Shows
Professor Kozlowski LecturesHistory of Social Thought - DebriefProfessor Kozlowski wraps up his study of political philosophy by discussing the ups and downs of the project, summarizing some of the most important findings, and musing about the future (which will hopefully contain less Hobbes).If you're interested in Professor Kozlowski's other online projects or want to keep up with his work, visit his website: professorkozlowski.wordpress.comIf you would like to contribute to Professor Kozlowski's work, please visit his Patreon: patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski Donations are always appreciated, and mean more time devoted to online projects instead...
2025-09-201h 01Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Future of Professor Kozlowski LecturesA brief discussion of what you can expect from Professor Kozlowski Lectures in the coming months and years.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.
2024-04-1614 minProfessor Kozlowski LecturesNotes on V. F. Cordova's "How It Is"Having decided to spend the summer researching (rather than trying to produce polished lectures), Professor Kozlowski begins to report his research in this first informal "notes" lecture on V. F. Cordova's How It Is. Cordova was the first Native American scholar to receive a Ph.D in philosophy, and this book seems as good an entry point as any into the complicated world of Native American philosophy and scholarship. In this entry, Professor Kozlowski outlines his expectations for the class (as well as for these "notes" going forward), discusses the obstacles he's found as he tries to enter the...
2023-06-102h 26Professor Kozlowski LecturesJohn Gardner's War on NihilismThere are few matters in art criticism (and life) closer to Professor Kozlowski's heart than the mental/spiritual war against capital-N Nihilism - retaining hope in the face of despair, remaining positive in the face of relentless negativity, and perpetually adjusting one's perspective to acknowledge the value of the good things in the world, even when plans go awry and things fall apart. That conviction lies hand-in-hand with his reading of John Gardner's On Moral Fiction, which casts artists in the role of warriors against the dark, explicitly comparing art to Thor's Hammer, beating back the forces of evil...
2023-06-021h 58Professor Kozlowski LecturesAn Experiment in CriticismProfessor Kozlowski takes on C. S. Lewis' An Experiment in Criticism to examine the ethical responsibilities of the audience to a work of art or literature, and to discuss how the world of criticism has changed in fifty years. Among other topics, he'll discuss: bad-faith criticism, criticism from marginalized perspectives, intrinsic and extrinsic criticism, and Lewis' own problems with elitist gatekeeping and inflammatory criticism for self-aggrandizement.
Suggested supplementary readings include:
Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island
C. S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Achebe's "A...
2023-02-221h 55Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Responsibility of the ArtistProfessor Kozlowski wrestles with one of the thorniest issues in the discussion of literature ethics: how do we reckon with bad people who make great art? Jumping off from Maritain's The Responsibility of the Artist, he attempts to lay out an explanation of 1) How realistic and compelling depictions of evil in art and literature don't have to be necessarily immoral; 2) How it may be possible for bad people to make compelling, powerful, and impeccably moral art; 3) Where and when it is appropriate to support good art by bad artists, and when it is utterly immoral. It may not be pe...
2023-02-162h 01Professor Kozlowski LecturesDehumanization and PropagandaOh boy. Today Professor Kozlowski is talking about Ortega y Gasset's 1925 essay "The Dehumanization of Art", which observes that contemporary art movements (like early modernism in literature, or abstraction and dada in visual art) are "dehumanizing", or de-prioritizing human experience in favor of artifice itself. But he's actually going to talk about the political dimension of art and literature - how politicians in WWI, WWII, and the Cold War co-opted art and artists to serve propagandist purposes, and whether or not art can be successfully separated from its political dimension. Today espionage, skullduggery, and military agendas meets philosophy, aesthetics, and...
2023-02-071h 56Professor Kozlowski LecturesWhat is Art? 2Professor Kozlowski wrestles with his own potentially-perverted artistic sensibilities by confronting Tolstoy's overall thesis on the function and definition of good art, as well as trying to assess, deconstruct, and make sense of Tolstoy's sometimes seemingly-contradictory and erratic artistic judgments by redefining them according to contemporary wisdom and categories of understanding.
Suggested supplementary readings include:
Tolstoy's own short stories, especially "God Sees the Truth, But Waits" and "The Prisoner of the Caucasus"
Beethoven's 9th Symphony (and Piano Sonata Op. 101)
Wagner's Ring Cycle
John Charles Dollman's "The Temptation of Saint...
2023-02-021h 53Professor Kozlowski LecturesWhat is Art? 1Professor Kozlowski tackles the first half of Tolstoy's aesthetic masterwork (?) What is Art? to isolate and examine (1) Tolstoy's grievances with art in the late nineteenth century (and (1b) how much of that applies to contemporary artistic criticism), (2) the failings in other aesthetic systems at the time, (3) Tolstoy's own (admittedly-ambiguous and problematic) principles of artistic merit, and (4) how Tolstoy's targets (including Baudelaire, Impressionism, Shakespeare, and Beethoven's 9th Symphony) fare under his criticism. There's a lot to unpack and a lot to talk about, so strap in and get ready for another convoluted discussion about art!
