Heart Yoga Radio

THE MAYBE STORY, EXISTENTIALISM AND THE CRAVING FOR CLOSURE

This patrons only podcast is a recording of a talk given at Parkdale recently. [2 hours 49 minutes.]

THE BLUE PILL OR THE RED PILL? PART FIVE: DISSOLUTION OF THE BINARIES

In this podcast the epilogue to our series on The Matrix, we consider attempts to dissolve the binaries which have structured much thought for millenia. These binaries are real-apparent, subject-object and inside-outside [of the human psyche.] The attempts at dissolution invoked are Wittgenstein's private language argument which is found in Philosophical Investigations, and Nietzsche's account of the fate of the 'real world' as a concept over time as elucidated in Twilgth of the Idols. We argue that this doesn't sideline the political issues raised in the previous podcast in this series, as might first seem to be the case. [Free. 41 minutes.]

THE BLUE PILL OR THE RED PILL? PART TWO: EXISTENTIALISM, CHOICE & FREEDOM

Part Two of our series on The Matrix attempts to characterise Neo's choice of the red pill in terms of the kind of human freedom posited by the existentialist philosophers. We draw particularly of Kierkegaard and Sartre. See the blue pill - red pill choice in this four minute clip: https://youtu.be/zQ1_IbFFbzA. [Free. 32 minutes.]

WHO AM I (1) - OVERVIEW

This is the first of a series of seven episodes entitled Who Am I? It gives an overview of the various perspectives we entertain in the following six episodes. We planned six episodes and say as much throughout the series. But when the time came, we realised we needed a final episode in which to get to the nitty-gritty of lived experience. [20 minutes. Free.]

WHO AM I? (5) - PHENOMENOLOGY & PATANJALI

The fifth episode in this series approaches the question Who Am I? from a perspective which is consistent with the phenomenological turn of 20th century so-called continental philosophy and the first and most pristine of Patanjali's meditations. [18 minutes.Free.]

WHO AM I? (6) - LANGUAGE

In the sixth episode of  the series Who Am I?, we question the question itself. Does it make sense? Or is its very asking a case of 'the bewitchment of our intelligence by language'? And if that is the case, shouldn't we dissolve the question rather than imagining that we have an answer to it? Wittgenstein looms large, urgently calling to a hapless fly trapped in a bottle, 'Over here, over here!' [24 minutes. Free.]

METAPHORS, JAM ROLY-POLY, THE VERTICAL AXIS & FLATLAND

Anna says that this is a bed-time story. I think it is philosophical comedy. I'm pretty certain sombody somewhere will hear this and get twice as enlightened as Buddy Guy. You can hear the wind and somebody with a megaphone in the distance. Nietzsche looms large as a trenchant critic of the various Platonisms. Meanwhile, this ordinary world is the Buddha heaven, if only we can see it. Hierarchical metaphysics mystify this at the same time as they turn earth into hell with their hierarchical cast systems and vicious patriarchy. Yet still, it's not all surface. The horizontal metaphor is shit too. Convolutions innit?! [18 minutes. Free.]

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON? REALLY?

This short podcast takes a swipe at the current platitude that 'everything happens for a reason', characterising it a an escapist notion. [9 minutes. Free.]

THE MEANING OF LIFE IS LIFE

In this podcast, Anna and Pete discuss the meaning of life and how grand narratives supply off-the-peg answers to the big conundrums that face human beings by reference to a 'transcendental guarantee'. We find this strategy for ameliorating meaninglessness to be defective on a number of counts and recommend that individuals freely choose and pursue their own projects whilst dancing under the open sky. [30 minutes. Free.]