“Nietzsche said ‘amor fati’ is how he’s going to live his life. Henceforth, he decided everything he’s going to say yes to. He will be a yes-sayer, is what he says. This is an affirmative stance towards reality where, even if things are bad or uncomfortable or horrible, we’re going to affirm reality as it is and not idealize it into something that it’s not. It’s very common for people to do, even when they’re not religious, is to think of reality as though it owes you something. But to affirm reality fully is to accept the good, the bad. It’s not to rationalize about it and to try to make excuses for it or frame your suffering in a way where it makes it go away. To truly affirm life and reality is just to be in it and to have life itself be enough, truly.”
— Stephen West

Stephen West (@iamstephenwest) is a father, husband, and host of the Philosophize This! podcast. He attempts to explain, translate, and humanize philosophy in a way that doesn’t ever aim to tell people what to think but to invite them to better understand their own thoughts by exploring alternatives.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

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Want to hear another podcast episode focusing on philosophy and the nature of reality? Listen to my conversation with Galileo’s Error author Philip Goff in which we discussed panpsychism, quantum consciousness, Integrated Information Theory, mystical traditions within Christianity and Islam, psychedelics and numinous experiences, the matter of matter, and much more.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

• Connect with Stephen West/Philosophize This!:

Website | Patreon | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Podcasts and Radio Shows

Books, Articles, and Written Works

Advantageous Apps and Resources

Art

People

• Dave Elitch: Professional drummer.
• Thomas Chatterton Williams: Writer (The Atlantic article).
• Ernest Hemingway: Writer.
• Adam Carolla: Radio host (Loveline).
• Dr. Drew Pinsky: Radio host (Loveline).
• Howard Stern: Radio host.
• Socrates: Ancient Greek philosopher.
• Plato: Ancient Greek philosopher.
• Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson: Writer, poet, lecturer, and philosopher.
• Jimmy Whisenhunt: eSports shoutcaster friend of Stephen’s.
• John Madden: An professional American football coach and sports commentator.
• Dan Carlin: Podcaster (Hardcore History).
• General Subutai: Historical figure.
• Dave Chappelle: Comedian.
• Miles Davis: Musician.
• Dizzy Gillespie: Musician.
• Peter Adamson: Podcaster/philosopher (History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps).
• Bill Burr: Comedian.
• Fyodor Dostoevsky: Writer.
• Epicurus: Hellenistic philosopher, founder of Epicureanism.
• Seneca: Stoic philosopher (Letters from a Stoic, On Anger).
• Henry Shukman: Meditation teacher (The Way app).
• Kevin Rose: aka KevKev. Introduced me to Henry Shukman.
• Friedrich Nietzsche: Philosopher associated with amor fati.
• Bertrand Russell: Philosopher and logician associated with atheist arguments.
• Vincent Van Gogh: Artist.
• Richard Dawkins: Writer/biologist, associated with New Atheism (The God Delusion).
• Sam Harris: Writer/philosopher/neuroscientist, associated with New Atheism (The Moral Landscape, Letter to a Christian Nation).
• Søren Kierkegaard: 19th-century philosopher.
• Simone Weil: 20th-century philosopher/mystic, major influence on Stephen West, concept of “attention.”
• Simon Blackburn: Contemporary philosopher (Think), concept of “conceptual engineering.”
• Paracelsus: Historical figure (source of “dose makes the poison” idea).
• Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosopher (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus).
• Diogenes: Cynic philosopher.
• Gilles Deleuze: 20th-century philosopher.
• Mahatma Gandhi: Leader.
• Jack Kornfield: Buddhist teacher/writer.
• Albert Camus: Writer/artist/philosopher associated with Absurdism.
• William B. Irvine: Writer (Guide to the Good Life).
• Ryan Holiday: Writer (The Obstacle is the Way).
• Julian of Norwich: Mystic writer.
• Dogen Zenji: Founder of the Soto school of Zen.
• Thomas Aquinas: Philosopher and theologian.
• Henry David Thoreau: Writer/philosopher (Walden).
• Rolf Potts: Writer (Vagabonding).
• Jean-Paul Sartre: Philosopher (Being and Nothingness).
• Isaac Newton: Scientist and natural philosopher (Principia Mathematica).
• Adam Smith: Ethical philosopher and economist (The Wealth of Nations).
• Kanye West: Musician.

