Its so refreshing to listen to a neutral and honest podcast in terms of left and right politics.

Pascal and Nietzsche . Thank you, for mentioning the passing of Professor Sugrue. He was an extraordinary human being and I also learned so much from him. Many thanks also for your lectures. 🙏❤️🌏🌿🕊🎵🎶🎵

Condolences to Mr. Surgue's family. Michael's lectures are a must watch for anyone looking to broaden their own philosophical landscape.

This is one of the best actual philosophy channels. With Footnotes2plato, (Matt Segall) The Young Idealist (Christopher Satoor), and then seldom uploader Ontologistics, Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes. He writes more. I'm trying to think of more but this one is definitely top tier, against the mass of infectious sh*t one usually gets with "philosophy" channels, especially when it comes to Nietzsche. Of course Channel McGilchrist and Essentia/Bernardo Kastrup. There are few others.

Enjoying the frequency of upload and quality of content sir! I listen while lifting weights. Gratitude from Ireland 😊

21:55 Sugrue made a big impact on many. Thanks for the shout out and acknowledgement of the linked communities here on KZfaq. RIP doc .

“When we begin to ask ourselves questions about the meaning of life and death, we are sick, for none of that exists objectively.” - Siegmund Freud Pesronally i would spin that : "When we question the meaning of life we are sick because we are somehow cut off from experiencing it."

Thanks for delivering the news of Dr Sugrue's passing. One of the finsest lecturerer's Ive found down the youtube rabbit hole. He kept doing them until the very end. RIP

I just heard you mention Professor Sugrue’s passing. What a loss. The man never ceased to amaze me with his intellect. His long talks, with no notecards, were spellbinding. The knowledge he contained. He will be missed. Requiescant in pace, Prof. Surgue.

I found Dr. Sugrue by way of finding you, and it was huge for me.. thank you so much! And you are the only other human i can feel like i can share some grief with over the Dr's passing, because you have spoken about on your channel so thank you for mentioning it.

As Nietzsche said, Pascal was 30 years shy of knowing the overman’s laughter. If people didn’t understand what does « downgoing » mean, Pascal is this example of the « downgoing » of man towards the overman.

Dr S will be missed but his legacy lives on on KZfaq and that makes me glad

I’ve listened twice. I feel asleep the first time as I was in bed. I find the voice soothing and the topic is a refreshing change from other material out there.

Pascals reasoning is a great eyample how being trapped in the Christian mindframe leads to a total devaluation of life to the point where it seems reasonable to rely on gambler-logic sophistry. I come more and more to the believe that Statistics, besides for practical applications which are their own reality check, are to be considered an "enemy of life" i think we are actually far beyond the point at which the western civilized obsession with abstract logic and efficiency have stopped to improve life in any way

Excellent piece. Learned, penetrating, engaging & accessible, free of technical jargon & obtuse academic syntax.

I asked you for this one about 3 months ago. Thank you so much!!!

As no philosophy-student (& a Catholic by choice), I found this expose intriguing thanks ES. Both tragic beings in the philosophy field, I would contend Pascal's findings (in my unqualified/unread capacity) from the viewpoint that the losses incurred in life must commence from a position that the individual had something to lose to begin with ie. There is no suffering (or loss) without having had experienced the joy (& credit) of that posessed before the loss - This balance is conveyed well in the movie (about C.S Lewis, after he published his fantastic novels) - Shadowlands. Plenty of academic & philosophical arguement to be made here, but I have to ask why Pascal did not perceive his own suffering in these terms. The Lord giveth, & the Lord taketh - Surely these terms present an honest reflection of our mortal coil (or perhaps I'm leaning too heavily on modern comfort)? 🥝🐐

