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

“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.”
With these words, Immanuel Kant reminds us that morality stands next to the infinite.

But do we really have a moral law within us?

Raskolnikov, in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, tests this law by asking:
“Why not kill one harmful person for the good of many?”
No answer satisfies him — yet the law still crushes him.

Today, we’ll explore this tension through Schopenhauer, who grounds ethics in egoism and compassion, and Kant, who finds it in duty and freedom — before returning to Raskolnikov, the man who tried to become a god and fell before the law.

Ethics isn’t in the stars. It lives here, in every choice we make.

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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