Institutions and Companies

Philosophical Concepts

• Absurdism: Philosophical concept associated with Camus that addresses the conflict between the human search for meaning and the universe’s meaninglessness.
• Amor Fati: (“Love of Fate”) Philosophical concept, notably used by Nietzsche, that involves embracing all aspects of one’s life, including hardships and suffering.
• Assemblage: Deleuzian concept describing dynamic compositions of heterogeneous elements that form temporary functional wholes through processes of coding and territorialization.
• Attention: Concept from Simone Weil involving self-emptying focus on others, described as a form of waiting and receptivity rather than active concentration.
• Conceptual Engineering: Metaphor for philosophy (Simon Blackburn) involving the analysis, assessment and improvement of concepts.
• Conceptual Tracings: Idea of forming new ways to see reality through the development and refinement of concepts.
• Concepts vs. Machines: Deleuzian distinction between abstract thought forms and functional assemblages that produce effects.
• Cynicism: Hellenistic school of philosophy focused on living virtuously in accordance with nature and rejecting conventional desires.
• Deliberate Practice: Focused approach to skill development requiring specific goals, feedback, and concentrated effort.
• Disruption of Common Sense: Description of philosophy’s function to challenge accepted ways of thinking and unexamined assumptions.
• Divine: Concept related to ultimate reality/God and the transcendent qualities that exist beyond ordinary experience.
• Epistemology: Branch of philosophy focused on the theory of knowledge, examining how we know what we know and the justification of belief.
• Ethics: Branch of philosophy concerning moral principles, values, and the concepts of right and wrong conduct.
• Epicureanism: Hellenistic school of philosophy founded by Epicurus that emphasized the pursuit of pleasure (defined as absence of pain) and tranquility.
• Fascism: Political philosophy/system characterized by ultranationalism, authoritarian power, and suppression of opposition.
• Freedom: Philosophical concept concerning the ability to act according to one’s will without constraint or coercion.
• Lucid Revolt: Camus’s concept of rebelling against the Absurd through conscious recognition and defiance without false hope.
• Marxism: Political/economic philosophy developed by Karl Marx that analyzes class relationships, historical materialism, and critique of capitalism.
• Mysticism: Approach to spirituality emphasizing direct experience of ultimate reality beyond ordinary understanding.
• Narcissism: Psychological/philosophical concept involving excessive self-love, self-centeredness, and lack of empathy for others.
• Natural Philosophy: Historical precursor to modern science focused on understanding nature through philosophical inquiry.
• New Atheism: 21st-century movement critical of religion, characterized by scientific rationalism and public criticism of religious belief.
• New Rich: Concept from The 4-Hour Workweek describing people who prioritize lifestyle design over traditional wealth accumulation.
• Numinous: Concept relating to awe-inspiring spiritual/divine quality that evokes both fascination and fear.
• Out of Africa Theory: The most widely accepted model explaining the origin and spread of modern humans.
• Phenomenology: Philosophical movement focusing on structures of experience and consciousness from the first-person perspective.
• Philosophical Fiction: Literary genre that explores philosophical ideas through narrative storytelling.
• Philosophy: The discipline itself, concerned with fundamental questions about knowledge, reality, existence, and values.
• Philosophy of Language: Branch of philosophy examining the nature of language, meaning, and the relationship between language and reality.
• Philosophy of Mind: Branch of philosophy exploring the nature of mind, consciousness, and their relationship to the physical world.
• Presocratics: Earliest Western philosophers who investigated nature and reality before Socrates, laying foundations for philosophical inquiry.
• Religious Phenomenology: Study of religious experience from a phenomenological perspective, focusing on how the sacred appears to consciousness.
• Sanbo Zen: A specific lineage/style of Zen Buddhism emphasizing direct experience of enlightenment through meditation.
• Skepticism: Hellenistic school of philosophy questioning the possibility of certainty in knowledge and suspending judgment.
• Stoicism: Hellenistic school of philosophy focused on virtue ethics, emotional regulation, and accepting what is beyond one’s control.
• Sufism: Mystical branch of Islam emphasizing direct personal experience of God through practices like meditation and poetry.
• Transcendentalism: A literary, philosophical, religious, and political movement of the early 19th century.
• Zen: School of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing meditation, intuition, and direct experience of reality beyond conceptual thinking.