00:00 🤖 Blaise Pascal and Friedrich Nietzsche, despite their differences, share similarities as figures of the existentialist tradition. 02:13 🛡 Both Pascal and Nietzsche critique the Enlightenment's fundamental faith in human reason, emphasizing the importance of will over intellect. 04:25 🤔 Pascal and Nietzsche both suffered from mysterious lifelong health conditions that influenced their philosophical perspectives. 07:10 💡 Pascal's response to Enlightenment thinking contrasts with thinkers like Descartes and Leibniz who sought to prove Christianity through reason. 09:26 💔 Pascal anticipates the "death of God" concept later emphasized by Nietzsche, viewing Enlightenment reason as a threat to Christianity. 10:49 🧮 Pascal, a polymath, created the Pascaline, an early mechanical calculator, at the age of 18. 15:08 📜 Jansenism, the religious movement Pascal's family joined, focused on grace, penitence, and living an austere Christian life. 21:23 🙏 Pascal's mystical experience in 1654 led to his religious conversion and the abandonment of his scientific pursuits. 22:06 🤯 Pascal opposed Cartesian rationalism and another mode of skepticism prevalent in French society during his time. 22:47 🤔 Pascal and Nietzsche represent different forms of skepticism, with Pascal emphasizing doubt as a means to gain certainty and Nietzsche celebrating a more instrumental form of skepticism. 24:36 🧐 Pascal struggled with doubt and saw it as a universal human struggle, not just Montana's fault. 25:44 😕 Pascal believed that Montana's intellectual arrogance and rejection of faith made him an evil figure in Pascal's eyes. 30:06 😔 Pascal viewed a truly atheistic world as awful, full of suffering and meaninglessness, and saw Christianity as a source of hope and purpose. 36:15 🌐 Pascal argued that human intellect is too limited to grasp the vastness of reality and criticized the arrogance of scientists and philosophers. 43:12 🙏 Pascal encouraged self-awareness, recognizing one's faults, and embracing penitence as a path to moral improvement and spirituality. 45:53 🤔 Pascal emphasizes the importance of taking responsibility for one's character and intellectual duties, especially regarding matters like the immortality of the soul. 50:44 🎲 Pascal's famous "Pascal's Wager" presents a choice of belief in God as a rational bet, where the potential infinite gain of believing outweighs the finite loss if God doesn't exist. 54:07 🃏 Pascal uses probability theory to argue that the rational choice is to believe in God, given the potential infinite happiness in heaven compared to finite life's uncertainty. 59:07 🧐 Pascal contends that even if one gains nothing in this life by believing in God, they lose nothing significant, while non-believers risk infinite sorrow and annihilation if they're wrong. 01:05:26 🌍 Pascal's argument primarily addresses the context of Latin European civilization under Catholic Christianity and doesn't consider other religions or worldviews. 01:07:55 🎯 Pascal's argument, known as Pascal's Wager, suggests that taking the Bible's veracity on faith is the most reasonable bet, and doubting the Bible is a stumbling block. 01:09:01 🤔 Pascal's argument encourages individuals to convince themselves to believe through religious rituals and practices, even if they initially have doubts. 01:10:52 💡 Pascal emphasizes that the road to truth is not through more proof but through conquering one's own passions and inner struggle. 01:12:00 🧠 Pascal's Wager, despite logical refutations, remains powerful because it taps into the emotional aspect of belief, encouraging people to take the leap of faith. 01:20:53 😢 Nietzsche sees Pascal as a victim of Christianity, whose physical and psychological suffering resulted from his religious beliefs. 01:28:08 🤯 Nietzsche suggests that Pascal's Christianity may have contributed to his physical and mental struggles, highlighting the potential negative impact of religious beliefs on one's well-being. 01:30:22 📜 Nietzsche criticizes Christianity for destroying noble souls like Pascal, turning them into hateful and condemning individuals. 01:32:22 🔄 Nietzsche explores the idea of the eternal return as a response to Pascal's wager, emphasizing the value of fully living life in the here and now. 01:36:38 🪞 Pascal and Nietzsche are Enlightenment malcontents, both presenting contrasting philosophical bets regarding existence - Pascal's otherworldly Christianity vs. Nietzsche's embrace of the real world. 01:39:21 📚 Nietzsche acknowledges owing his profound preoccupation with truth to Pascal and sees the Christian will to truth as a foundation of the Christian religion. 01:39:48 🌍 Pascal and Nietzsche have opposing views on humanity's main faults - Pascal focused on materialism, while Nietzsche advocates self-overcoming and honesty. 01:40:16 💪 Nietzsche sees his strength in self-overcoming, similar to Pascal's in the service of God but Nietzsche's in the service of honesty, resisting the temptation of a world beyond.

Thank you for this beautiful video. You never disappoint! Greetings from Chile 🇨🇱

Loves Dr. Segrue’s lectures. RIP

Thanks!

Pascal's copepill is the closest anyone has got me to becoming christian.

i have to add this just becaus it is so funny, i just spontaniuosly realized that Cryonics believers justify the bizzare efforts to freeze their body for later reanimation basically with the same logic Pascal uses

Michael Sugrue.. 💔💔

Great video! Keep in mind that Pascal wrote 200 pages about why Christianity is the one true religion. He wrote about Jesus, miracles, prophecies and morality. He addressed other religions: "I see then a crowd of religions in many parts of the world and in all times; but their morality cannot please me, nor can their proofs convince me. Thus I should equally have rejected the religion of Mahomet and of China, of the ancient Romans and of the Egyptians, for the sole reason, that none having moremarks of truth than another, nor anything which should necessarily persuade me, reason cannot incline to one rather than the other."

According to me, Pascal is the "ugliest man" in "thus spoke zarathustra", the "murderer of god". As being the most pious christian, he followed the christian faith and the christian moral imperative to seek the truth and noticed the fundemental contradiction that lies in the christian doctrine. Back in the 17th century, being a christian ment everything, and it certainly meant everything for him, but he couldn't stand the profound guilt he felt by killing god. Zarathustra pity for the ugliest man is the pity that Nietzsche felt for Pascal. Pascal true greatness like Nietzsche said, is that all great things "ends, like every good thing on earth, by destroying itself". That was definitely the case of the devotion of Pascal for the christain god. But he died and never knew it by himself.