Suggested supplementary readings i...
2023-01-261h 47Professor Kozlowski LecturesTolstoy Essays on ArtProfessor Kozlowski reads a wide variety of Tolstoy's essays on art, including his "Schoolboys and Art," "Introduction to Semyonov's Peasant Stories," "Introduction to the Works of Guy de Maupassant," "On Art (NOT the same as What is Art?)," and "Afterword to Chekov's 'Darling'". Through these writings, we'll track the development of Tolstoy's thoughts on art, including his normative definition of art, the three criteria Tolstoy employs to discuss art, and how he applies these aesthetic principles to the work of Maupassant and Chekov.
Suggested supplementary readings include:
Anna Karenina - we'll be returning to this o...
2023-01-171h 49Professor Kozlowski LecturesEthics of Lit: Leaf By NiggleFor the first proper lecture in Ethics of Literature, Professor Kozlowski discusses Tolkien's often-overlooked short story, "Leaf By Niggle." This serves two purposes: by closely examining and interpreting the story, we can determine much of Tolkien's morality and values, just as many of the writers we discuss in future weeks will examine and interpret other works of literature; Tolkien also uses this story to present many of his own thoughts on the value of art and the ethics of creating art, which we will examine and critique.
Suggested supplementary readings include:
"On Fairy Stories" (also i...
2023-01-101h 37Professor Kozlowski LecturesIntro to Ethics of LiteratureProfessor Kozlowski begins our discussion of the ethics of literature with a simple question: Is Speaking Ethical? The answer may be simple, but the implementation, and the study of how a work of literature can affect us - for something as simple as its entertainment value, for something as abstract as its beauty, or for something as profound as the imposition of a new ideological perspective - is endlessly complicated. Yet many thinkers have weighed in on these complicated effects, and even gone so far as to suggest that some works are upright and morally-nourishing, while others are dangerous, or...
2023-01-041h 35Professor Kozlowski LecturesReplaying Assassins' Creed 4: Black FlagThough Professor Kozlowski admittedly did not play much further, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag remains his favorite game in the franchise, even if it discards or sidelines many of the gameplay elements and characteristics that have defined the series up to this point. But that raises an interesting question: Is Assassin's Creed at its best when it abandons its fundamental assumptions and principles? - or does Black Flag have more in common with its predecessors than meets the eye?
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
T...
2022-12-311h 35Professor Kozlowski LecturesLet's All Kill Bradbury (Constance 2)Professor Kozlowski concludes his series on Ray Bradbury by eating crow and admitting that his understanding of Bradbury's art and objectives may be biased by an over-close reading of Fahrenheit 451. Perhaps Let's All Kill Constance is more a reflection of Bradbury's wild and uncontrollable creativity, and his passion for making big ideas without worrying too much about the details or execution.
If you want to support Professor Kozlowski's lectures and research - or if you want to vote for new topics - please consider contributing to his Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski
To s...
2022-12-0352 minProfessor Kozlowski LecturesLet's All Kill Constance 1Professor Kozlowski wrestles with the existential horror of realizing that Ray Bradbury, one of his favorite writers, may have turned into a hack and hypocrite during his later career. He therefore delivers a confused, half-intelligible discussion of how Bradbury's 2003 detective-noir-ish Let's All Kill Constance fails to stand up to scrutiny from the perspective of its genre, its own idolization of early Hollywood, conventional writing wisdom, and Bradbury's own standards of good art.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is u...
2022-11-281h 38Professor Kozlowski LecturesSomething Wicked This Way Comes 2Professor Kozlowski contends with the wild second half of Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, interrogating the way that Bradbury depicts the good and evil forces of the novel and portrays their struggle, using that as an opportunity to interrogate Bradbury's development as a writer and thinker as he grows older and less restrained.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-11-211h 26Professor Kozlowski LecturesSomething Wicked This Way Comes 1Professor Kozlowski wildly gestures at the irrational logic of Bradbury's novel of boys, dark carnivals, and nightmare happenings: Something Wicked This Way Comes. By examining the style and language of Bradbury's prose in this, his (perhaps) most characteristically Bradbury-an novel, perhaps we'll draw closer to an understanding of how this work defies expectations and reaches its own internal, illogical, consistency.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-11-151h 28Professor Kozlowski LecturesReplaying Assassins' Creed 3Assassin's Creed 3 was nobody's favorite game in the series. After immense hype and promise, the game released to critical and popular indifference. In this sustained blast of hot air, Professor Kozlowski will re-examine this game to discern why it failed, as well as assess whether or not it should be re-evaluated with the advantage of time and distance. Is this game rightfully-overlooked, a gem awaiting rediscovery, or something else altogether?
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, vis...
2022-11-081h 35Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Illustrated Man 2Professor Kozlowski continues his fool's errand of discussing many unrelated Bradbury short stories, including the ominous and horrifying "The City", the high-spirited and troubling "The Concrete Mixer", and "The Rocket" - Bradbury's feel-good capstone to the Illustrated Man collection, which may reveal his optimistic solution to the otherwise-downbeat entries throughout.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-11-081h 17Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Illustrated Man 1Professor Kozlowski attempts a new feat: talking coherently about nine different Bradbury short stories with different themes, settings, and tones. Fortunately this includes some old favorites, like "The Veldt", "The Long Rain", and "The Fire Balloons."
