Best Samuel Loncar, PhD Podcasts (2025)

1
How a Celebrity Philosopher Changed History & Why He Was Forgotten: Emily Herring on Henri Bergson 1:08:39

19d ago1:08:39

1:08:39

How did the most famous philosopher of his time, a darling of the Parisian salons and an internationally renowned philosopher of science, disappear from memory? Dr. Emily Herring, author of Herald of a Restless World: How Henri Bergson Brought Philosophy to the People, explains the brilliant insights and legacy of Bergson in this wide-ranging Becom…

1
Kabbalistic Wisdom and the Modern Self-Help Movement: A Conversation with Reb Adam 1:07:26

1M ago1:07:26

1:07:26

Rabbi Adam Yitzchak Polinovskiy is a well-established coach, specializing in the art of personal and professional transformation. His expertise spans a wide range of areas, including mindset mastery, Kabbalistic wisdom, alignment strategies, and leadership development. In our conversation, we discuss the Kabbalistic background to the modern self-he…

1
The Age of Spiritual Awakening: Rabbi Simon Jacobson in Conversation | Explorations 1:00:06

2M ago1:00:06

1:00:06

According to Rabbi Simon Jacobson of The Meaningful Life Center, technology is catalyzing a spiritual awakening, making spiritual knowledge the “key commodity of the future.” Rabbi Jacobson is a best-selling author of Towards a More Meaningful Life and reaches hundreds of thousands daily through his YouTube channel. In this far-reaching Becoming Hu…

1
How AGI and Superintelligence Enhance Consciousness | Apocalypse, A Philosophy of Angels, Ep. 7 24:28

3M ago24:28

24:28

Has AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) already arrived? As the race for Superintelligent machines changes the world, how can humans prepare to thrive? Ancient spiritual traditions reveal surprising insights into how philosophy as a spiritual technology can teach us where AI is heading, and what to do about it. Instructor: Dr. Samuel Loncar | Yal…

1
Education for the AI Age: Why Can't People Read and Does it Matter? | Explorations 24:28

3M ago24:28

24:28

How do we reimagine education for a world of AI? What skills do people need, and why? How can philosophy as a way of life create a shared vision of human flourishing? Instructor: Samuel Loncar, Ph.D. | Yale University

1
Can We Change Our Fate? An Existential Vision for Immortality | Explorations 36:17

3M ago36:17

36:17

Fate is the power of the unchosen to determine your life. It is real and we all know it, or we would never be frustrated. The key question is: can we overcome our fate? Is fate compatible with freedom? An existential strategy is the only way to overcome the power of fate and avoid being a pawn of your environment and history. To conquer fate, we mu…

1
Will Superintelligence Complete Science? The Future of Physics 29:34

4M ago29:34

29:34

What happens when AGI, Artificial General Intelligence, appears and solves all the problems in science? Can we know the future of science? Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chapter 6, suggests we can predict future scientific developments based on a deep understanding of the current anomalies in our ideas. Our philosophical ide…

1
Can a New Scientific Revolution Explain Consciousness? | Apocalypse: A Philosophy of Angels, Ep. 6 1:08:48

4M ago1:08:48

1:08:48

Three Theses about the Future of Science We are living through the greatest scientific revolution in over two millennia. 2. A new revolution in biology connects to the AI revolution, and a scientific theory of consciousness may finally be on the horizon as a result. 3. Real philosophy should be scientific and thus able to make predictions. I make t…

1
Can We Have Infinite Energy? Can the Tao Make Us Immortal? | Tao Te Ching, Ep. 4 45:36

4M ago45:36

45:36

The Tao Te Ching teaches that the Way offers infinite utility, seeming to promise unending energy and life. Is this possible and what, scientifically, might it mean? Exploring Chapter 4 of the Tao Te Ching, I show how the human senses point towards hidden paths of refinement and mysteriously deep sources of energy and insight, all found within the …

1
Do Humans Really Exist? Do We Live in a Simulation? | Explorations 14:31

4M ago14:31

14:31

The simulation theory is all around us, putting somehow the meaning of our very existence into question. Do we really exist? What does it mean that we question our own existence? A true philosophy of existence must answer these questions, and explain why we ask them, guiding us towards a more conscious, free, and scientific way of life. This is the…

