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The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q10: So, About God...?
The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q10: So, About God?
Timeline of Catholicism
313 Legalization of Christianity under Constantine
325-800 Beginning with the Council of Nicaea a series of councils attempt to deal with various controversies and Heresies.
900-1200 Catholic Church consolidates Papal primacy and civil power and begins to systematize church hierarchy.
1200-1520 Beginning of the Inquisition and rise of the power of the Franciscans and Dominicans as enforcers of Church authority ending in the Reformation.
Gnosticism 100: The word is the manifestation of a lesser being that deceives us about our own divinity and the true nature of the universal spirit.
Arianism 300: Long running debate about the nature of Christ and the Trinity. Arianism denies that Christ was equal to God but rather subordinate and created by God. Essentially a type of Monotheism in debate with the concept of the Trinity.
Pelagianism 400: Man is not born with original sin, men's will is sufficient to live a perfect life, grace of god is helpful but no necessary to good works.
Catharism 1130-1300: Two gods - Old Testament god is evil, New Testament God is good and they are at war. Christ is an Angel so no actual resurrection.
Henricians 1130-1180: Rejects authority of the central church, the Gospels openly read as the sole foundation of truth, most all organized forms of worship.
Fraticelli 1270-1440: Strict adherence to a vow of poverty. All wealth and property were seen as falling from the true teaching of Christ.
American Liberalism 1176-today: Pope Leo XIII (1895 and 1899) Condemned many aspects of American liberalism - particularly separation of church and state, freedom of speech, divorce laws, and reliance on reason.
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1. A Cultural History of The United States - Ep. 1
53:55||Season 1, Ep. 1LECTURE 1: WHAT IS AN AMERICAN?In my introductory lecture I explore the uniquely powerful role America plays in the contemporary world and the history that underlies its global dominance. 250 years ago, the United states had a tiny population, was loosely organized and beset by internal conflicts. A rapid and massive demographic and geographic expansion brought this relative backwater onto the world stage and then to global dominance. The cultural transformations that proceeded with this transformation created a society that is, for good or ill, extremely influential and uniquely American.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
2. A Cultural History of The United States - Ep. 2
34:51||Season 1, Ep. 2Q & A #1 - WHAT IS AN AMERICAN?Wes and Jeremy take questions from listeners on Lecture I: "What is an American?" Apologies for the audio quality on this one—it improves as the series moves along.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
3. A Cultural History of The United States - Ep. 3
42:32||Season 1, Ep. 3LECTURE 2: NO HISTORY FOR YOU!In my second lecture I explore the bizarre and necessary historical amnesia that besets American culture. For the first 200 years of American settlement, the Native American culture was forcibly erased, then actively ignored once the ‘Natives’ problem had been “solved”. Also, the invisibility of the African American presence in much of the US, which represented 40-50% of the population in some states, created a further barrier to American history. Finally, the internal patterns of settlement and mass migration cemented a near total disregard for framing our cultural understanding in any historical sensibility.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
4. A Cultural History of The United States - Ep. 4
38:48||Season 1, Ep. 4Q & A #2 - NO HISTORY FOR YOU! Wes and Jeremy take questions from listeners on Lecture II: No History for You!Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
5. A Cultural History of The United States - Ep. 5
01:02:47||Season 1, Ep. 5LECTURE 3 - AMERICAN INDIVIDUALISM:This lecture explores the evolution of the American conception of the individual and why it has become so dominant within American culture. Devoid of a deep history and often in strange surroundings with strange people, many Americans have, for generations, felt thrust out on their own. What for most societies was considered a severe punishment - banishment - became, in America, a common and perhaps necessary mode of life. Over time, a virtue was created from this necessity and the peculiar form of American individualism became cemented as a core element of American values. Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
6. A Cultural History of The United States - Ep. 6
41:14||Season 1, Ep. 6Q & A #3 - AMERICAN INDIVIDUALISMWes and Jeremy take questions from listeners on Lecture III: American IndividualismSign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
7. A Cultural History of The United States - Ep. 7
01:01:30||Season 1, Ep. 7LECTURE 4 - NIHILISTIC MATERIALISMThat American culture is materialistic is an accurate but often unhelpful distinction as it is our particular kind of materialism that America manifests that is important to understand. In this lecture, I explore the peculiar Nihilistic elements that shape American materialism. Significantly, all the standard critiques of materialism - that material goods will not give your life meaning, that shopping is just coping mechanism for deeper ills, that the press of consumerism is driven largely by corporate greed - have little to no grip on the American psyche because everyone knows them and consumes anyway! America combines both a disbelief in consumerism with aggressive consumerism into a curious and counterintuitive set of outlooks and behaviors that shape important elements of American society.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
8. A Cultural History of The United States - Ep. 8
56:39||Season 1, Ep. 8Q & A #4 - NIHILISTIC MATERIALISMWes and Jeremy take questions from listeners on Lecture IV: Nihilistic MaterialismSign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
9. A Cultural History of The United States - Ep. 9
51:40||Season 1, Ep. 9LECTURE 5 - AMERICAN CALVINISMIn this lecture I explore the deep and abiding influence of Calvinism on the American cultural outlook. Whether Christian or not, Americans believe in purity, the centrality of moral judgements, visible signs of success and more. These attitudes are rarely traced back to their true origin - the specific beliefs and social forms developed by John Calvin. America is a Calvinist country par excellence.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.