Nature and the Nation
104 episodes - English - Latest episode: 17 days ago - ★★★★★ - 18 ratingsNature and the Nation explores politics, philosophy, psychology, sociology and economics from a naturalistic, paleoconservative perspective, using the format of a book review. I examine books published in a wide array of time periods, with a special emphasis on the early to middle 20th century, the ancient Greeks, and of course the present.
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Episodes
Review: Early Greek Philosophy by John Burnet
July 09, 2022 23:59 - 1 hour - 181 MBIn this episode I look at the pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides, the goddess Ananke, the biases of scholars, mythology, and determinism in John Burnet's Early Greek Philosophy.
Review: Heraclitus by Philip Wheelwright
May 22, 2022 12:49 - 52 minutes - 121 MBIn this episode I examine Philip Wheelwright's Heraclitus, in particular the study of Heraclitus as a pluralist opposed to the monism of Parmenides.
Review: The Beginning of Western Philosophy by Martin Heidegger
May 01, 2022 11:32 - 1 hour - 183 MBIn this episode I look at the beginning of the question of Being in Martin Heidegger's The Beginning of Western Philosophy. I spend the most time in the middle section of the book, which provides a condensed and comprehensible overview of Heidegger's project and his search for the origins of Western philosophy in the pre-Socratic Greek thinkers such as Anaximander.
Review: Elements of Pantheism by Paul Harrison
April 16, 2022 21:36 - 45 minutes - 104 MBIn this episode I review and respond to Elements of Pantheism by Paul Harrison. I include my comments and questions regarding Reality, Matter, the Universe, Nature, and Justice.
Review: Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks by Friedrich Nietzsche
April 11, 2022 03:28 - 57 minutes - 132 MBIn this episode I look at Nietzsche's early examination of the Pre-Socratic philosophers, with a focus on Anaximander, Heraclitus, and Parmenides. The concepts of being and becoming, and the differences among philosophers regarding these concepts, are addressed.
Review: Religion of the Greeks and Romans by Karl Kerenyi
April 04, 2022 21:48 - 1 hour - 206 MBIn this episode I examine Ancient Greek concepts such as aidos, sebas, eulabeia, nomos, and themis through Kerenyi's ground-breaking Religion of the Greeks and Romans. I also examine the ancient acceptance of death, in the context of our own modern hostility to human mortality.
Review: Greek Religion by Walter Burkert
March 15, 2022 19:26 - 1 hour - 155 MBIn this episode I examine some of the qualities of polytheism, with a particular focus on Athena as presented by Walter Burkert in his classic treatise, Greek Religion.
Review: Sexual Personae by Camille Paglia
December 07, 2020 04:33 - 1 hour - 153 MBIn this episode I look at Camille Paglia's Sexual Personae, in particular her deep dive into Apollo and Dionysus as archetypal social drives. More at natureandthenation.com
Review: The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche
December 06, 2020 22:48 - 52 minutes - 119 MBIn this episode, I look at Nietzsche's first book, The Birth of Tragedy. I take care to examine his impressions of Apollo and Dionysus as potentially political archetypes of social, aesthetic, behavioral and ontological experiences. More at natureandthenation.com.
