Great Authors - Literature of the Renaissance

Great Authors - Literature of the Renaissance - Pascal, Pensses

Рет қаралды 48,586

Күн бұрын

You can find Pensses here amzn.to/3QtsPmv
This is the official KZfaq channel of Dr. Michael Sugrue.
Please consider subscribing to be notified of future videos, as we upload Dr. Sugrue's vast archive of lectures.
Dr. Michael Sugrue earned his BA at the University of Chicago and PhD at Columbia University.

Пікірлер: 103

@jamalanderson3891 2 жыл бұрын

This is the greatest lecture series by far on KZfaq right now

@devonashwa7977 Жыл бұрын

Dammmm on KZfaq all together b? ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?

@lumberpilot Жыл бұрын

I agree but also Pierre Grimes.

@bobhope5114 Жыл бұрын

Also try Manly P. Hall...if you haven't already.

@raul.avadanei1987 Жыл бұрын

100%

@Tnerb225 3 жыл бұрын

Sugrue if you read this please post the Parmenides lecture “most true”. It’s great and I would love to listen to it again.

@dr.michaelsugrue 3 жыл бұрын

We are currently posting the lectures in order. We should be at that lecture soon. Thank you for supporting Dr. Sugrue!

@WelshRabbit 2 жыл бұрын

All of Dr Sugrue's lectures are superb. It was one of his courses that I bought as my first set of lectures (then on VHS tapes) from "SuperStar Teachers," later "The Teaching Company," later "The Great Courses." Dr Sugrue stands a tiptoe with the greatest teachers of our time. Through his lectures, notes and materials, may his wisdom live and be a blessing even for countless generations yet unborn. By the way, I think the paraphrased quote at minute 32:00 attributed to Lear's Fool was actually by Macbeth (just before the messenger arrives to announce that Birnam Wood is advancing to Dunsinane Castle).

@yavarnikanjam7954 3 жыл бұрын

I latterly am learning how to speak English by listening to his lectures,

@yavarnikanjam7954 2 жыл бұрын

Lol 😆 I meant Literally I have started to learn English by listening to this lecture over and over. Given that I am an immigrant in English speaking country AKA Canada. Yet the ambition behind my action was the concept of the philosopher king@@cheesycheese7100

@bilbaomadrid5040 Жыл бұрын

I am entranced by Professor Sugrues way of talking, and recounting stories. I just finished your Don Quixote lecture and I was hooked until the end!

@samloutalbotmusic 10 ай бұрын

It is an unbelievable thing that we can listen to these lectures. Best thing on KZfaq. I’m getting through one a day. Problem is I can’t listen to anyone waffle now after getting used to such a blazing intellect

@kennethanderson8827 4 ай бұрын

I will forever (?) be grateful for what Michael Sugrue did to inspire my interest in the philosophical tradition of Western Civilization.

@enlightenedanalysis1071 Жыл бұрын

Thank you Dr. Sugrue, this was a truly excellent lecture. I really enjoy the last few minutes regarding Kierkegaard and Nietzsche's reactions to Pascal. Really appreciate these videos.

@thomasphoenix3228 Жыл бұрын

"Intellectual terrorist" is quite possibly the most accurate description of Pascal I've ever heard. 😂

@andrewyancy8639 2 жыл бұрын

Might be my favorite Sugrue lecture so far, which is surprising, because Pascal isn't sexy like Nietzsche or an intimidating authority like Kant. Isn't Pascal just that triangle guy? I guess I knew basically nothing about Pascal or the Pensses before this, but I was quite surprised by the intensity of it all. It has more of a feeling even than Nietzsche or Kierkegaard of a desperate, internal life or death struggle to find some unassailable truth, some meaning that we can hold on to. Maybe it's not a coincidence that this is the one lecture (at least that I've seen) in which Sugrue seems compelled to admit that he personally doesn't know the answers. "I just work here." I had to laugh at that.

