The Wes Cecil Podcast

Who could be opposed to Joy? Well, it turns out that despite being a central value in several different philosophical systems for 1,000s of years, contemporary society has little use for the cultivation of Joy. A diffuse concept, I focus on providing several literary examples and suggestions for further study and reflection.

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Hello everyone, I'm very excited to announce that I will be giving two live lectures this week in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The subjects of these lectures and registration for them is included below.

If you are in or nearby the Netherlands and are able to attend I would love to see you there.

Artificial (Intelligence) Mythology
Wednesday 29 April, 19:30
Karl Dittrich Hall, Student Services Centre, Bonnefantenstraat 2, Maastricht

AI, in itself, may not actually be that interesting. However, the way we perceive and respond to the idea of AI marks a central tendency of human civilization, spanning the rise of the mytho-poetic outlook, to centralized religions through digital technology and, now, AI. By reflecting on how the narrative of AI is presented and distributed we learn much about our deeply ingrained cultural outlooks.

Register for Artificial (Intelligence) Mythology here: https://www.aanmelder.nl/175909/subscribe

How Things Mean
Lecture by Dr. Wes Cecil
Thursday 30 April - 13:30-16:00
Room 1.018, Building 76S, FaSoS, To be reached through Grote Gracht 90-92, Maastricht

We make sense of the world through our values. Unfortunately, we have become overwhelmed with discourse and media. We no longer feel like we can make sense of the world through our own values. In this lecture Dr. Cecil will share his critical take on our responsibility to slow down our media consumption and to think about our values. The lecture will be done in an accessible and engaging format using parables, stories and personal accounts to make the topic engaging and stimulating.

Register for How Things Mean lecture here:
https://forms.microsoft.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=AUGsYwXdcUe81i4qVCHl-q12LH4FbzVMj8FQZT-Y1olUMU5WQ0s3RFRRTThHQUNRSDZERTBWM0Q1OC4u&route=shorturl
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A few questions and my own musings on the latest Values episode about the nature of Nobility as seen through the eyes of T.S. Eliot.

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Not just a value that is out of fashion, but one that is actively and consistently attacked by our society. The notion of cultivating a noble self governed by humility, self-control, wisdom and uprightness seems both wildly out of fashion and arrogant. However, for millennia, this was a central goal of major philosophical systems. Contemporary culture sees any sense of nobility as a cover for some kind of scam or corruption. We allow little space to see others, and hence ourselves, as possibly or even genuinely Noble in character.

Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON community to get your questions answered by Wes! (Yes, Wes is very active on Patreon)

Plus, gain access to bonus lectures, peer discussions, additional course materials, and audio diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
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In 2 weeks we will begin a new series exploring the Bhagavad Gita as a means of orienting oneself within the vast and fascinating literature and thought of classical Hindu thought. An extraordinary and central text that works on a number of important levels within the larger epic of the Mahabharata while also representing an inflection point in the development of Hindu thought.

I wanted to share this intro with you in advance so you can have time to acquire a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. The Penguin edition is the version I will be using.

Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON community to get your questions answered by Wes! (Yes, Wes is very active on Patreon)

Plus, gain access to bonus lectures, peer discussions, additional course materials, and audio diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.