SHOW NOTES

• [00:00:00] So it begins.
• [00:06:11] Stephen’s challenging childhood — from San Diego to Child Protective Services.
• [00:07:55] How Stephen supported himself after dropping out of school at 16.
• [00:09:37] The physical wear and tear of warehouse work (and unexpected upsides of the job).
• [00:11:48] How Stephen discovered philosophy through googling “wisest person in history.”
• [00:14:07] Defining philosophy as a “disruption of common sense” and “gym for rethinking.”
• [00:16:06] The 4-Hour Workweek as a philosophical text.
• [00:19:27] A philosophical shift around Ralph Waldo Emerson.
• [00:22:18] The transition from warehouse work to starting Philosophize This! with friendly encouragement.
• [00:27:47] Authenticity as the secret sauce to Philosophize This!
• [00:32:24] The discomfort of comparing old episodes with new.
• [00:34:15] The current state of Philosophize This!: 225 episodes, Patreon, ads, upcoming book deal.
• [00:37:18] The value of focusing on content quality before monetization.
• [00:38:44] Most popular Philosophize This! episodes thus far.
• [00:40:00] Philosophize This! episodes I’d like to hear.
• [00:41:20] Thinking of philosophy as a verb, not a noun.
• [00:46:44] The concept of amor fati (love of fate) and its practical application.
• [00:48:41] Wittgenstein’s ladder as a metaphor for philosophical growth.
• [00:51:36] Stephen’s perspective on philosophy as a process rather than a set of protocols.
• [00:54:43] Philosophies that have personal meaning to Stephen: Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Simone Weil.
• [00:56:40] Simone Weil’s concept of attention and self-emptying.
• [00:59:26] Stephen’s approach to simplicity and sacrificing efficiency for meaning.
• [01:04:07] Valuing time and playing the long game.
• [01:06:01] How philosophy lives “in the shadow” of what we give credit to (science, psychology).
• [01:08:31] The value of philosophy in generating better questions.
• [01:10:06] Stephen’s future plans: possibly writing philosophical fiction.
• [01:19:05] Stephen’s billboard.
• [01:21:41] Recommendations for getting started with philosophy.
• [01:24:29] Gilles Deleuze and concepts as machines.
• [01:26:55] Why do we believe what we believe?
• [01:30:40] Stephen’s evolving relationship with religion after starting as a New Atheist.
• [01:32:33] Exploring mysticism and religious phenomenology.
• [01:37:51] Parting thoughts.

MORE STEPHEN WEST QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Why do we need old men yelling at each other about unverifiable speculation? Why do you need philosophy? And what that point misses is that philosophy is how we got to the point where we’re looking at the world in the way we do now.”
— Stephen West

“I don’t give advice, because if a person is asking for advice, typically, they’re not the person that really takes the advice — so it’s almost always a waste of your time. But if you’re the one that genuinely takes advice, and it’s ironically me giving you advice to be the one that takes advice, but if you can do that, if you can manage that, then you won’t need advice here in six months — you’ll be the one giving it.”
— Stephen West

“The highest level of abstraction in any field is going to be philosophy. If you’re somebody well-educated … at the top of your field, in order to make progress in that field, you have to subvert the existing set of protocols and assumptions, axiomatically, that are going on in that field. To move the field forward, you have to be doing philosophy.”
— Stephen West

“I really do sacrifice efficiency for meaning pretty often.”
— Stephen West

“You don’t need to be a genius. You just need to be saying something that resonates with other people.”
— Stephen West

“Simon Blackburn … describes philosophy as conceptual engineering. It’s a great metaphor. If an engineer looks at a bridge and they know about the raw materials of the bridge and they know how they connect to other parts of the bridge and everything, if you can show an engineer one bridge, a particular bridge, and he’d be like, ‘Well, it holds weight over here, but if we put weight over on this side, it’s going to all start crumbling down.’ Philosophers do this with world views.”
— Stephen West

“A way I’ve heard [philosophy] described is it’s the disruption of common sense. I mean, what is looking at the world at all? It’s an approximation. We are works in progress. I look at the world one way for a while, and everybody knows what it’s like to change the way that you see everything in the world. I just think that philosophy is the method of doing that.”
— Stephen West

“Nietzsche said ‘amor fati’ is how he’s going to live his life. Henceforth, he decided everything he’s going to say yes to. He will be a yes-sayer, is what he says. This is an affirmative stance towards reality where, even if things are bad or uncomfortable or horrible, we’re going to affirm reality as it is and not idealize it into something that it’s not. It’s very common for people to do, even when they’re not religious, is to think of reality as though it owes you something. But to affirm reality fully is to accept the good, the bad. It’s not to rationalize about it and to try to make excuses for it or frame your suffering in a way where it makes it go away. To truly affirm life and reality is just to be in it and to have life itself be enough, truly.”
— Stephen West

The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.