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-11-021h 26Professor Kozlowski LecturesFahrenheit 451 - 2Professor Kozlowski turns his attention to the second half of Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to discuss the value of literature, the dire consequences of Bradbury's dystopia, and the grim fatalism of the book's conclusion and message.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-10-181h 27Professor Kozlowski LecturesReplaying Assassins' Creed: The Ezio SequelsThe legacy of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations is that of cash-grab sequels capitalizing on Assassin's Creed 2's success. In this largely aimless diatribe, Professor Kozlowski re-evaluates that legacy, examining the conflicting priorities between Ubisoft's corporate agenda and the artistic aspirations of the series.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-10-111h 35Professor Kozlowski LecturesFahrenheit 451 - 1Professor Kozlowski explores the characters and world of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 as it appears in the first half of the book - and discusses at some length the fears and characteristics we share with that world today.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-10-111h 59Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Martian Chronicles 2The second half of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles is messy, uneven, and occasionally changed from edition to edition. In this lecture, Professor Kozlowski examines each of the stories in the collection individually in an attempt to appreciate the value of each one, both in isolation, and in the context of the collection.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-09-211h 39Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Martian Chronicles 1Professor Kozlowski discusses the first half of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, examining how Bradbury deconstructs the typical adventure-to-another-planet story, how he presents the dying Martian civilization as a mirror to our own, and how Bradbury navigates the complicated issues of colonization, imperialism, and human ambition.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-09-131h 35Professor Kozlowski LecturesReplaying Assassins' Creed IIAssassins' Creed II was widely hailed as a dramatic improvement over the first game, fixing many of its faults and delivering an overall better gameplay experience. But Professor Kozlowski's take is not quite so optimistic.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-09-131h 36Professor Kozlowski LecturesWhy Ray Bradbury?Professor Kozlowski introduces his Fall 2022 reading project: working through the books of Ray Bradbury! But why this writer, these books, this genre? Bradbury is largely overlooked by academic criticism and scholarship, and his reputation is a mixed one. But you will rarely find a writer more passionate and enthusiastic.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-08-3035 minProfessor Kozlowski LecturesHomer Through the Middle AgesProfessor Kozlowski examines the reception of Homer through the Middle Ages: in the Byzantine Empire, in the Islamicate World, and in Medieval Europe. Along the way he'll discuss Christianity's difficult relationship with pagan philosophy and literature, Eurocentrism, badass Muslim achievements like rhyming poetry, and tricks for establishing your noble heritage for fun and profit. Come for the Christian Fathers, stay for the Islamic Exceptionalism.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.co...
2022-07-311h 38Professor Kozlowski LecturesAeneid 2, 4, 6Professor Kozlowski reluctantly addresses the epic poem regarded by the Medievals and Renaissance writers as the greatest ever written - Virgil's Aeneid. Does Virgil deserve this legacy, or is the poem merely a work of Roman self-justifying propaganda?
CW: Discussions of suicide, relationship abuse, misogyny, and fascist Roman bullsh*t
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-291h 38Professor Kozlowski LecturesRome vs. HomerProfessor Kozlowski examines the complicated relationship between Rome and Homer, from Rome's origins as a melting pot of cultures defined and informed by Homeric epic, to insatiable need to distance itself from Greek culture, to the transforming ascendancy of Christianity in Rome's last days.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-291h 12Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Trojan WomenEnough of this history nonsense. Professor Kozlowski returns to form with a deep-dive examination of Euripides' The Trojan Women, looking especially at the way Euripides uses (and abuses) Homeric form, theme, and content to make a compelling political argument preventing the greatest political and military catastrophe in the history of Athens. Spoiler alert: it doesn't work.
CW: Discussion of rape and trauma in the fallout of Troy's destruction, plus generally depressing material throughout
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Pr...
2022-07-281h 29Professor Kozlowski LecturesClassical GreeceProfessor Kozlowski finally reaches the Classical Age of Greece, lightly sketching the role of Homer's epics in the development of Greek culture, including the self-identity of city-states like Athens and Sparta, the literary indebtedness of the Tragedy to the Epic, the reactions of Greek philosophers to Homeric teaching, and the development of myth into history.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-271h 36Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Achaeans from the Cycladics to HomerProfessor Kozlowski contextualizes the writings of Homer according to the archaeological and historical evidence of the Greek culture from its earliest origins in the Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean cultures, through the Bronze Age Collapse and subsequent Dark Age, to the very beginning of the Classical era. Along the way we'll examine what Homer got right about the Bronze Age, what he imported from the Iron Age, and what that might mean about his sources, the tradition of Greek Epic, and his own artistic priorities.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at p...
2022-07-231h 36Professor Kozlowski LecturesTroy: From Wilusa to HisarlikProfessor Kozlowski lightly examines the archaeological excavations in Hisarlik, considered by the academic community to be the most likely site of Ancient Troy, in order to discuss how much of Homer's Iliad is based in reality, and how much of it is purely myth.
