As a philosophy student, he makes understanding complex ideas much easier than most of my instructors. I find that when I am having difficulty in a class I’ll look for one of Mr. West’s previous podcasts to help explain things. Thanks. Keep 'em coming

Stephen does a great job making philosophy accessible to everyone without dumbing it down. No banter, no tangents, just high quality.

I may resubscribe at some point, maybe after the Zizak epoch has passed. Modern philosophy always seems to obtuse and yet derivative. The classics seem to convey much more clarity and meaning.

Not only is his topics interesting, but the delivery and flow keeps me engaged in active listening throughout the episode. Highly recommend!

Awesome podcast…but, the way the advertisements are input into the middle of the show is annoying and destroys the flow of thought.

Love this show 💪🏽 bringing me back to philosophy after college

Thanks and keep questioning everything and helping us to do the same!

Rupert Shortt What does Christian atheism mean? Slavoj Žižek claims to value Christianity’s ‘dissident’ credentials, but his atheist vision of reality rests on assumptions repeatedly challenged by Jesus Thoughts??

Thanks Mr. West, you are the philosophy professor we need, but don’t deserve.

What a fantastic episode to make me feel uncomfortable and unsure about my own actions in this post modern world.

Favorite Podcast

Just wanted to say that I bought his book freedom a disease without cure after listening to your podcasts about his ideas. It’s truly interesting and impressive how you turn complex ideas into something people can understand easily.

I love love LOVE this podcast. I’ve burned through all of his past episodes in a matter of a few months and I can’t get enough. West explains philosophy in a way that is clear and relatable without dumbing anything down. I love the way each episode makes me think of life from a new perspective and question my own way of thinking. If you have ANY interest in philosophy at all, I can’t recommend this podcast enough.

A podcast that changed my thinking and approach to life. I simply cannot recommend it enough. Stay amazing, Steve!

Just finished your four part anarchism series. Your analysis of the multiple perspectives made the series credibly insightful, though you never got the endpoint of anarcho- communism, which is Marx’s fourth stage, wherein the state melts away. Please consider a new episode or two on Hannah Arendt and her explanations on natality, plurality, and polity: on birth and beginning, on individuals as a composite individual in society, on Will and authority, individuals in communities, being responsible for and free in small community democracies to form governments that allude to the anarchism you explicate.

We would appreciate an episode on Tecno- feudalism ( coined by yannis Varufakis?)

Every time an episode comes out I’m so excited to listen! And then re-listen to make sure I understood it all, haha, no fault of the host because he is amazing and taking very complicated ideas and making them digestible and understandable. Better than any philosophy professor I’ve ever had. Thank you for doing this!!

Thank you so much for taking your time and energy to make us better human beings. We are all just running around being human ‘doings’ and not just being. And I mean ‘being’ as in becoming better versions of our selves for our own personal growth and how we show up for others. Thank you again for making philosophy palatable to my brain. U rock!

An incredible podcast, and to the guy who is mad about ads, please. This guy has been doing this for years, diligently, through patreon. Let him make money. Or how about: Pay $1 a month and get it without ads? lol.

I’ve always loved this podcast but the ads really kill it. It wouldn’t be so bad if they were only at the beginning, but having them throughout the show is really awful. It’s a shame he had to sell out.

This is a great place to start learning the ideas of philosophy!! Definitely grabbed my attention!!

Stephen, I heard you on Liza Powell O’Brien’s podcast. I am so amazed at your story, and the impressive endeavor that you took on! I immediately looked for your Podcast! I listened to it all day. I am really enjoying your delivery and the your methods of using analogies, historical examples, raltionships and comparison to make the content more comphrensive. I was would love to hear you speak to contemporary philosophers! Thank you so much for this well done podcast!

In my opinion, The show is put together well. Each episode brings something new and I’ve listened to all from the start.

I’ve listened in order from the first episode, and it has been tremendous. Each episode has been fascinating, insightful and fun. Each episode builds on the next, and you will soon know more than someone with a philosophy degree, and have more pleasure getting there. This man can make the most complex topics understandable, and he does not have an agenda. You can make up your own mind on each topic. Great stuff.

I took some philosophy courses in college and got something out of them, but nothing like this podcast. West has no discernible agenda other than to educate people on subjects that he clearly loves. While it may be fun to debate religion and politics with friends, you will soon learn that very little of what you think is original. Someone said it before more articulately than you. That’s been the wonder of this. This is the modern age, but all that has changed is our technology. We are not much different from thinkers who came thousands of years before us. Pretty fine...

Stephen does an excellent job of Steel-manning pretty much every philosopher/philosophy he covers. I usually come away thinking “oh now I get it! I agree with the ideas in THIS episode!” Only to say the same thing about the next episode that describes why the last episode was so wrong about so many of its claims. Plus, his sense of humor (which he uses somewhat sparsely but to great effect) and what appears to be genuine care for us the audience, just makes me want to hug him. -Proud patron

Stephen West has exposed me to so much philosophy that I would likely otherwise have been without. His research and ability to summarize deep thoughts in a conversational style is unique. Philosophize This! is a springboard into a deeply considered life.