Review: The Basic Writings of Carl Jung edited by Violet Staub De Laszlo
December 04, 2020 17:20 - 1 hour - 227 MBIn this episode I look at the most fundamental components of the Basic Writings of Carl Jung including empiricism, the unconscious especially the collective unconscious, and the archetype. More at natureandthenation.com
Review: Modern Man in Search of a Soul by Carl Jung
July 04, 2020 03:44 - 45 minutes - 104 MBIn this episode I look at Carl Jung's Modern Man in Search of a Soul, where Jung details the relationship of the unconscious and the psyche to religion. I talk about the evolution of the collective unconscious and it's role as a carrier of intergenerational wisdom, and the plurality of forces that play upon the psyche, holding each other in balance and keeping any part of the psyche from dominating the others. More at natureandthenation.com
Review: On Being a Pagan by Alain de Benoist
June 27, 2020 21:14 - 56 minutes - 130 MBIn this episode, I look at Alain de Benoist's On Being a Pagan. De Benoist makes a comprehensive comparison between paganism and Christianity, and I focus in the value comparisons that echo Nietzsche, the criticisms of duality, and the effect of original sin and innocence at birth on the two ethical systems and senses of guilt. More at natureandthenation.com
Review: Darwinian Conservatism by Larry Arnhart
June 26, 2020 05:42 - 51 minutes - 118 MBIn this episode I look at Larry Arnhart's Darwinian Conservatism, a great book that explores many of the same themes I've been spotlighting elsewhere, but all in one spot and finally putting the tail on the donkey and labeling the evolutionary premise behind Burke's and Hayek's ideas: Darwinian Conservatism. Arnhart talks about spontaneous order and the natural order, customary order, and rational order. I also point out Arnhart's take on the differences between men and women. More at nature...
Review: Suicide of the West by James Burnham
June 07, 2020 19:39 - 1 hour - 162 MBIn this episode, I explore James Burnham description of liberalism as an ideology founded on an unsound notion of the pliability of human nature. I also look at his notion of guilt as the driving emotion of liberal activity. More at natureandthenation.com
Review: What is Conservatism by Frank Meyer
May 25, 2020 12:38 - 1 hour - 202 MBIn this episode I look at What is Conservatism, Frank Meyer's collection of essays by mid-20th century conservative thinkers. The essays I focus on give a deeper analysis of the ways in which the state is dependent upon the particular traditions of a people, and the traditions of the people are dependent on a transcendent shared appraisal of reality. The authors I focus on include Russell Kirk, Garry Wills, and Stanley Parry. More at natureandthenation.com
Review: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
May 11, 2020 03:15 - 56 minutes - 129 MBIn this episode I explore Viktor Frankl's moving exploration into the meaning of life, Man's Search for Meaning. I focus on virtuous behavior in the face of suffering, the importance of having tasks to fulfill, obligations, and the need for love.
Review: The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche
March 23, 2020 08:06 - 1 hour - 160 MBIn this episode I explore the 'master' and 'slave' morality proposed by Friedrich Nietzsche in The Genealogy of Morals, with a particular focus of how the master morality may relate to Aristotle and the ancient Greeks, and how it relates to modern conservatism and progressivism. More at www.natureandthenation.com
Review: The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
February 11, 2020 09:12 - 1 hour - 214 MBIn this episode I explore Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. I look at eudaimonia and the mean between defect and excess in virtuous behavior. I also examine Aristotle's work on courage and pride, two natural virtues he describes. More at natureandthenation.com.
Review: The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
January 26, 2020 22:53 - 1 hour - 181 MBIn this episode I continue the exploration of the evolutionary roots of morality with Jonathan Haidt's fantastic book, The Righteous Mind. In this book, Haidt delivers the killing blow to the rationalist delusion that I've been discussing since the early episodes. In addition, I examine the broad array of virtues encompassed by Haidt's moral foundations theory. This theory, and its political ramifications, continue to draw together evolutionary psychology, conservatism, and the golden mean pr...
Review: Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
January 12, 2020 06:18 - 53 minutes - 123 MBIn this episode, we explore Daniel Kahneman's Thinking Fast and Slow, in which he explains his research in the two modes of thought: System 1, the fast, intuitive, unconscious thought of associations and heuristics, and System 2, the slow, deliberate, calculative, resource-depleting conscious thought. More at natureandthenation.com
Review: The Origins of Virtue by Matt Ridley
December 23, 2019 18:51 - 41 minutes - 94.1 MBIn this episode I look at Matt Ridley's The Origins of Virtue. In particular I look at the prisoner's dilemna and potential strategies to achieve cooperation and reciprocity among evolving selfish genes. I also examine the sexual division of labor in early humans, with males doing most of the hunting and women doing most of the gathering. More at natureandthenation.com
Review: The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
December 08, 2019 07:07 - 45 minutes - 105 MBRichard Dawkins' best-selling book, The Selfish Gene, examines the fundamental nature of the replicating gene in a competitive environment, and all of the consequences thereof. I look specifically at the origins of life and DNA, and the evolutionarily stable strategy of behavior development in a game theory context. More at www.natureandthenation.com
Review: Suicide by Emile Durkheim
November 30, 2019 10:53 - 1 hour - 147 MBIn Suicide, Emile Durkheim explores the sociological factors that lead a society toward greater or lesser rates of suicide. I specifically explore his analysis of egoistic suicide, or suicide driven by the breakdown of integrated social institutions and the dominance of individualism in a culture. I also touch on anomie, the disappearance of social norms that, in a healthy society, provide the structure of culture that help provide people with a sense of social stability. More at natureandth...