CORRECTION: The Mask of Agamemnon was found at Schliemann's excavation of MYCENAE - NOT HISARLIK
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-211h 30Professor Kozlowski LecturesOdyssey 12-13, 19Professor Kozlowski continues his examination of the Odyssey as Odysseus' crew (and the gods) betray him into destroying his ship, as he finally reaches his homeland of Ithaca, and as he tests (and is tested by) his wife, Penelope.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-161h 30
Professor Kozlowski LecturesOdyssey 9-11Professor Kozlowski follows the narrated adventures of Odysseus through the first three books of his four-book narration. Highlights include cannibal cyclopes, bad crew behavior, drugs, good and bad hosts, good and bad guests, more drugs, dead people, spousal murder, and yet more drugs.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-151h 22Professor Kozlowski LecturesOdyssey 1-5Professor Kozlowski embarks on a grand (if heavily abridged) journey through the Odyssey. Now including exclusive footage of Helen of Troy restored to Sparta and acting especially...strangely.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-151h 29Professor Kozlowski LecturesIliad 23-24Professor Kozlowski concludes his discussion of the Iliad with some aimless ruminating, a recap of the Patroclus Memorial Olympics, some more shade on Achilles, and the restoration of Hector's body to his family. Next week - Odyssey!
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-141h 12Professor Kozlowski LecturesIliad 20-22Professor Kozlowski follows the genocidal Achilles as he cuts his way through the entire Trojan army, at least one god, and his own personal shortcomings...or not.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-141h 24Professor Kozlowski LecturesIliad 17-19Professor Kozlowski explores one of the most thematically-rich portions of the Iliad, examining the hubris of Hector, the transformation of Achilles' rage, and the famous (and ambiguous) Shield of Achilles.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-121h 23Professor Kozlowski LecturesIliad 15-16Professor Kozlowski finally gets back to Achilles and Patroclus as Patroclus marches off to war in Achilles' armor. What could possibly go wrong?
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-071h 26Professor Kozlowski LecturesIliad 10-14Professor Kozlowski continues his slog through the battle scenes of the Iliad - with a rapid-fire breakdown of twice the usual number of chapters (so he can discuss the research paper with his students in class proper). Highlights include Diomedes and Odysseus committing tag-team murder, every Greek hero getting wounded, Sarpedon waxing poetic about Greek social structures, and Hera seducing Zeus for her own ends.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.w...
2022-07-071h 21Professor Kozlowski LecturesIliad 7-9Professor Kozlowski slogs through the most boring part of the Iliad, and argues that the boring-ness is intentional and deliberate. Still no less boring though. OR IS IT?
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-061h 28Professor Kozlowski LecturesIliad 5-6Professor Kozlowski follows the heroic exploits of Diomedes as he cuts his way through the Trojan lines (and a few gods to boot) before visiting Troy with Hector in one of the most famous (and heartbreaking) passages in the whole poem.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-031h 30Professor Kozlowski LecturesIliad 3-4Professor Kozlowski continues his deep read of the Iliad by walking through the preparations and duel of Books 3-4, stressing the chaotic nature of conflict and war in the Iliad, and the how this contributes to the Greek view of fate, justice, and the gods.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-031h 17Professor Kozlowski LecturesIliad 1-2Professor Kozlowski begins his deep read of the Iliad by examining the themes and characters of Books 1 and 2. Highlights include toxic masculinity between Achilles and Agamemnon, marital squabbling between Zeus and Hera, and a really long list of ships that everybody hates to read, but may have been a highlight of the poem in Homer's day.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-07-021h 26Professor Kozlowski LecturesIliad - Translation, Style, StructureProfessor Kozlowski takes a deep dive into the style and structure of the Iliad - he examines multiple translations to discuss the priorities and pitfalls of each, summarizes some of the eccentricities of the Greek language, and discusses key features of Homeric epics, including dactylic hexameter, enjambment, epic simile, and other fancy poetry stuff. He also butchers reading Greek a few times, so there's that.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.w...
2022-06-231h 27Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Myth of the Trojan WarProfessor Kozlowski tries to contextualize the Iliad of Homer by reading through the Trojan War narrative in the Library of Apollodorus. Along the way, he presents the timeline of fifteen-hundred years between the (supposed) events of the Trojan War and the digested version found in Apollodorus, and he discusses the major gods, goddesses, characters and events in the mythic tradition surrounding the Trojan War.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.c...
2022-06-211h 26Professor Kozlowski LecturesTroy and the Trojan War - Syllabus FA 22Professor Kozlowski kicks off a new semester (well in advance) and a new class: Troy and the Trojan War. In this class, he'll look at the Iliad, Homer, and the legacy of the Trojan War - in its own time, and through history. But first, he discusses the class expectations and parameters in painstaking detail.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-06-201h 45Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Abortion Non-DebateProfessor Kozlowski will NOT be recording his ethics class this summer, alas - but offers this one-off episode about the current state of discourse about abortion. In it he'll discuss some important writings on the issue, assumptions made by both pro-life and pro-choice advocates, and the political expediency of polarizing voters (along with its potentially-disastrous long-term consequences for both voters and politicians).
