Professor Kozlowski Lectures

Professor Kozlowski welcomes his new students to the summer session of the Philosophy of Love and Friendship...with a two-hour long lecture about how the class is going to work.Enjoy!

Today, apropos of nothing, Professor Kozlowski tackles one of his favorite books: Joseph Heller's popular, stylish, satirical masterpiece - Catch-22. We'll look at its legacy, its themes, and the message it offers to our own absurd systemic hellscape here in 2025. (And maybe one day we'll tackle some other favorite re-reads as well!)If you want more lectures like this, contribute to the Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowskiOr go visit my website! - https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ - to see what else I'm up to!

Professor Kozlowski, concluding his serious of insanely ambitious General Humanities I videos, attempts to cram the whole thousand-year history of Medieval Europe into ninety minutes.

Professor Kozlowski concludes his General Humanities lecture series with an analysis of two Medieval lays - Sir Orfeo and Sir Launfal. Here we'll see how the Medieval writers adapt and understand the pagan traditions underlying their own culture as a part of their Christian faith.

Professor Kozlowski here expresses his very limited knowledge and very uninformed interpretation of the Qu'ran, especially as it pertains to Jews, Christians, and the afterlife. He then goes on to explore Ibn Sina's thoughts on the afterlife as presented in The Book of Healing. None of this should be considered authoritative or rooted in expertise. Professor Kozlowski is absolutely still a novice in his study of Islam and Islamic theology, and this very much represents an interested outsider searching for and speculating about context, rather than an informed opinion. But it's better than nothing, hopefully

Professor Kozlowski wanders well out of his comfort zone and scholarly experience to discuss the history of the two great powers of the medieval world: the Byzantine (Roman) Empire and the Islamicate World. He apologizes for the roughness of his knowledge and understanding, but hopes that he can help make this discussion a more integral part of the study of world history.

Today Professor Kozlowski tackles another favorite philosophical work in Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy - a foundational text of medieval Christian philosophy and one of the most articulate discussions of virtue, the character of God, and the Problem of Evil in Christianity's history.

Professor Kozlowski tackles the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount, the veiled allusions of the Kingdom of Heaven parables, and the moral quandary of identifying hypocrisy in the Gospel of Matthew.

Professor Kozlowski takes a stab at unraveling one of the most famously knotty wisdom texts in the Old Testament: Ecclesiastes. Is it wisdom? Is it nihilism? Does it have a pat moral? Let's find out.

Professor Kozlowski tempts the wrath of the Internet by discussing the history of Judaism and Christianity by recounting the major events and themes of the Christian Bible. Along the way we'll revisit some important moments in ancient history, bump into some early Christian heresies, and talk about different perspectives on Christian teaching. ...hopefully without starting any flame wars... If you have good-faith follow-up questions about any of these topics, feel free to e-mail me at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com

Professor Kozlowski tackles the classic of 2nd century stoicism, Epictetus' Enchiridion. Along the way we'll discuss the virtues (and vices) of stoicism, outline its similarities to Buddhism, and contextualize the stoics against the Roman political world in which it developed - and the contemporary world that it continues to influence and shape.

Professor Kozlowski somehow crams everything a General Humanities student needs to know about Plato and Aristotle into one hour-and-a-half-long lecture. Which is nonsense. Go read more Plato and Aristotle.

Professor Kozlowski takes on a triple threat of Bronze-Age(ish) underworld stories, namely: The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Inana's Descent to the Underworld (Sumerian), and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Along the way, we'll try to make some sense and find patterns among these dense, difficult, and disparate texts, and set the foundation for the later Greek and Roman (and Christian) understandings of the Underworld to come.

Professor Kozlowski kicks off his historical study in General Humanities I with a survey of the ancient Bronze Age cultures of the Near East (Babylon, Egypt, and Greece), as well as their legacies and inheritors in the wake of the Bronze Age Collapse.