Review: After the Flight 93 Election by Micheal Anton
November 24, 2019 13:44 - 1 hour - 166 MBIn this episode I look at Michael Anton's After the Flight 93 Election, a discussion of the danger, both to conservatism and the nation as a whole, posed by the post 1960s left. Anton's famous essay explains the need to elect Trump and to hold the left at bay at all costs, and the failure of conservatives to do so for decades. I also explore Anton' explanation for the the basis of republican government. More at natureandthenation.com
Review: Bronze Age Mindset by Bronze Age Pervert
November 18, 2019 05:08 - 56 minutes - 130 MBIn this episode I explore Bronze Age Mindset, the independently produced exhoration that calls for a renewed dedication to the pursuit of vitality, beauty, and excellence in our ugly modern bug world. I look at Bronze Age Pervert's recommendations for political and social action. More at www.natureandthenation.com
Review: Myths to Live By by Joseph Campbell
October 14, 2019 18:36 - 1 hour - 231 MBIn this episode I look at the functions of myth and ritual, and the challenge that is posed by science to the enduring viability of mythology. I also look at the premise of the Jungian archetype. This is all in Joseph Campbell's classic, Myths to Live By. More at www.neofusionist.com
Review: The Greeks by H. D. F. Kitto
September 28, 2019 20:18 - 1 hour - 185 MBIn this episode I look at the concepts of wholeness and arate (excellence) as envisioned by the ancient Greeks, through H. D. F. Kitto's superb overview, The Greeks. I look at the polis and how it impacted the life and thought of the Greeks. More at neofusionist.com
Review: The Right Side of History by Ben Shapiro
September 22, 2019 13:40 - 1 hour - 147 MBIn this episode I examine Ben Shapiro's theory of Athens and Jerusalem as the twin roots of Western civilization, as presented in The Right Side of History. I look at his prerequisites for a flourishing society, and the connection between the Enlightenment and Western values. More at www.neofusionist.com
Review: A Handbook for Right-Wing Youth by Julius Evola
September 09, 2019 01:40 - 1 hour - 152 MBIn this episode I look an array of Julius Evola's essays collected after his death into A Handbook for Right-Wing Youth. I explore the need to have a positive doctrine as opposed to a negative critique, democracy vs monarchy, and the modern world's fascination with the young. more at www.neofusionist.com
Review: The Fourth Political Theory by Alexander Dugin
August 28, 2019 07:10 - 1 hour - 173 MBIn this episode, I look at Russian philosopher and geopolitical strategist Alexander Dugin's vision of a new political order to replace both liberalism and its natural culmination, post-liberalism. I mention the need to differentiate a specifically American version of the fourth political theory, moving toward a position of pragmatic eclecticism that can absorb some of the disjointed remnants of liberalism that infuse our Constitution and society. More at www.neofusionist.com
Review: Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen
August 10, 2019 20:22 - 1 hour - 174 MBIn this episode, we look at Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen. In particular, we examine Deneen's claim that fundamental to liberalism is a rejection of the constraints imposed upon us by nature, and the attempt to overcome those constraints through science, technology, and the destruction of culture's symbiosis with nature. We also examine Deneen's ideas about what comes after liberalism. more at www.neofusionist.com
Review: The Virtue of Nationalism by Yoram Hazony
August 09, 2019 06:35 - 1 hour - 137 MBIn 'The Virtue of Nationalism' Yoram Hazony describes the benefits of a political order based on a multiplicity of nation-states. This order is compared to the state of anarchy and the imperial drive toward conquest. We look at those components of Hazony's theory that most closely support a philosophically naturalistic approach to nationalism. more at www.neofusionist.com
Review: The Paleoconservatives by Joseph Scotchie