Coming soon: "Troy and the Trojan War" - get your copies of Lombardo's Iliad while you can!
If you want to rage-spam Professor Kozlowski for his despicable views, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.c...
2022-06-071h 38Professor Kozlowski LecturesGilgamesh - AnalysisProfessor Kozlowski examines and analyzes each of the major characters and themes of the Epic of Gilgamesh, specifically as it is presented and recorded in the Akkadian "standard version" attributed to Sin-Leqi-Unninni.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-05-301h 25Professor Kozlowski LecturesGilgamesh - Context and ProvenanceProfessor Kozlowski discusses the history of the Gilgamesh story, from fragmentary Sumerian myths to fragmentary Akkadian epic.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-05-281h 23Professor Kozlowski LecturesOutlander and the Dearth of Good Chick LitProfessor Kozlowski deviates from his usual curriculum to entertain his wife's lecture request: Today we are discussing Diana Gabaldon's Outlander - its role in the history of the novel, and the women-targeted romance-novel especially, as well as its anomalous value as a work of rich, good women's romance literature in a world dominated by unhealthy attitudes toward romance and female sexuality. If that sounds boring to you, then you are exactly who I hope to reach.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what e...
2022-05-232h 07Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Brothers Karamazov - EpilogueProfessor Kozlowski concludes his series on The Brothers Karamazov and looks forward at the future of his Internet-based endeavors.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-04-201h 14Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK 12-1 - "A Judicial Error" - The ProsecutionProfessor Kozlowski discusses the first half of the conclusion to The Brothers Karamazov, examining the climactic trial, its significance to the various characters and witnesses, and how we ought to understand Dostoevsky's criticism of the Russian legal system in the 19th Century.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-04-121h 50Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book 11-2 - "Brother Ivan Fyodorovich" and the DevilProfessor Kozlowski examines the many questions surrounding Ivan's interviews with Smerdykov and the Devil, and concludes that it's all just a dream. Calm down, y'all.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-04-051h 52Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book 11-1 - Where is "Brother Ivan Fyodorovich"?Dostoevsky (and Professor Kozlowski) once again turns his attention to Brother Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov - but where is he? Three months have transpired and it seems that Alyosha keeps missing him, though his effects are felt everywhere that he goes. What is going on with Brother Ivan?
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-03-291h 21Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book Ten - "Boys"Professor Kozlowski looks at this sudden and seemingly-inexplicable tangent in Dostoevsky's storytelling: a diversion from the main story and characters to consider an otherwise unmet character, only partially-related to the secondary plot of the novel, three months after the (unjust?) arrest of Dmitri Karamazov. Why does Dostoevsky make these choices, and why does our plot now rest on a thirteen- (two weeks from fourteen!)-year-old kid?
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://p...
2022-03-221h 10Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book Nine - "The Preliminary Investigation"Professor Kozlowski looks at the investigation and interrogation of Dmitri Fyodorovich Karamazov through three interpretive lenses: that of the popular detective novel or police procedural, the social/psychological novel, and the thematic lens discussed in prior lectures. The result is another layered, nuanced set of chapters in a complex novel, but we must be sure to resist the temptation to over-simplify its role here.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.c...
2022-03-161h 29Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book 8-2 - "Mitya": DeliriumProfessor Kozlowski discusses the latter half of Mitya's chapter, including his confrontation with (and generosity toward) the two poles, his success with Grushenka, and his remorse about killing (?) Grigory - just in time for his arrest and questioning in the next section.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-03-081h 07Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book 8-1 - "Mitya": DecisionProfessor Kozlowski confronts Dostoevsky's Russian Nationalism in the light of Putin's war on Ukraine, as well as the whole of Dostoevsky's legacy - good and bad - in the hopes of justifying the celebration of a Russian writer despite current Russian aggression (perhaps unsuccessfully). He also discusses Mitya's frantic efforts to extricate himself from his dire circumstances, even to the point of murder(?).
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-03-021h 34Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book Seven - "Alyosha"Professor Kozlowski discusses the funeral of Elder Zosima, and what Dostoevsky reveals about the nature of Christian hypocrisy, as well as tracking the development of Alyosha Karamazov through despair, rebellion, and redemption. For next week, we break Book Eight ("Mitya") in half - Chapters 1-5 for next week; Chapters 6-8 for the week after.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-02-2359 minProfessor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book Six - "The Russian Monk""The Grand Inquisitor" may be the most-discussed passage from The Brothers Karamazov, but the Life, Talks, and Homilies of Father Zosima is almost certainly the thematic center of the whole book, unsexy though it may be. Today Professor Kozlowski talks about that unsexiness, and the unsexiness of Christian theology altogether, along with how Zosima's (and Dostoevsky's) teachings in this book manage to be boring, straightforward, and profound - all at the same time.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski i...