1
Can Philosophy Make You Powerful? A Vision of Human Enhancement, Philosophy of Angels Ep. 5 1:04:03

4M ago1:04:03

1:04:03

If you can get one thing you want, what is the one thing that will give you everything else? Is it power, wealth, or wisdom? Philosophy as a spiritual way of life teaches us how to develop our human potential, leading to a radical vision of human enhancement. The idea of number is the first step to understanding the coded Messengers of spiritual tr…

1
How Do We Know What is Good?, Tao Series Ep. 3 20:58

5M ago20:58

20:58

We all want to do good, but we rarely think about how we can know what the good is. In this video, I discuss Verse 8 of the Tao and its highly logical and practical insights into what is good in any situation and how we can know that we are doing what is good for ourselves and others. SERIES: Tao Te Ching Instructor: Samuel Loncar, Ph.D. | Yale Uni…

1
Why Stories Are Greater Then Ideas: Was JRR Tolkien a Great Philosopher?, Apocalypse: A Philosophy of Angels, Ep. 4 34:23

5M ago34:23

34:23

Tolkien’s works have sold over 100 Million copies worldwide because they address the deepest questions humans can ask: Why is there evil and death in the world? Would Immorality be a good thing? Where did the world come from, and where is it going? Tolkien reveals a new and deeper way to engage humanity’s search for meaning and hope. SERIES Apocaly…

1
The Philosophy of UAP in Scientific and Historical Context, Apocalypse: A Philosophy of Angels, Ep. 3 1:18:46

5M ago1:18:46

1:18:46

The topic of UAP (UFOs) is important yet difficult to discuss coherently. Why? Because the topic requires the best tools of science and scholarship but does not agree on what those are or how they should be applied. My philosophy of science and religion provides clues to navigating profound changes in human’s cosmic understanding, including the UAP…

1
The Exile and Return of the Light: Hanukkah, Christmas, and the Super Human, Apocalypse Ep. 2 55:38

5M ago55:38

55:38

Did you know Hanukkah and Christmas encode deep philosophical ideas about Enlightenment, becoming Superhuman, and the Future of Humanity? The stars and the gods once governed the night sky and the dreams humans had of themselves. The Human story was thus told as a mystery of light, the evolution of the universe, and the fate of the stars. Apocalyps…

1
Is the Greatest Good Achieved by Struggle or Flow?. Tao Ep. 2 21:03

5M ago21:03

21:03

Can yielding and flowing really be the Way to attain the good? Bruce Lee thought so. “Be Water,” he famously said, channeling a central insight of the Tao Te Ching, one of great works of Chinese Philosophy.

1
Apocalypse: A Philosophy of Angels, Ep. 1: The Messengers 32:04

5M ago32:04

32:04

The idea of Angels, whether we believe in them or not, reveals secrets about human consciousness and how to transform it. In this episode, I use the German poet Rilke to connect deep patterns across Judaism, Islam, and Christianity and other traditions, found in their shared understanding of angels as messengers that lead to revolutionary transform…

1
What is the Way and How do I Find it? Tao Te Ching, Ep. 1 14:01

6M ago14:01

14:01

What is the Way? The Way, or Tao, is the central mystery of life, according to the Tao Te Ching, one of the greatest works of Chinese philosophy. So how do we find the Tao? What does the Way look like? This video answers that question by introducing the Tao Te Ching, and the mystery of Return... Join me at the Becoming Human Project today!…

1
What is Life and is it Good?, Explorations, Ep. 6 17:56

6M ago17:56

17:56

Is life a momentary fragment, a meaningless event? Or Is life an eternal and glorious process and event? These two different ideas of life—life as intrinsically meaningless or life as intrinsically meaningful—are connected to our emotional reactions and ultimately our idea of time and our world.

1
Philosophy, Roomba, and Taco Carts: A Conversation with Chef Arturo Franco Camacho, Explorations, Ep. 5 1:04:47

1+ y ago1:04:47

1:04:47

Chef Arturo Franco Camacho is the Culinary Director and Executive Chef of three of New Haven’s best restaurants: Geronimo’s Southwestern Kitchen, Shell & Bones Oyster Bar, and Camacho Garage. His restaurants are not only a destination for great food but fantastic atmosphere. Trained at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), the world’s premiere c…

1
Scientific Facts and How They Grow: Science as Self-Subverting Tradition 58:07

1+ y ago58:07

58:07

Science is the only tradition that actively admits its own errors, gaining deeper knowledge by overcoming its tendency to orthodoxy. This happens when scientific revolutions shatter existing paradigms. The process begins with anomalies, potential facts that do not fit the paradigm. The physicist Sabine Hossenfelder sees many anomalies in current ph…

