character.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E13 - Daodejing - The Dao of Life and SpontaneityJanuary 15, 201130minAn exploration of a very different Chinese approach to understanding than that set forth in Confucianism begins with a cautionary demonstration of the startling differences in interpretation that will always be present among various translations of a text.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E14 - Daodejing - The Best Life Is a Simple LifeJanuary 15, 201131minSome beautiful readings from the Daodejing bring out the profound differences in outlook that set it apart from Confucianism. Grasp how it turns away from social structures and the "cultivation" of individual excellence in favor of a simple, natural life.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E15 - Daodejing - Subtlety and ParadoxJanuary 15, 201131minConclude your immersion in the Daodejing with this examination of some of its most important aspects. Take in its perspectives on the nature of the universe, the subtlety and suppleness of virtue, the value of "negativity," and the delicacy of life.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E16 - Zhuangzi on Daoism - Impermanence and HarmonyJanuary 15, 201132minYour exploration of Daoism ends with its longest classical text, the Zhuangzi. You find not only the themes of spontaneity and the suspicion of logic, but also ridicule of the Confucian emphasis on ritual, propriety, and rigid relationships.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E17 - The Teachings of the BuddhaJanuary 15, 201132minThis lecture begins with the search for enlightenment by a young Indian prince and concludes with an introduction to what he found - the so-called Four Noble Truths, including the eightfold path to sharing that enlightenment.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E18 - Santideva - Mahayana BuddhismJanuary 15, 201132minHere you begin your study of one of the major evolutions in Buddhist thought, the Mahayana, and one of its major texts - Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara - a "how-to" manual for leading an enlightened life.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E19 - Santideva - Transforming the MindJanuary 15, 201131minEnhance your grasp of Mahayana Buddhism and Santideva's description of the meaningful life, achieved only through the "six perfections" - the pursuit of generosity, propriety, patience, effort, meditation, and wisdom.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E20 - Zen - The Moon in a Dewdrop and ImpermanenceJanuary 15, 201132minExpand your understanding of Buddhism with an introduction to Zen. This path to Buddhahood is aimed at direct transformation. Knowledge is handed directly from mind to mind, with great emphasis placed on a teacher-disciple lineage that each Zen master can trace directly to Zen's originating moment.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E21 - Zen - Being-Time and Primordial AwakeningJanuary 15, 201132minThis lecture takes you through Zen concepts like duality and non-duality, perception and conception, Dogen's presentation of time as the very nature of our world, and what is required to reawaken our primordial Buddha-nature.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E22 - Taking Stock of the Classical WorldJanuary 15, 201131minA look back at the classical traditions studied thus far reveals that although there is no unanimity, there are common dimensions, as well as a consensus about the value of a virtuoso life attained through contemplation and practice.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E23 - Hume's Skepticism and the Place of GodJanuary 15, 201132minEuropean modernity brings the first challenges of science and reason to the primacy of theology. David Hume argues that, although theism may well be reasonable, it cannot be rational, establishing the foundation for separate public and private spheres.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E24 - Hume's Careless and Compassionate VisionJanuary 15, 201131minYou explore Hume's distinctions between Nature and Second Nature, the importance of our social lives to our cognitive lives, and the key roles our passions and imagination play in our beliefs and actions.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E25 - Kant - Immaturity and the Challenge to KnowJanuary 15, 201130minThe work of Immanuel Kant is considered the demarcation line for modern academic philosophy. Here you take up Kant's view of the Enlightenment as a call for people to emerge from their self-imposed immaturity and realize their nature as fully formed human beings.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
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