2022-02-161h 03Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book Five - "Pro and Contra"At last, it's the moment we've all been waiting for: Professor Kozlowski discusses Rebellion and The Grand Inquisitor - Ivan's long speech to Alyosha about philosophy, freedom, suffering, and proto-existentialism. Pack a lunch; this is going to be a long one.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-02-082h 10Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book Four - "Strains"Professor Kozlowski turns his attention to the villains and victims of Dostoevsky's characters in The Brothers Karamazov: Fyodor Karamaov at his most terrible, Katerina Ivanovna at her most manipulative, and the "castle" of Captain Snegirov as they desperately cling to some fragmentary sense of pride.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-02-011h 24Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book Three - "The Sensualists"Professor Kozlowski discusses Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov as it returns to Dostoevsky's comfort zone: Alyosha bustling about, bumping into other characters and listening to their problems. Today we'll finally be introduced to the nihilistic Smerdyakov, get a better glimpse of Dmitri's personal struggles, and watch fights break out between father and son, rival lovers, and in the comments section.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-02-011h 42Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book Two - "An Inapprorpiate Gathering"Professor Kozlowski discusses Dostoevsky's over-ambitious first look at the Family Karamazov as they hide their insecurities with erudition (or stupidity), create several public scandals, threaten murder, and homewreck a monastery.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-01-251h 56Professor Kozlowski LecturesMythology SP22 SyllabusProfessor Kozlowski is sick, and couldn't go to class for his typical first-day-syllabus discussion. So it ended up here instead. New Brothers Karamazov lecture to come soon, but first I've got to pay my bills... *shrug*
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-01-191h 23Professor Kozlowski LecturesTBK Book One - "A Nice Little Family"Professor Kozlowski discusses Dostoevsky's shamelessly expository first book of The Brothers Karamazov, including the "muddle-headed" and dissipated father Fyodor, hapless Dmitri, capable Ivan, and Alyosha - who may very well be Dostoevsky's most successful attempt at making a convincing heroic protagonist. Next week we'll tackle Book Two: "An Inappropriate Gathering" and see how these characters interact with one another.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2022-01-111h 47Professor Kozlowski LecturesThe Brothers Karamazov - IntroductionProfessor Kozlowski embarks on a new semester-long project: reading through Dostoevsky's mammoth, messy magnum opus: The Brothers Karamazov. We'll be reading the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation on a week-to-week basis, starting with "Book One: A Nice Little Family" next week. I encourage you to follow along in your own reading, as it is convenient for you.
Since this project is online-only, I've decided to set up a Patreon account for my Internet presence, which you can find at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - if you like this project, or any of my other Internet undertakings, please consider co...
2022-01-041h 02Professor Kozlowski LecturesNavel-Gazing and Other Techniques of the SelfProfessor Kozlowski closes out his Love and Friendship class with some discussion of Foucault, but mostly by thinking out loud about the past, present, and future of his podcast, his workload, and where his Internet Presence is likely to go, now that he doesn't have the pandemic to both spur his activity and boost his viewership. Here's hoping for some Dostoevsky in the spring!
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.c...
2021-10-061h 06Professor Kozlowski LecturesQueer Theory, Identity, Sexuality, and ShameProfessor Kozlowski well oversteps his expertise and discusses the ideas presented in early texts on Queer Theory, namely Michel Foucault's "Friendship as a Way of Life" and "Sex, Power, and the Politics of Identity", as well as "The Ethics of Sexual Shame" - the first chapter of Michael Warner's The Trouble With Normal.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-10-061h 49Professor Kozlowski LecturesFeminism and LoveProfessor Kozlowski continues his discussion of Love in the 20th Century by examining the four waves of feminism and touching on several important texts written by feminist authors on the subject of Love: namely Simone De Beauvoir's The Second Sex, Shulamith Firestone's The Dialectic of Sex, Annette Baier's "Unsafe Loves", and Virgina Held's The Ethics of Care.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-10-041h 45Professor Kozlowski LecturesChristian ApologistsProfessor Kozlowski wanders off the beaten path of philosophical canon to discuss the attitudes on Love and Friendship most important to him personally: the account of love in G. K. Chesterton's Manalive, and the account of friendship in C. S. Lewis' The Four Loves.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-10-041h 43Professor Kozlowski LecturesFreud!Professor Kozlowski discusses Freud today. What could go wrong?
CW: sex/sexuality, incest, rape, heteronormativity, childhood trauma, mental illness, coprophilia, love as a purely physical process, scientific objectivity, the gradual deterioration of Professor Kozlowski's mental well-being
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-09-291h 57Professor Kozlowski LecturesReacting to Romanticism: Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and KierkegaardProfessor Kozlowski takes on some of the most divisive and dangerous thinkers in the history of the canon - along with some explanation of 19th-century obsessions like Social Darwinism, rampant Naturalism, and their often-racist conclusions. We cautiously walk through some of Schopenhauer's and Nietzsche's philosophy, hemmed in by dangers and unwarranted assumptions (there is a lot of swearing), then cool off with the refreshing rationality of Kierkegaard's Works of Love. Did we mention the swearing?
