Welcome to Empyreon Academy, a podcast for lovers of wisdom and life.
I’m Ivan, a PhD candidate in philosophy and founder of Empyreon Academy.

Today we turn to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel — a philosopher famous for his complexity, yet here, he does something unexpected:
he declares himself an enemy of abstract thinking.

In his short essay “Who Thinks Abstractly?”, Hegel flips our assumptions upside down.
Abstract thinking, he argues, isn’t the mark of philosophers or intellectuals — it’s something ordinary people do every day, often without knowing it.

We’ll explore three core ideas:
🧠 The Misunderstanding — why “abstract” isn’t what most people think.
🪞 Who Thinks Abstractly — how judgment and reduction reveal a narrow way of seeing.
☀️ Seeing the Whole — how simple compassion can shatter abstraction and restore humanity.

Hegel’s lesson is sharp and timeless: to think concretely is to see the full picture — not just the label.

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Hi, I’m Ivan, PhD fellow at the University of Freiburg and I'm also the founder of Empyreon Academy.To join our community and download FREE content you can subscribe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

To watch my YouTube videos: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠empyreonacademy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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About Empyreon Academy:

1. Our primary aim is to equip individuals with the intellectual tools needed to develop their thinking by engaging in dialogue with the greatest minds in history.

2. Our secondary goal is to create a community where people can share their deep understanding for the benefit of everyone.

What We Offer:

1. Online Courses – Covering a wide range of topics in philosophy and the fine arts, our courses are distinguished by their philosophical depth. We emphasize dialogue, enabling students to critically engage, discuss, and think alongside influential authors.

2. Conferences – Every three months, we host free, live online conferences, designed to welcome a wide audience and encourage meaningful participation.

3. Magazine – We regularly publish thoughtful book reviews, philosophical articles, and curated reading recommendations.

Who We Are:

We are an international team of scholars and educators, each specialized in different authors and traditions. What unites us is a shared passion for philosophy and the arts, and a commitment to guiding others on their own path of inquiry.

To echo the spirit of this approach:

“In short, the student should not learn thoughts, but should learn to think. The philosophy teacher should not carry him, but guide him…” – Immanuel Kant

“Learning to see – accustoming the eye to calmness, to patience, to letting things come to you…” – Friedrich Nietzsche