@josephtrinkle3255 18 күн бұрын

You are a great man and you changed my life. I've been fascinated by your knowledge since i first found you. I would say may you rest in peace, but I'm sure that you are. Such a brilliant man

@The.Nasty. 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for these lectures they’re beyond stimulating… Sugrue hit the nail on the head when he said Pascal’s arguments at least make you think differently about the topics.

@jmanderson84 2 жыл бұрын

Reading Pensees now and feels like a gem. Love the aphoristic style.

@JamieEHILLS 3 жыл бұрын

Michael, your mastery is truly inspirational, thank you very much 🙏

@m.b.crawford5464 2 жыл бұрын

I’m not sure Pascal aimed to “paint” a picture of life as wretched in order to persuade his audience to accept religious truth. Even people born into privilege, immune to many of the vicissitudes of life, had to face immense arbitrary suffering at times, especially during the 17th century. I think he was being honest in his analysis of the human condition, not rhetorical.

@WarrenAndrew-gi2wr 14 күн бұрын

Interesting comment

@713screwstontx6 2 жыл бұрын

Michael Sugrue and Robert Sapolsky my current and possibly from here on now personal idols !

@enlightenedanalysis1071 Жыл бұрын

I watched this a second time. Really great. Thank you.

@kiaa11 2 жыл бұрын

God bless you professor Sugrue!

@mackymccallum8652 Жыл бұрын

"" Pascal's wager is theology for accountants. " Excellent!!

@mikedaniels3009 2 жыл бұрын

100% oratory self-discipline! achieving almost absolutely uuhm-free lectures. Wonderful to listen to.

@enlightenedanalysis1071 Жыл бұрын

Loved every moment of this. Thank you.

@lamprosgiannopoulos3521 Жыл бұрын

Fantastic professor! Your youtube lectures are criminally underseen!

@institutosaudedor3432 Жыл бұрын

Meu irmão, nossa senhora esse prof Sugrue é absurdamente foda. Não consigo parar de assistir suas aulas.

@user-dy3os1kw5l 2 жыл бұрын

I find Dr Surgur reading so charming！😍😍😍

@johnnypingsmusic Жыл бұрын

Brilliant as always, this is a tremendous amount of stuff to chew on

@kevinrung4178 7 ай бұрын

I see that there are 38k views as of this writing. As for most of his lectures, I need to listen several times to get everything! I wonder how many have viewed this video a dozen or more times.

@augustycizauzo6372 3 ай бұрын

Just bought this book. I'm so excited to read it after watching this video.

@tg2314 2 жыл бұрын

Tremendous Lecture--- " Condition of Man Inconstancy, Boredom. Unrest " Pascal

@kaidoloveboat1591 3 жыл бұрын

Very good, thank you

@wanderingdude. 2 жыл бұрын

nice name

@wanderingdude. 2 жыл бұрын

Well worth the trip!

@MH-yj4mm Жыл бұрын

“Morbid introspection”… beautiful locution…

@ricardo4618 2 жыл бұрын

This lecture on Pascal reminded me a bit of Albert Camus. Does this sequence of lectures include Camus and absurdists? Or some Existentialists? If not, it would be great to have a lecture of Professor Sugrue on Absurdists and Existentialists as a podcast episode!

@lucasala2045 2 жыл бұрын

Professor Sugrue has 2 lectures on Kierkegaard. Not surprised this reminded you of Camus, while we can’t call Pascal the father of existentialism (that belongs to Kierkegaard), he had a massive influence on the existential movement.

@ricardo4618 2 жыл бұрын

@@lucasala2045 about kieerkgard classes, I'm aware of them. I was referring to the later ones such as sartre and camus, though. But thanks!

@nathalia65157 2 ай бұрын

Love this guy, but surprised at his jabs at spiritual and religious experience. Academia is changing with consciousness studies

@ryans3001 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@BaronM 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks.

