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June 27, 2025 15 mins
This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Middle Platonist philosopher and biographer Plutarch's essay On Being A Busybody This episode focuses specifically on one of the general practices he suggests to wean oneself away from this vice, namely deliberately redirecting one's attention from the usual objects of morbid curiosity towards better, or at least less bad objects. A person ought to focus on their own problems and troubles, not those of others, but they can also focus on the secrets of the natural world. If that's not interesting enough, and one needs something bad to stimulate, one can read those in histories or tragedies, rather than prying into the secrets of one's neighbors and contemporaries. You can find the copy of the text I am using for this sequence on Plutarch's On Being A Busybody here - https://amzn.to/3IcyoX5 To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler (Amazon links are associate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
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