The Heart and the Head
The Heart and the Head is a podcast about changing our lives through taking up a philosophical life of seeking after truth. This is considered by examining the lives and teachings of great philosophers and thinkers throughout history.
This is a show about how to change everything. It is for those of us who no longer find themselves reflected in the cultural narrative of seeking happiness through pursuit of wealth, achievement, or self-expression.
In Republic, Plato tells a parable, imploring each of us to “turn around” from the darkness of a life lived in the ignorance of a metaphorical cave to the light of a life outside that cave. In the cave's darkness, we identify external things such as success or pleasure as most real and as the way to happiness. When we turn around and begin to exit the cave, we begin to realize that the most real things are rather internal, spiritual things, things which Plato associates with a higher power which he refers to as the Divine.
Plato’s parable speaks just as much to us today as to the ancient Greeks. To take up the philosophical life means changing our whole way of living, changing what we desire and value, and committing to that change with our whole selves. This is a podcast devoted to helping us better understand how to live such a philosophical life.
https://brentongsmith.com/podcast/
The Heart and the Head
4 - Responding to Suffering - Suffering as Meaningless
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In these three episodes, I look at different ways we might respond and choose to experience suffering we encounter in our lives.
This episode looks at an option before us when we suffer: to see our suffering as meaningless. There are a few guiding texts which I reference during this discussion: Shakespeare’s Macbeth; as well as works by Albert Camus, Friedrich Nietzsche, and William Faulkner.
If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com
