Professor Bradley J. Birzer
With this set of lectures, Birzer considers the libertarian and humane essence of western civilization and mythology. That is, he asks exactly how human freedom is related to the stories we tell ourselves. In doing so, he considers the role of free will, the nature of man, the nature of man in community, and the relationship of the free individual with the divine (whether gods or God). A mini course in the great ideas of western civilization—in its Ancient and Medieval history and cultures—Birzer happily glides through the thoughts of the first Greek philosophers, Socrates, Homer, Cicero, Virgil, Sts. John, Paul, and Augustine, and Dante.
- Why Mythology Matters
- Logos and Mythos
- Heraclitus and Stoicism
- Zeno and Stoicism
- Virgil and George Washington
- Virgil and Livy
- Cicero and the Natural Law
- Cicero and the Natural Law, Part II
- Sanctifying the Pagan
- The City of God and the Divine Comedy
- Why Tolkien Despised Democracy
- Tolkien and Imagination
- Tolkien and World War I
- Tolkien and Mythology I
- Tolkien and Mythology II
- Tolkien and Free Will
- Tolkien and Heroism