1
Things Ancient and New: The Logic of Scientific Discovery in Thomas Kuhn 48:30

1+ y ago48:30

48:30

According to Thomas Kuhn, the most mature sciences have only a limited tolerance for novelty. Contrary to the common image of scientific progress as a continuous series of discoveries, Kuhn shows it’s actually the progress of paradigms towards ever greater precision. Progress in normal science thus does not aim at novelty but the enrichment of the …

1
Can Science Be Complete? Thomas Kuhn, Progress, and the Eschatology of Science 52:26

1+ y ago52:26

52:26

The longing for a complete science is one of the great dreams of modernity. Is such a complete science possible, and can Kuhn’s idea of a paradigm help us realize it? This episode explores the origins and power of the search for completeness and unity in Western science, and reveals the unexpected spiritual origins of this ideal. Ep. 4, The Structu…

1
What is a Paradigm? Normal Science and Pseudo-Science 52:11

1+ y ago52:11

52:11

Thomas Kuhn coined the concept of a paradigm to describe the unique achievement of science. Since Kuhn, the terms “paradigm” and “paradigm shift” have entered into popular culture, but what really is a paradigm? How does it connect to normal science? And can it help us distinguish real science from pseudo-science? All these questions, and more, are…

1
The Revolution is History: Kuhn and the History of Science 46:11

1+ y ago46:11

46:11

Thomas Kuhn argued that history would change our image of science, causing a revolution we are still unprepared to face. This Kuhnian revolution challenges traditional epistemology by arguing we must look to science itself to understand how knowledge develops, and looking to science demands facing history. This episode of my course on Kuhn’s The St…

1
Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: An Introduction 41:30

1+ y ago41:30

41:30

What is Science? What happened in the Scientific Revolution? How does Science progress? Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is the most influential book in the history and philosophy of science, addressing these and other key questions. This public series offers an introduction to this major work and includes a discussion of Kuhn'…

1
How to Become an Individual: The Eternal in Kierkegaard 1:02:08

1+ y ago1:02:08

1:02:08

On Nov. 11, 1855, after an astoundingly rich yet brief life, Søren Aabye Kierkegaard died. He requested his epitaph read simply: “That Individual.” The “single individual” is the soul of Kierkegaard’s work, but what does it mean to become an individual? This final episode of Kierkegaard: The Poet of Existence, explores the mystery of freedom and tr…

1
October 7: Why Antisemitism is a Global Philosophical Problem and an Existential Crisis 1:05:49

1+ y ago1:05:49

1:05:49

As a philosopher and scholar who writes about Christian-Jewish relations and modern German thought, I offer in this lecture an analysis of antisemitism as a philosophical problem, show its global scope, and explore its historical and existential significance as a threat to any vision of universal human flourishing. Referenced Materials Becoming Hum…

1
Existential Ontology, Consumer Capitalism, & The Religious Stage | The Poet of Existence, Ep. 7 49:23

1+ y ago49:23

49:23

Kierkegaard's theory of the three stages of life, the aesthetic, ethical, and religious offers profound insight into the existential realities of human life. Building on the prior two episodes on the aesthetic and ethical stages, this episode explores the meaning of the religious phase by exhibiting existential ontology in relationship to sexual an…

1
Kierkegaard's Theory of Stages: Fear and Trembling & The Ethical Stage | The Poet of Existence, Ep. 6 38:42

1+ y ago38:42

38:42

Fear and Trembling is the most famous book by Kierkegaard, but to understand it we have to understand his theory of stages. This episode explores the ethical stage and illustrates it through Fear and Trembling and Judge Wilhelm of Either /Or. Additional topics covered include esotericism in philosophy, romantic marriage, the erotic sphere, the reli…

1
Kierkegaard's Theory of Stages: The Aesthetic Stage | The Poet of Existence, Ep. 5 56:56

2y ago56:56

56:56

Kierkegaard is famous for his theory of the three stages on life's way, the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious. Though much discussed, the stages are enigmatic and confusing to many readers. This episode outlines the nature of the theory of stages in its profound significance, and it introduces the aesthetic phase and its emphasis on possibi…