August 07, 2019 18:10 - 1 hour - 214 MBEdited by Joseph Scotchie, The Paleoconservatives: A New Voice for the Old Right is a collection of essays that explores many aspects of paleoconservatism, as envisioned by writers from both the old right era and the 1990s paleoconservative revival. I discuss Russell Kirk's essay on traditionalism, William Hawkins on protectionism, Clyde Wilson on populism, and Sam Francis on nationalism. more at www.neofusionist.com
Review: America First! by Bill Kauffman
July 30, 2019 12:25 - 1 hour - 170 MBIn this episode we look deeper into the political environment of the first half of the 20th century, from the populist movement to the start of the Cold War, through Bill Kauffman's book, America First! Its History, Culture, and Politics. We look at such figures as Amos Pinchot, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, and Jack Kerouac. We look at the politicians of that era and dip into what it means to be an American. More at www.neofusionist.com
Review: Ship of Fools by Tucker Carlson
July 09, 2019 05:36 - 45 minutes - 103 MBIn this episode I explore Tucker Carlson's best-selling book, 'Ship of Fools.' Carlson lays out the case that the American elites have been completely derelict in their management of the nation. I pay particular attention to the rending of our social fabric by infatuation with multiculturalism at the expense of cultural integrity. More at www.neofusionist.com
Review: Reclaiming the American Right by Justin Raimondo
July 08, 2019 05:38 - 47 minutes - 109 MBIn this episode I look toward the thinkers of the pre-WWII American right wing, commonly referred to as the Old Right, and the usurpation of the conservative movement by successive waves of neoconservatives. Raimondo weighs the prospects of the libertarians and paleoconservatives, and explores the notion of a new fusionism between the two. I contrast this with my own vision of neofusionism. More at www.neofusionist.com
Review: In Defense of Freedom by Frank Meyer
July 08, 2019 02:38 - 57 minutes - 131 MBIn this episode I look at the origins of the concept of fusionism, from which neofusionism takes its cue. In 'In Defense of Freedom and Related Essays' Frank Meyer lays out the 1960s fusionist vision of merging libertarianism with traditionalism to create what we now call conservatism. I examine the relation between freedom, reason, virtue, and tradition, as well as the associated different roles of the state and the culture in maintaining a society that is both free and virtuous. More at ww...
Review: In Defense of Tradition by Richard Weaver
July 08, 2019 00:26 - 1 hour - 191 MBIn this episode I dive into Richard Weaver's vast array of essays contained in the collection 'In Defense of Tradition.' Weaver covers such topics as dialectic vs rhetoric, the existence of human nature, and the effect of technology on the human condition. More at www.neofusionist.com
Review: Being and Time by Martin Heidegger
July 07, 2019 20:43 - 55 minutes - 127 MBIn this episode I examine the fundamental principles of Heidegger's existentialism, seeking the ways in which he describes Being from the experiential perspective of dasein, or the human being. This examination explores thrownness and facticity, and the striving toward authenticity that we can utilize in building a naturalistic foundation for paleoconservatism. More at www.neofusionist.om
Review: Revolt Against the Modern World by Julius Evola
July 07, 2019 18:58 - 59 minutes - 136 MBIn this episode I look at the conflict between modernity and tradition from a pre-Christian, spriritually Traditionalist perspective in Julius Evola's Revolt Against the Modern World. I explore how we can look at time cyclically, and embrace the past though the notion of home. I begin to explore the similarities between ancient pagan thought and modern conservatism. More at neofusionist.com
Review: The Roots of Romanticism by Isaiah Berlin
July 07, 2019 17:46 - 54 minutes - 125 MBIn this episode I explore the Romantic response to the Enlightenment, in Isaiah Berlin's The Roots of Romanticism. I look at the German thinkers Hamann and Herder and their focus on the incapacity of the Enlightenment paradigm to account for the full richness of the individual and group identity. More at www.neofusionist.com
