Athens and Jerusalem (in Education)

By: Knut Ove Æsøy Steven Phelps Kamran Namdar
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  • Summary

  • In this podcast we explore the relationship between a scientifically rational and a spiritual approach to reality. That is the relationship of Athens and Jerusalem. Our currently prevalent Western worldview is supposed to be based on rationality. If production of weapons of mass destruction, degradation of the natural environment, and increasing deterioration of mental well-being are signs of rationality, the term is to be considered a dangerous one. In all these, one can detect lack of ethical and existential considerations which renders this worldview essentially an irrational one. On the other hand, various forms of religious dogmatism and fundamentalism lack true spirituality, as they fail to create both a personal experience of serenity and upliftment and a social practice of empathy, solidarity, and equality. Essentially, both scientific and religious dogmatism seem to fail due to their disregard for a true and holistic view of human nature. Neither traditional Athens nor historical Jerusalem, alone, have been able to help our deepest human potential flourish, which we consider the task of our modern school system.
    © 2025 Knut Ove Æsøy, Steven Phelps, Kamran Namdar
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Philosophy Social Sciences Spirituality
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Episodes
  • Faith and everyday life

    Faith and everyday life
    Jan 19 2025

    In this episode we discuss the relation between faith and everyday life. How does faith motivate our action, or is our action the expression of our faith?
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Leo Strauss on Athens and Jerusalem

    Leo Strauss on Athens and Jerusalem
    Dec 24 2024

    In this episode we discuss Leo Strauss' lecture on Athens and Jerusalem. This is the first out of three lectures, delivered in the fall of 1950, investigate the agreement, disagreement, and conflict between the biblical and the philosophic “ways of life”: “Philosophy in the full sense is [...] incompatible with the biblical way of life. Philosophy and the Bible are the alternatives or the antagonists in the drama of the human soul. Each of the two antagonists claims to know the truth, namely, the decisive truths, the truths regarding the right way of life. But there can be only one truth, and, hence, conflict is inevitable.” The first lecture is uploaded to Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KQ_U9Nt3YE
    The lecture is also made as a transcript: https://www.academia.edu/29738143/Leo_Strauss_Jerusalem_and_Athens_1950_
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Meme and Archetype, comments on Dawkins and Peterson

    Meme and Archetype, comments on Dawkins and Peterson
    Nov 24 2024

    In this episode we discuss a youtube video of Richard Dawkins and Jordan Peterson. Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist known for being an atheist. Peterson is a Canadian psychologist known for his psycological perspective on religious belief. Our starting point is the similarities and differences between Dawkins' concept of meme and Peterson's concept of archetype.

    The link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wBtFNj_o5k
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    1 hr and 5 mins

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