Rarely mentioned together in the same sentence? Nietzsche specifically despised Pascal and spoke about it a lot. Michael Sigurd and many other scholars have noted their connection

RIP Michael sugrue! He taught me a lot

What a bizarre coincidence. I started reading Pascal yesterday.

Could you make videos on Rene Girard and Balastar Gracian? Both have connections to Nietzsche; the former criticized him, the latter inspired him. Also discuss Jose Ortega y Gasset - Revolt of the masses please.

thank you

Well we can say that it is a human failing, to think that bc a man is great at one thing, he is great at all things, in this case he was had a sickens mind from the sickness religions give the great minds that are able to think... but from hearing abut Montaigne here, I like him; and will proceed to read him a bit more. That religion spoiled Pascal's mind and his overall work, is a shame, imagine if he used all that energy and time to work in his other stronger aspects. This happens to those with intelligence and imaginations that become wishy washy, indecisive about this issue, they get stuck in it, while those who free themselves from this mind parasite or virus will go on to spend live as whatever he decided after that sickness. Like Nietzsche for example. It is the indecisiveness of it, the self known stupid compromises like that "wager" he made and has to compromise his mental integrity to do it, but it is THAT that screws people's lives and become much less than what they could be. It is a permanent shame on all churches for dong this to people.

There is a good reason why the Catholic church never fully accepted the thoughts of Augustin. And remember that Luther was an Augustinian monk who was therefore deeply influenced by these thoughts. Luther actually characterized men a piece of crap with no real agency (and in my opinion without dignity). This was the reason for the famous and fierce opposition of Luther in regard of Erasmus of Rotterdam's stance that man has free will to accept or reject God's invitation to friendship or love. (fides agape formata, as was the concept of Aquinas).

thank you for representing the only video worth clicking on my entire god forsaken front page. i am very disillusioned with youtube at the moment

rest in peace sugrue ❤️

You may have wagered away "only" your finite Life, but it's all you are, and all that you ever will be.

There are two fundamental problems with Pascal's Wager: First, infinity is incomprehensible. What does it mean to be infinitely happy or infinitely tormented? Wouldn't it start to get a little boring either way? Secondly, believing in God is no vouchsafe of good conduct, as the bloody history of religious warfare attests.

Finally someone who gets it

so it wasn't the spinoza video that was coming out

Nietzsche seems like an infinite knucklehead. Like Pascal, he was not happy in this life, but instead of seeking hope from misery, he tried his very best to embrace it as his forever. That to me is grossly ignorant. He says near the end here that his highest ethic was "honesty," but if he were actually an honest man, he would have just agreed with Christianity on this point, this life is largely not a happy place, and admit that hoping in a better world is the only way to find some peace in this world.

Well I For myself am an Earth 🌎 😇 and I LOVE ❤️ Friedrich Nietzsche and his Philosophy of the Superman for it is a way to one's own Awakeness without the need for Societies confirmation 👍 ❤️ In that knowing oneself being the Whole of the Law & accepting that the Astral order of life and the DIVINE 🌟 UNIVERSE ❤ is the exception of the Physical World 🌎 ❤ of which I LOVE ❤️ too ❤️ 😀 😊 💙 💜 Unconditionally 😅 😊 ❤ Because GOD ❤ The Creator has Created Quite Literally Everything too and the Enemy if you will is the Spirit of Gravity 😅 So Look within and You Shall find yourself or your True Highest Self and Thou Shall find your GOD ❤ just waiting for you just as I myself have already experienced 😀 ❤ 🌟 🤩 🦄 ❤️ 🌟 🤩 🎉 🥳 🎉 🪅 🎊

Pascal was a better philosopher than NCzhe in my opinion!

Pascal hoped to terrorize men into faith!

I thought no one programmed in pascal anymore... 😂

you neglected to play the mirror game ... evil people wagering on improbability of maximum blowback neatly overlapping with their per- and inverse larp of 'surely [evreebloddee can see and we wager will attest] we're only trying to prevent the worst' [at the very least those who buy and pay for it, riiiiiiite?].

lmao @ comparing pascal the authoritarian who wasted his knowledge with nietzsche who begged you to pursue freedom.

You could believe that a magic sparkly unicorn exists which brings eternal happiness. After all, you can't logically prove it _doesn't_ exist. Or you could choose not to believe it and gain nothing. So why not believe in a magic sparkly unicorn when the payoff is so great if it _does_ exist? This is maybe the dumbest apologia ever concocted.

Sounds like the religious version of Schopenhauer

essentialsalts is such a g