Review: The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism by Peter Gay
July 06, 2019 09:32 - 1 hour - 181 MBIn this episode I take a deeper look at the philosophical concepts that undergird the Age of Enlightenment, through my examination of Peter Gay's 'The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism.' In this book, Gay examines the connections that the philosophes felt with the ancient Greek and Roman thinkers, and the culture of criticism that they fostered in their conflict with Christianity. More at www.neofusionist.com
Review: The Cave and the Light by Arthur Herman
July 02, 2019 10:25 - 1 hour - 171 MBIn this episode I track the conflict between realism and idealism all the way back to Plato and Aristotle in Arthur Herman's epic 'The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization.' We explore Aristotle's influence on John Locke and the Enlightenment, and seek to assemble a philosophy that embraces empiricism, pragmatism, and the constrained vision. More at www.neofusionist.com.
Review: The Great Debate by Yuval Levin
June 30, 2019 13:22 - 1 hour - 264 MBIn this episode I will dive deeper into the philosophical divide that I explored last episode. This is well exemplified in the debate between Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine. I look closely at tradition as the inheritance that connects generations and man's nature as a social being in a given circumstance. More at www.neofusionist.com
Review: A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell
June 25, 2019 14:48 - 38 minutes - 88.7 MBIn this important work, Thomas Sowell explains the difference between the constrained and unconstrained vision. I compare this dichotomy to those we've seen in previous eposides. I take a particular interest in the constrained vision, as this is the one which allows for a distinct human nature crafted by the processes of evolution. More at www.natureandthenation.com
Review: Pragmatism by William James
April 20, 2019 23:17 - 1 hour - 164 MBIn this classic of American philosophy, William James introduces us to the tender- and tough-minded temperaments and the flaws in rationalistic, idealistic philosophy. We also begin to look at the nature of truth, its instrumentality, and its dependence on approximation and shorthand. more at www.neofusionist.com
Review: The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker
April 07, 2019 05:08 - 1 hour - 146 MBIn Steven Pinker's classic 2002 masterpiece, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, Pinker gives us a panoramic view of the landscape of human nature and the politically motivated rejection of the science of evolutionary psychology by the established leftist academia. More at neofusionist.com.
Review: On Human Nature by E. O. Wilson
March 23, 2019 19:48 - 1 hour - 149 MBIn this episode I begin to zero in on that aspect of nature that most impacts politics: human nature. On Human Nature by E. O. Wilson presents some of the language and metaphors I will using while I explore that intersection of biology, behavior, public policy and political philosophy. more at http://www.neofusionist.com/2019/03/7-review-on-human-nature-by-edward-o.html
Review: Standing in the Light: My Life as a Pantheist by Sharman Apt Russell
March 18, 2019 04:17 - 38 minutes - 87 MBIn this episode, I explore the more religious side of naturalism, pantheism. Standing in the Light by Sharman Apt Russell takes us on a path through the history of pantheism, from the ancient Greeks to Spinoza and evolutionary theory. More at http://www.neofusionist.com/2019/03/06-review-standing-in-light-my-life-as.html
Review: No Choice Theory by Ahmad Safavy
February 13, 2019 07:58 - 1 hour - 177 MBIn this episode, I explore naturalism as a hard deterministic view of reality. Ahmad Safavy presents a stepwise explanation of the cause and effect nature of matter and energy, tracing the structure and function of particles, molecules, and life forms from the big bang to the present, with additional discussions of chaos theory and quantum mechanics. You can find me on social media at facebook.com/neofusionist or twitter.com/neofusionist or, if you want to help support the show, you can find...