Time to pick the next video topic!

Since I'm still working on my book, and I don't want you to have to wait too long for a new video, I came up with a few video topics that I'm already somewhat read up on, so that I wouldn't need to do an overwhelming amount of research, and make my next video more quickly.

The options:

1) Here I would point out some problems with certain common-sense or liberal views of freedom, and discuss a couple of different philosophers' definitions of freedom. I’d probably introduce Isaiah Berlin’s distinction between negative and positive freedom, and bring up at least 3 different thinkers who have positive understandings of freedom (I’m thinking Spinoza, Hegel, Nietzsche). The discussion would be relatively abstract but I could probably connect these views of freedom to some of their social/political implications.

2) This would be another video addressing a common misrepresentation of Marx - kind of a sequel to my videos on why Marx was not a “statist”, and why he wasn’t an “egalitarian”. It’s an all-too-popular cliché to say that Marx opposed the individual in favour of the collective. I would refer to Marx’s writings to show his ideal of individual self-development, and discuss how the typical dichotomy between the individual and the collective is for Marx a false one, as the individual can only affirm themselves through their participation in a community.

3) Throughout its history, Western philosophy has often marginalized, undermined or denigrated the bodily/corporeal, in favour of the superiority of some form of soul/spirit/mind. I would bring up Nietzsche as one of the biggest opponents of this tendency, discussing the way in which he made the body central to his thought, and I could connect it to the personal details of Nietzsche’s own life, namely the various bodily ailments he suffered throughout his life. I could also discuss this more specifically in terms of pain and suffering, although I'm not yet sure if that's an angle I would take.

4) I’m not sure about the exact angle I would take with this video. It could be a general introduction to Schopenhauer’s aesthetics and then the ways in which Nietzsche’s views departed from his, although that's a big topic and could be divided into smaller sub-topics. I would briefly explain the Kantian background to Schopenhauer’s aesthetic views, and talk about what the function and meaning of genuine aesthetic experience is for Schopenhauer. In contrasting his views with Nietzsche’s, I would most likely talk about tragic drama, which both Schopenhauer and Nietzsche found to be the greatest form of art, but for different reasons. I would explain how their views on art are opposed in terms of how they view the will, and by extension life.

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P.S. Since I've already been reading lots of Marx & Nietzsche anyway, If there are particular topics or questions you are interested in with regards to Nietzsche and/or Marx, please let me know, as I could work it into one of these videos, or maybe even make a whole new video about if the topic works well.

Thank you!!!