Professor Kozlowski concludes his week-long analysis of Homer with an examination of Achilles through the last chapters of the Iliad and his reappearance in the Odyssey.

Professor Kozlowski tackles the Iliad and Odyssey from a bird's eye perspective, looking at the trajectory of Achilles' rage and his missteps in the search for honor.

Professor Kozlowski discusses the syllabus and expectations for the Spring 2025 section of General Humanities 1.

Professor Kozlowski kicks off his series on Pre-Socratic Philosophy with an examination of the forerunners to Pre-Socratic philosophy: Greek and Babylonian mythological traditions like Homer, Hesiod, and the Orphics; odd ducks like Pherecydes; and some questions about what does and does not constitute "philosophy" proper. If you liked this lecture, please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/ProfessorKozlowski For more of Professor Kozlowski's Internet Doings, please visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com

Today we're talking about...money. A lot has happened in the past few months, and Professor Kozlowski Lectures has a very uncertain future. Today we'll discuss that uncertainty, what projects we hope to attempt in the next year, and what you can do to help that process. Specifically, contribute to the Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/c/ProfessorKozlowski Or go visit my website! - https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ Or Like, Share, and Subscribe! Every little bit helps - I'd like to dedicate more of my time and energy to these projects, and the more money you contribute, the more possible that becomes!

Professor Kozlowski produces an odd, unfocused lecture for an odd, unfocused topic.

Professor Kozlowski goes over the syllabus for the online Summer '24 session of Love and Friendship.

CW: Suicide and Mental Illness Professor Kozlowski concludes his discussion of Goethe's The Sufferings of Young Werther by examining the causes (and the effects) of Werther's death. Goethe's treatment of Werther's case is careful and multifaceted - we'll look at some of the different perspectives Goethe offers us for understanding why Werther kills himself, and how we should interpret this act.

CW: Mental Illness and Suicide Professor Kozlowski discusses the first half of Goethe's The Sufferings of Young Werther, including character introductions, an examination of typically Romantic characteristics, and discussion of mental illness and suicide.

Professor Kozlowski examines the final speech of Plato's Symposium and examines some of the *many* ways it might be interpreted as a contribution to Plato's understanding of love.

At long last, it's time to hear Socrates' justly-famous theory of love.

Professor Kozlowski takes on the justly famous speech-myth of Aristophanes and how it appeals to modern audiences. (Also Eryximachus and Agathon...)

Professor Kozlowski discusses the opening and first two speeches of Plato's Symposium, examining not just the content of the speeches, but the context Plato offers to provide depth to the characters' understanding.

In our first Patron-requested topic of the summer, Professor Kozlowski throws caution to the winds and addresses the contemporary state of American Christianity in politics and society: How did we get here? Why do Christians believe what they believe? Are these beliefs consistent? Can these convictions be changed, and how might we go about changing them? To challenge Professor Kozlowski to a duel, threaten his well being, or otherwise demand that he stop making podcasts, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. (I'm not really worried. I assume I'm too boring and long-winded to make anyone really mad at me.)

A brief discussion of what you can expect from Professor Kozlowski Lectures in the coming months and years. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.

Professor Kozlowski concludes his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons and his series on Russian Nihilism. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.

Time to party with the Demons. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.

Finally we get to see Pyotr Stepanovich bustle about and put his dubious plans into motion. Today Professor Kozlowski contrasts the careers and adventures of Pyotr Stepanovich and Stavrogin, examines the literary origins of each, and considers the censored "At Tikhon's" chapter as it reflects on our understanding of these characters.

Professor Kozlowski continues his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons by deeply examining the newly-revealed characters of Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin and Pyotor Stepanovich through their interactions with many of the other radicals and townfolk. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.

Professor Kozlowski continues his discussion of Dostoevsky's Demons with an examination of many of the minor characters introduced so far, and how their relationships are revealed, piecemeal, through careful details and subtle interactions. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.