CW: Racism, eugenics, mental illness, and irresponsible rationalization
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at...
2021-09-291h 43Professor Kozlowski LecturesGoethe's RomanticismProfessor Kozlowski guides us carefully through Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther, Wertherism, and the tangled, radical philosophy of Romanticism as we embark on our study of nineteenth-century philosophy.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-09-231h 30Professor Kozlowski LecturesRousseau vs. FeminismProfessor Kozlowski pits Rousseau's dubious pedagogical advice against the clear-sighted feminism of Mary Wollstonecroft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in this last examination of love in The Enlightenment.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-09-231h 43Professor Kozlowski LecturesSpinoza, Kant, and the EnlightenmentContinuing through history, Professor Kozlowski discusses excerpts of Spinoza's Ethics, briefly recounts the intellectual history leading up to The Enlightenment (including its greatest accomplishments and most egregious shortcomings), and concludes by examining Kant's lecture "On Friendship", in which Kant approaches the tradition of Cicero and Montaigne with his characteristic keen incisiveness.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-09-221h 41Professor Kozlowski LecturesMontaigne and the RenaissanceProfessor Kozlowski discusses the rapidly-changing world of Modern Europe, from the Renaissance to the Protestant Reformation to the Scientific Revolution, in order to contextualize and understand the writings of Montaigne, Francis Bacon, and John Milton.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-09-221h 44Professor Kozlowski LecturesDante and BeatriceProfessor Kozlowski takes a break from philosophy proper to discuss the Love of the poets and artists of the late medieval and early modern era, focusing primarily on the romance of Dante and Beatrice as it is depicted in The Divine Comedy. He specifically emphasizes how Dante is uniting the transcendent, holy love tradition in Medieval philosophy (evident in writers like Aquinas) and the courtly love tradition, to produce a new synthesis that will be the foundation of modern attitudes toward love for centuries to come. So begins our discussion of Modern Philosophy.
If you have questions or...
2021-09-181h 37Professor Kozlowski LecturesAquinas - Friendship is CharityProfessor Kozlowski goes for a (relatively) brief walk through the woolly area of Thomist philosophy: examining how Aquinas distinguishes between concupiscent and friendly love and how friendly love is, for Aquinas, one and the same with the Christian notion of "charity" - or transcendent, Godly love.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-09-181h 14Professor Kozlowski LecturesIslam and Courtly LoveProfessor Kozlowski commits a hat-trick of irresponsible academic conjecture by (1) wading deep into a contentious discussion that (2) he is woefully under-informed about, and (3) which involves a cultural/religious heritage he does not belong to. But seriously, how the heck can anyone miss the connection between Islamic teaching about love (ca. 11th-12th century) and the Courtly Love tradition (esp. regarding Arthurian Romance)? Better to bring it up badly than perpetuate the cultural blindness endemic to discussion of the Islamicate World's accomplishments, I guess.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gm...
2021-09-151h 41Professor Kozlowski LecturesAugustine and the Evolution of ChristianityProfessor Kozlowski largely abandons today's reading from Augustine's Confessions in order to embark on a brief history of the early Christian church, tracking its evolution from a guerrilla religion fleeing from Roman authorities, through its acceptance as the state religion of Rome, growing through schism, and the rise of the papacy, monasticism, and religious reform. Where does Christianity end and secular power begin? How much of developing Christianity is indebted to stoicism, Neo-Platonism, or other cultural forces? Who the heck knows?
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
...
2021-09-151h 44Professor Kozlowski LecturesCicero - De AmicitiaProfessor Kozlowski muses on the subject of how philosophy texts become "important" to the canon, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire - as a subject of philosophical study, and also (when forced) what Cicero actually has to say about friendship.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-09-081h 41Professor Kozlowski LecturesRome, Stoicism, and (Avoiding) LoveProfessor Kozlowski crosses the Rubicon to discuss the rise of the Roman Empire, its widespread (and politically-motivated?) embrace of stoicism, and how that informs Roman attitudes on hero-worship and suspicion against Love. Today we're reading Theano's "Letter on Marriage and Fidelity", selections from Ovid's The Art of Love, Lucretius' argument against love from On the Nature of Things, and the first third of Cicero's De Amicitia.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://p...
2021-09-071h 43Professor Kozlowski LecturesLove in Eastern PhilosophyProfessor Kozlowski ventures into Eastern Philosophy to discuss alternative attitudes toward love and friendship, as well as draw comparisons and contrasts to Western traditions like stoicism. It's hardly a comprehensive study, but hopefully it will help to offer a sense of Eastern traditions and the questions asked by those traditions. Today we discuss Chapters 15-16 of the Dhammapada; Chapters 2, 3, and 5 of the Kama Sutra; Chapter 1 of the Analects of Confucious, and Chapter 15 of Mozi.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Ko...