@aimowenaim 3 жыл бұрын

I always felt that it was illogical to logic yourself into faith. Faith is by its nature illogical. I’m not trying to ridicule faith or pillory it by saying this I say this descriptively. Being non-religious Pascal’s wager was brought up as this trump card and I always felt it was a very weak argument. They seemed to be saying well there might not be a god like you are saying but even if you’ve won that argument really you’ve lost and I’ve won and if I’m right I’ve won and you’ve lost. Also, as you say, it struck me as a incredibly self-interested and selfish argument which also made it hypocritical coming from supposed Christians. It doesn’t make any argument for worshipping god. Why should you worship god? Oh because you’ll get something if you do and be punished if you don’t. This made me think of someone who doesn’t commit terrible crimes, not because they are wrong but out of fear of being caught and punished. Why don’t you kill that man who cut you in line? Oh I don’t want to go to jail. Not it’s wrong? Marcus Aurelius’ argument was much clearer to me. Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.

@MrEgo-sl3fp 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I agree with you man. And another thing, I never got why some people hold such pride in their theological beliefs, and also show pride from their non theological baliefs. I would say that it is better to let go of such pride, and perhaps do as Marcus Aurelius recommended.

@pinesandtraplines 2 жыл бұрын

That depends on how personal you believe the divine/God is. In the Christian mythos, i believe thatd have been the case before Christianity had become so widespread. Pascal is talking as a modern man whos conception of God wasnt as impersonal as Marcus'. I agree that faith is ultimately illogical, but imo the good part about Christianity is the merging of logic and illogical. There are the very personal experiences of God, and there is the impersonal explainations of God and how He's tried to reach you personally and not just humanity as a collective. Christianity lead to a merging of philosophy and the mystical, in my view. Its not just something you experience, but also something you can work out partially with logic. Though, again, i believe it was Kierkegaard who said that we have to ultimately take a leap of faith. Its not complete as a faith if you forego one of those, and in my experience the Orthodoxy has been quite informative in terms of this. The Catholics i find to have gone too far into philosophy, with Augustine's thinking leading to a favoring of the rational/mental while in a way shunning the physical. This is why their priests eventually stopped being allowed to marry, while the Orthodox allow their priests to marry to the best of my knowledge. The banning of piests getting married is most likely what lead to all the scandals. While the Orthodox church isnt flawless, as no institution can be perfect, i prefer it to the Catholic church. The protestants themselves are offshoot Catholics largely in my eyes, due to coming from the Catholic world, however theres some that are outright heretics like the Mormons or others who call themselves the 2nd coming of Jesus or something similar. Such cults came about because of the breaking down of western christianity, due to the Catholics favoring the side of rationalism and the Augustinian tradition too heavily.

@tonywolfe9513 Жыл бұрын

Logic itself is illogical, as it is posited by man, who’s only brush with the infinite is his fallibility. This goes for every man that has ever existed, with the exception of the God-man. And that is why He is the Logos, and He is the aim of our lives as a perfect model of what true love looks like when it is manifested in human flesh. God bless.

@cinnamon4605 2 жыл бұрын

Woody Allen mentions "The denial of death" in Annie Hall (1977)

@Dustin_the_wind 4 ай бұрын

This is probably the most relevant video on this site, to share this. For as it is perfect in example; although it is disheartening, albiet understandable of professor Surgue to maintain the narrative in the lack of understanding of Pascal's experience. I still think highly of the Professor none the less. Pascal met a diety it is obvious, when compared to my own experience. It tends to change the whole world for a person; if they can maintain themselves the heavy weight that comes with it. For when god fully shows itself to you, and you realize it is beyond all doubt god before you, your life is impossible to resume the same, for obvious reasons. It gets complicated, for the devil fully shows itself as well, to offer its inner sanctum to choose. Why god does not show everyone? I think it would destroy the world, simply put. Better left to faith, and the true act and lesson of living life, for moral and virtue, and not because you fear the wrath. Still trying to figure it out. Truth is indeed more strange than fiction. And yeah, it's a mess; believe it or not, if you are a scientifically grounded person with reasonable cognitive ability, this is exactly one of the ways it can go. Or you fall to pieces, which I'm struggling not to. I still have more questions, and now I see the world, run by disgusting people, corrupting the rest. Dont care about stuff, and life is a prison to me at this point.

