– Aristotle
Ergo is a nonprofit that publishes long-form philosophical lectures online, without ads or paywalls. We film brilliant thinkers known for the depth and clarity of their teaching.
Our Courses
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[From Descartes to Nietzsche:The birth of science and the death of god
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LEE BRAVER leads a tour through Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Nietzsche, showing how each attempt to secure certainty gave way to deeper skepticism about truth itself.](courses/from-descartes-to-nietzsche)
From Descartes to Nietzsche:The birth of science and the death of god
LEE BRAVER leads a tour through Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Nietzsche, showing how each attempt to secure certainty gave way to deeper skepticism about truth itself.
[Quantum Mechanics and the Crisis of Scientific Realism
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DAVID ALBERT opens with strange experiments on electrons, builds up to the measurement problem, and ends on attempts to solve the deepest question posed by quantum mechanics: can science describe reality at all?](courses/quantum-mechanics-and-the-crisis-of-scientific-realism)
Quantum Mechanics and the Crisis of Scientific Realism
DAVID ALBERT opens with strange experiments on electrons, builds up to the measurement problem, and ends on attempts to solve the deepest question posed by quantum mechanics: can science describe reality at all?
[Computation as a Universal and Fundamental Concept
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TIM ROUGHGARDEN treats computation as a law of nature, tracing its arc from Turing's proof that some problems are unsolvable to the P versus NP question at the heart of modern computer science.](courses/computation-as-a-universal-and-fundamental-concept)
Computation as a Universal and Fundamental Concept
TIM ROUGHGARDEN treats computation as a law of nature, tracing its arc from Turing's proof that some problems are unsolvable to the P versus NP question at the heart of modern computer science.
[Lectures on Infinity
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JOEL DAVID HAMKINS guides viewers through the great paradoxes and discoveries about infinity, from Zeno's ancient puzzles to Cantor's revolutionary proof that some infinities are larger than others.](courses/lectures-on-infinity)
Lectures on Infinity
JOEL DAVID HAMKINS guides viewers through the great paradoxes and discoveries about infinity, from Zeno's ancient puzzles to Cantor's revolutionary proof that some infinities are larger than others.
[Plato’s Theaetetus:An inquiry into knowledge
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RICHARD POLT guides listeners through Plato's Theaetetus in this introductory seminar, asking whether knowledge is perception and why radical relativism fails.](courses/platos-theaetetus)
Plato’s Theaetetus:An inquiry into knowledge
RICHARD POLT guides listeners through Plato's Theaetetus in this introductory seminar, asking whether knowledge is perception and why radical relativism fails.
Introduction to Spinoza and his Theory of Love
NOA LAHAV AYALON traces Spinoza's philosophy from its metaphysical foundations to his vision of love and human flourishing.
From Socrates to Sartre:How should we live?
LEE BRAVER walks through the great ethical theories of Western philosophy, from Socrates' founding questions to Mill, Kant, Aristotle, and Sartre's radical challenge.
The Biology of Evil
KEN GEMES traces the consequential shift from moral to biological conceptions of evil, examining degeneration theory across science, literature, and philosophy from Darwin to Nietzsche and Freud.
Language, Calculation, Technology
IRAD KIMHI investigates language and technology through logic and philosophy, rethinking what it is to think, mean, and compute in light of Wittgenstein, Turing, and Heidegger.
Kant’s Three Questions
REED WINEGAR surveys Kant's revolutionary philosophy, from the limits of human knowledge to morality, freedom, and religion.
Consciousness and Dialectical Monism
KATALIN BALOG lays out dialectical monism weighing the deepest arguments about mind, brain, and the nature of reality.
Walter Benjamin:Language, memory, history
ELI FRIEDLANDER examines Walter Benjamin’s philosophy of modernity, memory, and art, tracing how technology and history reshape perception, culture, and collective experience.
Personal Identity and Narrative
MARYA SCHECHTMAN asks what makes you the same person throughout your life, introducing the major theories of personal identity and arguing that our identities are best understood as narratives.
Introduction to Metaphysics
JEAN GRONDIN provides an introduction to the developmental stages in metaphysical thinking. Authors include Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Descartes, Kant, Heidegger, and Levinas.
Heidegger Without Tears
THOMAS SHEEHAN provides an introduction to Heidegger's entire project from Being and Time to his final period (1962-76). Aimed at those who find Heidegger difficult or even impossible to understand.
Enlightenment and Its Discontents
JUSTIN SMITH-RUIU examines the great eighteenth-century debate over reason, freedom, religion, and human nature through the works of Spinoza, Leibniz, Voltaire, Rousseau, Herder, and others.
Making Metaphysics Functional
AMIE L. THOMASSON reconceives metaphysics as conceptual engineering, understanding how language functions to shed new light on old problems about properties, numbers, morality, and truth.
Featured Videos
[Descartes to Nietzsche
Lee Braver
intro
When the Old Map Stopped Working](videos/lee-braver-when-the-old-map-stopped-working)
Descartes to Nietzsche
Lee Braver
intro
When the Old Map Stopped Working
[Quantum Mechanics
David Albert
intro
The Crisis In Physics](videos/david-albert-the-crisis-in-physics)
Quantum Mechanics
David Albert
intro
The Crisis In Physics
[Lectures on Infinity
Joel David Hamkins
Intro
Infinity Has a Story to Tell](videos/joel-david-hamkins-infinity-has-a-story-to-tell)
Lectures on Infinity
Joel David Hamkins
Intro
Infinity Has a Story to Tell
[Computation
Tim Roughgarden
intro
Computation and Its Limits](videos/tim-roughgarden-computation-and-its-limits)
Computation
Tim Roughgarden
intro