2021-09-071h 53Professor Kozlowski LecturesAristotle on Friendship II - Nicomachean Ethics IX: The FriendeningProfessor Kozlowski wanders through the series of questions asked and answered by Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics IX. Along the way, he'll discuss the self-destructiveness of viciousness, the relationship of self to friend, and the ways that friendship is shaped by attitude and perspective.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-09-011h 38Professor Kozlowski LecturesAristotle on Friendship - Nicomachean Ethics VIIIProfessor Kozlowski turns his attention from eros to philia in his discussion of Book VIII of the Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle. In this lecture he discusses Aristotle's overall project in Ethics, including a synopsis of Books I and II, before discussing the three species of friendship, and how friendship relates to government.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-09-011h 39Professor Kozlowski LecturesPlato's Symposium 2 - Agathon, Socrates, and Alcibiades: Millenia-old Love TriangleProfessor Kozlowski completes his encomium of Plato's Symposium by discussing the lives of Socrates and Alcibiades: how their love affair may have endangered the whole of Athenian civilization, and how Plato concludes his dialogue with the blind praise of a poet, the wisdom of a mysterious woman teacher, and the obsession of a deranged young man.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-08-311h 45Professor Kozlowski LecturesPlato's Symposium 1 - Phaedrus through AristophanesProfessor Kozlowski begins his encomium of the Symposium by discussing Greek cultural assumptions and how they relate and manifest in the first four speeches: Phaedrus' virtuous love, Pausanias' passionate (if disreputable) love, Erixymachus' love as a universal force, and Aristophanes' (comic?) love-myth. Perhaps, by synthesizing all these perspectives, we might come to see some true vision of love as Plato sees it. Or not...
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.co...
2021-08-311h 45Professor Kozlowski LecturesLove in the Old TestamentTime to discuss one of the earliest perspectives on love in the history of Western Civilization: the love between God and His people in the Old Testament. Follow along with Professor Kozlowski as he discusses the creation of the universe, the law given to Moses, and many of the most controversial issues in the Bible along the way.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-08-281h 43Professor Kozlowski LecturesFoucault - The Repressive HypothesisTaking on another overly-ambitious project, Professor Kozlowski attempts to discuss Foucault's early steps in his History of Sexuality, discussing his challenge to the traditional understanding of how sexuality has changed in modern history and locating the project among other efforts to study the history of philosophy.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-08-281h 47Professor Kozlowski LecturesWhat is Love? (Baby Don't Define Me)Professor Kozlowski dives into the deep end of the ocean and gets thoroughly drowned in his early attempts to define love. Hopefully not without first learning a few things - in true Socratic fashion - along the way.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
2021-08-271h 41Professor Kozlowski LecturesLove and Friendship Syllabus, Fall 2021Professor Kozlowski introduces Internet listeners and official students alike to his newest course at Ramapo College: The Philosophy of Love and Friendship. In this class we'll be discussing some of the fuzziest and most personal subject matter philosophy dares to discuss, much of which will be new territory for the Professor and any students mad (or daring) enough to follow him. Let's show some ropes and plot our course.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit hi...
2021-08-261h 44Professor Kozlowski LecturesGod of Wrath - God of MercyProfessor Kozlowski interrupts his discussion of Phenomenology with a one-off lecture on a topic he is frequently asked to answer: How does a Christian reconcile faith in a merciful, loving God with the stories of wrath and violence common to the Old Testament? To answer this, Professor Kozlowski examines several different perspectives, including Dispensational theology (common among Baptists and Evangelicals), Medieval theology of Divine Simplicity, and existentialist Russian speculation about the justice of God's wrath.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
To see what else P...
2021-06-211h 38Professor Kozlowski LecturesBulgakov ConclusionProfessor Kozlowski gets a bit more introspective than usual, pairing his observations of the final chapters of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita with some discussion of his own work during the lost year of 2020-2021, and what "Professor Kozlowski Lectures" means and is for, now that the original intention for the format has been largely fulfilled.
For questions or topic suggestions, contact Professor Kozlowski at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
For more of Professor Kozlowski's online presence, visit https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com
2021-03-231h 29Professor Kozlowski Lectures19th Century German EmigrationProfessor Kozlowski tackles listener Kit's question: What ideas did German immigrants bring to America in the 19th Century. Predictably, the answer is neither straightforward nor simple - but Professor Kozlowski tackles the question anyhow.
If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com
2021-02-021h 28Professor Kozlowski LecturesBonus Internet Listener LectureProfessor Kozlowski snubs his students and addresses this supplemental lecture to his Internet listeners: we're going on a two-week hiatus, but if you want to hear more podcasts about philosophy, mythology, literature, or whatever, e-mail Professor Kozlowski at: profbkozlowski2@gmail.com - he is taking suggestions, and since there are only about a dozen or so regular listeners, you'll probably get your suggestion on the air (so to speak).
In the meantime, here are the links to some of Professor Kozlowski's other Internet projects:
Watch - a blog about philosophy, literature, and whatever.
...
2020-10-1415 minProfessor Kozlowski LecturesBONUS - Professor Kozlowski RecommendsBy popular demand, Professor Kozlowski discusses some of his favorite books, movies (45:00ish), TV shows, video games, and other things to keep you occupied and philosophizing during the quarantine.
2020-04-151h 30