@mohamedmilad1 Жыл бұрын

I actually think Pascal wager is a smart idea and not just about win or lose a bet.i saw it as prediction and probability and as our minds work on predictive coding and dealing with predictive errors and top down predictions, and our senses give us bottom up potentially, if my top down predictions meets unclear reality, my prediction errors is listening and my belief in existence of deity becomes more plausible and combine this with his ideas of practicing religious rituals and movement as a source of potential creativity, it’s more compelling to belief with authenticity of fulfilling spiritual life. I think he’s a genius and a head of his time on this point. His wager isn’t blind betting but an answer to our skepticism.

@aminebouaita9202 Жыл бұрын

Amazing

@BaronM 3 жыл бұрын

Wow

@anthonynenna1697 3 жыл бұрын

Did Professor Sugrue ever lecture or write on the transcendentalist movement? Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays for example? I read that he consulted other scholars on their on critiques.

@edmund184 Ай бұрын

35:55 there are plenty like that

@mackymccallum8652 Жыл бұрын

37.06 "These are not the thoughts of a happy man."

@davidfost5777 2 жыл бұрын

I'm always looking for new interesting lectures on Psychology/Philosophy, please let me know if you guys have any recommendations, would be highly appreciated

@gerardlabeouf6075 3 ай бұрын

Pierre grimes Is really great

@christinemartin63 9 ай бұрын

When you're young, "witty and learned" are intellectually sexy and fun. When you have a few close brushes with death, suddenly (literally!), witty and learned are not nearly enough; you desperately seek substance (read wisdom) or as near as you can get to it. And quickly ... very, very quickly.

@cowgomoo444 2 жыл бұрын

Pascal seems to be the very counterexample to his own wager. Very neatly summarized by Nietzsche: he actually did lose quite a bit because he believed. It’ll only be at the time of our deaths when we find out whether he achieved infinite gain or not. Very nice lecture.

@cinnamon4605 2 жыл бұрын

38:57

@Robertbrucelockhart 10 ай бұрын

I searched in vain for the lines about distraction and Eliot’s “The Hollow Men. “. Perhaps Professor Sugrue had a different poem in mind

@dr.michaelsugrue 10 ай бұрын

Sorry. I was wrong. Four Quartets, Burnt Norton.

@Robertbrucelockhart 10 ай бұрын

@@dr.michaelsugrue Thanks! Burnt Norton was my nickname in college. 😂

@agreaterinfinity4587 2 жыл бұрын

Montegne 14:40

@fightingwords8955 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent

@davidstrubeck8195 2 жыл бұрын

Coffee sip…Now

@ttacking_you Жыл бұрын

That's definitely the obvious reference point, but the presumption of coffee is a bit of a leap of faith. 🥃🍺🍸

@localman7017 Жыл бұрын

I find the Pensees to be utterly unimpressive and I always chalked that up to the fact that Pascal never managed to finish it, the famous eponymous wager being probably the most repulsive and hucksterish part of it, but to his credit Pascal doesn’t emphasize it too much and just sort of uses it as a brief setup to the rest of his point

@darillus1 5 ай бұрын

epic

@ttacking_you Жыл бұрын

What kind of personality did Pascal have? I'm guessing something like a histrionic personality, that's what it sounds like. Now a mystical, hallucinogenic two-hour (give or take) experience? Sounds like a good peak.

@johnstewart7025 3 ай бұрын

To live without God is to live from whim to whim? Life has laws, just as motion does. Is that proof of God. Laws imply a law giver. Li is the daoist term for the patterns in natural things. It is holy, but does that imply a cosmic personality? It is natural to pray or communicate with God. Does he hear us? We often feel he does because prayer settles us and brings us peace beyond understanding.