1
Kierkegaard and the Irony of Existence: From Existentialism to Modernism | The Poet of Existence: Ep. 4 50:50

2y ago50:50

50:50

On Sept 29 1841, Søren Kierkegaard defended a genre-bending dissertation at the University of Copenhagen. Both rigorous scholarship and dazzling literary genius, Kierkegaard’s The Concept of Irony, with Continual Reference to Socrates is the first major work in Kierkegaard’s authorship. Laying the foundation for his future pseudonymous works, the d…

1
Kierkegaard and Existentialism: A Spiritual Revolution | The Poet of Existence: Ep. 3 41:54

2y ago41:54

41:54

Welcome to Episode Three: Kierkegaard and Existentialism: A Spiritual Revolution, where I explore the complex character of Existentialism as a spiritual revolution connected to ancient philosophy. Often called the "Father of Existentialism," Kierkegaard is essential for understanding the rise of Existentialism, its nature, and why it has so deeply …

1
The Genius of Kierkegaard | The Poet of Existence: Ep. 2 48:23

2+ y ago48:23

48:23

Welcome to Episode Two: The Genius of Kierkegaard, where I explore the idea of genius, our discomfort and fascination with it, and why genius is important for understanding Kierkegaard. Series Description Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher and religious thinker, created one of the most consequential bodies of writing in human history. One of…

1
Why Does Kierkegaard Matter? | The Poet of Existence: Ep. 1 35:24

2+ y ago35:24

35:24

Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher and religious thinker, created one of the most consequential bodies of writing in human history. One of the greatest literary writers, he is also widely regarded as the most important philosophers and theologians to create much of the 20th century: movements like existentialism, modern theology, and even fo…

1
Makoto Fujimura on Art and Faith: Explorations, Ep. 4 1:09:58

2+ y ago1:09:58

1:09:58

Makoto Fujimura is an internationally recognized artist who has developed a unique fusion of traditional Japanese painting, Nihonga, with abstract expressionism. A leading writer, speaker, and thinker on the intersection of art, faith, and culture, Fujimura published Art and Faith: A Theology of Making, with Yale University Press in 2021. In this c…

1
Are We Alone? Harvard's Avi Loeb on ET, Astrophysics, and the Future of Humanity: Explorations, Ep. 3 45:35

3y ago45:35

45:35

Harvard Astrophysicist Avi Loeb discusses his book, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, which lays out his scientific hypothesis that 'Oomuamua, the first interstellar object detected in our solar system, is likely equipment from an Extraterrestrial civilization. We discuss the state of science, why it has been closed…

1
The Modern Crisis of Choice | Explorations: Ep. 2 25:21

3+ y ago25:21

25:21

Freedom without choice is an illusion, but choice is not freedom. This episode features the first part of my series on how modernity traps us by increasing meaningless choices while destroying our freedom. Learning why we have so many choices is the first step towards accepting out situation, then transforming it with philosophy as a way of life.…

1
The Revolution of the Electric Word | Explorations: Ep. 1 41:20

3+ y ago41:20

41:20

Since the modern age is over and modernity is a myth, what comes next? This episode offers a history of the current revolution in our greatest knowledge technology: the decline of literary and the rise of a new Aural Age. To respond to the end of reading, we need a new vision of philosophy and education. Welcome to the Becoming Human Project.…

1
Ep. 3: Jesus the Philosopher? A Jewish Revolution 42:15

5y ago42:15

42:15

No single person has shaped history more than an obscure Jewish teacher who was executed by the Roman empire. Today, we know him as a god, a myth, a savior. In fact, he was the greatest philosopher of his time: Jesus of Nazareth. Becoming Human: Origins Samuel Loncar, Ph.D. (Yale)

1
Ep.2: The Myth of Secular Philosophy: Socrates as a Religious Martyr 51:18

5y ago51:18

51:18

Socrates is perhaps our most famous philosopher. But his life and death defy our dominant ideas of reason and religion. By paying the ultimate price for his philosophy, Socrates became the West's first great religious martyr, changing his world, and ours. Becoming Human: Origins Samuel Loncar, Ph.D. (Yale)…

1
Ep. 1: Religious Atheists: Philosophy's Untold Story 40:27

5y ago40:27

40:27

This episode exposes modern myths about philosophy, religion, and science. To see the truth about ourselves and our culture, we need to recognize Socrates for who he really was: a religious revolutionary. Becoming Human: Origins Samuel Loncar, Ph.D. (Yale)

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Samuel Loncar, PhD Podcasts

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