In the last episode, we talked about existentialism and the idea that “existence precedes essence.” In this way of looking at the world, we are born prior to having an essential character: there is no purpose necessarily assigned to our lives, no meaning, no fundamental part to our being or soul at all, except for that which we give to them ourselves.

It seems like a rather bold anti-religious attitude to take. Friedrich Nietzsche certainly took that direction, as we discussed, in his conflict with the church. Nietzsche believed we should focus on matters of fact of what we know to be reality rather than the religious teachings and promises of other men in the supernatural. His concept of the Ubermensch is someone who has risen beyond the search for meaning in the afterlife and has instead chosen to find meaning in the world…

What is consciousness? What is this experience I'm having of being myself, recording audio and sipping scotch whisky? Why are you aware of yourself listening to my voice right now?

It's kind of spooky, isn't it? What are you, some kind of little person inside your own head looking out at the world? That you or I are experiencing the world at all is inexplicable when you start to examine what exactly that experience is. Why, for example, couldn't we live out our lives as happy little creatures completely lacking in subjective experience? Is there a deeper meaning to consciousness, and life in general?…