@hanskung3278 2 жыл бұрын

It's not intellectual terrorism, it's the truth, we are empty so we keep busy to avoid that truth.

@andrewyancy8639 2 жыл бұрын

Doesn't "intellectual terrorism" here refer to the way Pascal employs the fear of hellfire and damnation as a way to convince people that religious faith is the best solution to meaninglessness? Pascal makes a good argument, especially his famous wager, but the counterargument also seems quite strong to me: if God is infinitely loving and forgiving, why would he condemn virtuous people to eternal torment merely because they are intellectually honest about what they believe?

@tonywolfe9513 Жыл бұрын

@@andrewyancy8639 because you are not God. His demonstration of love was to send His Son to be tortured for barbarians. Methinks His love looks a lot different than our love. But, as He has given us the capacity to experience pleasure on earth (even the sinful ones), I think it’s reasonable to expect that those senses of pleasure are simply a foretaste of pleasure forevermore.

@christinemartin63 9 ай бұрын

Long live all skeptics! They're usually the truthsayers that few want to believe because they call it as it is. (Isn't life difficult enough without the added self-delusion of supernatural mumbo-jumbo?)

@Csox513 2 жыл бұрын

I guess I’m masochist.

@rogeredwards4871 9 ай бұрын

Unless you've experienced it yourself you'll never understand it's effects, and it can't be explained clearly because all spiritual truths are paradox, just read Meister Eckhart or any mystic from any religion.

@gerardlabeouf6075 3 ай бұрын

@drbonesshow1 2 жыл бұрын

Is suicide a sensible response? When all else fails?

@devonashwa7977 Жыл бұрын

Yeah it is, your life is pointless if you do or not do it. So just do it

@slalialley3786 Жыл бұрын

i will never forgive christianity for what it did to pascal.

@tonywolfe9513 Жыл бұрын

Thank God he doesn’t need your or Nietzche’s forgiveness.

@slalialley3786 Жыл бұрын

@@tonywolfe9513 yeah what a relief

@OrlandoBishop Ай бұрын

@@tonywolfe9513What if God and Christianity are not one?

@Mrguy-ds9lr 18 күн бұрын

What if? Shoot your shot. Big gamble though, just like he said in this vid.

@tonywolfe9513 11 күн бұрын

@OrlandoBishop what if they are?

@hanskung3278 Жыл бұрын

His bias, "if there is such a thing as God", " let's play along with his neurosis" ruins the objectivity of his analysis.

@drbonesshow1 2 жыл бұрын

Take away their "smart-phones" and the "dumb" lives of youth will be bored to extinction.

@optimusprimum 2 жыл бұрын

Religion ruined him. Turning his genius into self destruction do to the contradiction in terms that religion is.

@tonywolfe9513 Жыл бұрын

According to whose metrics? Modern man? Define “ruined him.” Self-destruction is the ideal, as that is the only way to find one’s true self, or the self in Christ.

@drbonesshow1 2 жыл бұрын

Until God speaks to you directly there is no reasonable way to understand God.

@shaunkerr8721 2 жыл бұрын

Which is why we should all say "I do not understand God"

@drbonesshow1 2 жыл бұрын

@@shaunkerr8721 I don't really understand quantum mechanics, but that never stopped me from teaching those who knew less about it than I did. Actually, to really understand the quantum world you would have to be a quantum particle. Even Ant Man can't do that.

@shaunkerr8721 2 жыл бұрын

@@drbonesshow1 This is an appeal to authority fallacy and speaks nothing to my comment.

@drbonesshow1 2 жыл бұрын

@@shaunkerr8721 Nothing that you will ever know...

@shaunkerr8721 2 жыл бұрын

@@drbonesshow1 This is ad hominem and as such I see you no longer wish to speak to the point at hand. Good luck to you in life.