Today Professor Kozlowski discusses the first two chapters of Dostoevsky's Demons, introduces three of our primary characters, and connects them to their archetypes in 1860s Russian society. Also jokes. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.

Professor Kozlowski attempts to recount the developments in the Russian literary world between 1864 and 1871 (when Demons is written), including a brief summary of Crime and Punishment and its relevance to the literary representation of Russian Nihilism at the time. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com.

Professor Kozlowski tackles the second half of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, with special attention to exploring the references to 1840's Russian literature (and to Chernyshevsky's What is to Be Done?) found throughout this section. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

At long last, Professor Kozlowski confronts Dostoevsky's most widely discussed and controversial creation: Notes from Underground. Come for the tortured consciousness of the underground man, stay for the literary skullduggery and speculations about censorship. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

Professor Kozlowski muses on the Utopian hopes and missing realities of Chernyshevsky's promised revolution at the end of What is to Be Done? To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

Now that we've gotten all the rage sweats cleaned up, it's time for Professor Kozlowski to take a deep dive into Chernyshevsky's convictions and ideology, both to appreciate the merit of those convictions, and to examine the similarities between radical idealism of the 1860s in Russia and in the years since. Hopefully this will be a bit more even-handed than last time, but we're never going to have *no* angry biased grumpiness. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

Professor Kozlowski offers his first impressions of Chernyshevsky's What is to Be Done? Despite his efforts to be even-handed and charitable, there is still a great deal of hand-wringing, criticism, and outright swearing. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

To conclude his General Humanities class (again), Professor Kozlowski examines the broad-strokes legacy and theming of the James Bond franchise as an artifact of the Cold War and late Twentieth Century art and popular culture.

Professor Kozlowski concludes his examination of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons with a deep-dive look at Bazarov's painful relationship with his parents, his ignominious final acts (and death), and Turgenev's complicated relationship with Russian ideology, both within the novel, and as Russia reacted to it. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

Professor Kozlowski belatedly continues his General Humanities class with a brief-ish (and very insufficient) discussion of the Cold War and the Late Twentieth Century.

Professor Kozlowski introduces his General Humanities students to the peculiar nature of his grading system and the expectations for this semester's course.

Today Professor Kozlowski discusses the first eighteen chapters of Turgenev's landmark novel, Fathers and Sons - where Turgenev coined the term "nihilism". We'll discuss some of Turgenev's literary legacy, including his relationship to Dostoevsky, as well as examine the way that Turgenev's main character, Bazarov, walks the line between tragically human and ideologically monstrous. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

Our new series for spring 2024 is on Dostoevsky's Demons and the tumultuous state of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s that brought about some of Dostoevsky's most insightful work. Today we set the stage: Professor Kozlowski walks us through the Russian reforms of Peter the Great, the wars of Napoleon and his socio-political legacy, up to the early career of Dostoevsky himself - including the rival factions of Russian intellectuals in the 1850s. Next time - Turgenev's Fathers and Children and the origin of Russian "Nihilism"! To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

Professor Kozlowski closes his discussion of the Pentateuch with an examination of Deuteronomy: its disputed authorship, its review of events past, its new laws, and the conclusion to the story of Moses and the Exodus. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

Professor Kozlowski recounts and explores the latter half of the book of Numbers, including many new complications in the relationship between God and the Israelites as they wander the desert for forty years. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

Numbers is often maligned as a boring book about censuses and laws. But in this lecture, Professor Kozlowski explains the censuses and laws in terms of the story of God's maturing relationship with his people - the ups and downs and ugly practicalities of any relationship, and how Numbers is actually a compelling account of very human failings and maturation in faith. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.

Professor Kozlowski outlines the mixed bag of Levitical laws and prohibitions, taking time to discuss several of the major themes recurring throughout the book, including: the priority on conduct; the mysterious nature of holiness and its strange relationship to cleanliness and sin; and the divine requirements of faith implicit in the structure of holy festivals and sabbath years. To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ or contact him directly at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com. And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.