I never thought philosophy would make my day better, but it does. There are so many aspects to this podcast and the content that resonate with me. I try to turn everyone into it. While not a self help podcast - just makes me feel better. So very interesting, well presented, easy to understand, humorous and detailed. My favourite podcast to listen to.

While West likes to modestly downplay his contributions to the understanding of various philosophical schools of thought, he’s really doing a great service by entertainingly explaining what these schools/movements/philosophers believe in an easily accessible way. His writing is sharp, his delivery warm and friendly, and even his sponsorships feel sincere. My kids and I listen to the show on the way to school and really enjoy it. Some of the topics go over my youngest’s head, but he appreciates West’s asides and analogies, which are humorous. Lots of people have explored these topics in “late night dorm room” discussions in college. As someone who generally falls asleep at 8pm, I never engaged in these (I’m also intellectually lazy), so even though I’m now in my 40s, I haven’t taken the opportunity to ponder some of the bigger questions that philosophers have tackled. Philosophize This! gives me the opportunity to grapple with some of those bigger ideas, and to apply them to modern society. It’s been eye opening, and wonderful. I highly recommend this show to everyone because there’s something for everyone here.

I wish everyone wanted to listen to this podcast.

This podcast made me want to become a philosopher.

Amazing discussions of modern philosophy. Worth the time

The most thought provoking podcast out there. I try to get my friends to listen so we can have some fundamentally social relevant conversations with some depth, but they don’t want to 😭 While every episode takes a minute to really connect the ideas to modernity, West does so in a way that makes you want to listen for me. Whether I agree with the views expressed or not is irrelevant because they always challenge me to challenge my own thinking.

Philosophy is one of those subjects that can be handled in a myriad of ways - debate, discussion, interview, and what may seem the least interesting - the explanation by one person. At least that is the way I felt until I came across Philosophize This, thanks to the recommendation of a coworker. Philosophize This has become my favorite podcast for a number of reasons. Among them are thorough explanations of key concepts without getting over the top geeky, the examination of philosophy not just in terms of concepts but also a deep dive into the people themselves (how did I never hear of the extraordinary Simone Weil before this) and, not to be overlooked, is the skill of Steven West in broadcasting basics. All of this combines to be what I think is the best philosophy based podcast today. Thank you Steven. I look forward to every episode.

Stephen West consistently delivers a quality podcast that is honest, reflective, relevant, and easy to understand. No bells and whistles, no sound effects, no annoying giggly sidekick, just philosophy. It’s beautiful.

topics discussed in this podcast are impactful and relevant. Enjoy listening and thanks

Thank you for your podcast. I’ve been listening to you for probably two years now and always look forward to the next episode. It’s refreshing to be able to here new and often opposing ideas to my traditional thinking. It helps me be curious about the world and society. I’m looking forward to your piece on Anarchy. Keep it up! -Port

The way you break down these complex philosophies is awesome and very entertaining. Please consider doing some episodes on Alan Watts.

I love this podcast! Stephen West is incredible at explaining difficult philosophical ideas. I came to this podcast because I was struggling with the big questions of life, and I was blown away by how amazing the content is. Thank you for all the time and effort you put in to make this podcast Stephen!!! :)

I’ve listened to every single episode of this podcast and it’s amazing. Have you ever heard they saying, “You don’t truly understand something unless you can explain it simply?” Well, Stephen West really understands his philosophy. I’ve learned more from this show than all of my college philosophy courses combined. The show is smart, witty, and informative. Seriously, if you haven’t listened to it yet, give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.

My absolute number one! Always come back to it

I always learn something, if not many things.

Thanks a lot for this amazing show.

I’ve taken so many college courses, and very few have been able to as clearly and succinctly teach as well as well as this man. I discovered the podcast by accident, but I cannot recommend it highly enough to everyone I talk to. Without a doubt, I have become a Patreon subscriber. Thank you very much.

Started this a little while ago and was really excited, but only a dozen or so episodes in and he already starts to be wise crack on people who are Atheist or Agnostic. Just completely acting like something is wrong with them for not believing in anything. Very disappointing.

steve are you alright？btw i love the podcast

This podcast is a beautiful thing

As society gets ever more complicated and it feels like this are uncertain, I try to look further and further back into history and the written word, to distill knowledge down to its simplest form, some kind of truth. It’s so wild to me to think that great thinkers / philosophers like Plato had such “modern” ideals of how government should operate but yet we still haven’t progressed much in those areas. I think everyone can benefit from learning the Socratic method of reasoning. I found that today in modern times people don’t even know WHAT questions to ask, let alone answers to problems involving the human condition, human suffering and human governance. The start is learning to reason and question through philosophy, some kind of truth will eventually follow but we need to start at square 1. Thank you for your service to humanity Steven West!

I really look forward to listening. Great podcast; the host clearly respects his audience and loves the topic.

I listen to this podcast all the time and it’s my absolute favorite. Stephen’s humor makes me laugh, and the content makes me stare at walls for hours on end. Every time we dive into a dense topic he’s come up with a modern day or familiar example that makes understanding it so much easier. It’s simply explained and each episode contains so much information. I really hope he never stops making new episodes and I look forward to them every week.