Becoming Human Project
Philosophy as A Way of Life for Everyone
Becoming Human is born from a new story of the human that I live and share with others. The project brings my original research, lectures, and conversations with scientists, artists, thinkers, and writers to the widest possible audience through my YouTube, Substack, and podcast, Becoming Human: A Show for a Species in Transition.
Access LIVE Sunday Plato Project lectures in community, Sundays, 3.30pm EST ($100) + receive access to the Introduction to Philosophy series: The Soul, the World, the Gods: Introduction to Philosophy, Plato's Allegory of the Cave: Introduction to Aesthetics, Plato's Symposium: Eros, Magic, & Immortality: Introduction to Aesthetics ($75) + a paid Substack subscription ($87 value). Your annual membership helps make Dr. Loncar's public work accessible to everyone seeking a more meaningful life.
Upgrade Your Membership Experience
Live Sunday Zoom symposiums (3:30–5:30 pm EST) with Q&A and discussion, full on-demand recordings of every session (including past ones for mid-year joiners), guest scholar sessions, member-only Substack content, + invitation to the first PLATONICON.
The World, the Soul, and the Gods: Introduction to Philosophy
This is a rich and concise introduction to the world (cosmology), the soul (philosophical psychology), and the gods (theology).
The series gives a clear overview of the history of our idea of the world, our concept of life and how it evolved from the idea of the soul in antiquity into the modern self, and of the gods as crucial aspects of human psychology, history, and myth.
It explores how the soul is part of a cosmology we have largely forgotten, a world where humans were connected to the earth, Gaia, as a living intelligence. Our conception of the universe shapes how we think about and care for the Earth and other humans, and this forgotten cosmology has profound wisdom for our ecological crisis. The course as a whole provides a scientifically informed and mythologically sensitive vision of the Life in its individual, earthly, and cosmic dimensions.
“Rather than merely summarize Plato’s texts, Loncar moves one step closer to the original doctrines and philosophically engages their merits. The interaction with his audience becomes an enlightening examination of Plato, the contemporary world, individual consciousness and the body politic. Highly recommend.”
Danielle Saltrese, Creative Consultant
Plato Project Member
The Plato Project
Escape the Cave
Live Sunday Zoom symposiums (3:30–5:30 pm EST) with Q&A and discussion, full on-demand recordings of every session (including past ones for mid-year joiners), guest scholar sessions, member-only Substack content, + invitation to the first PLATONICON.
“I have been studying Heidegger for 30 years, and Dr. Loncar’s 12-lecture course on Heidegger has literally transformed my understanding of Sein und Zeit. This course is invaluable. Thank you so much.”
Aliman Sears, Becoming Human Project Member
Martin Heidegger's book, Sein und Zeit, was first translated into English in 1962 as Being and Time. Based on a decade of research at Yale University by the philosopher Samuel Loncar, Ph.D., this original interpretation of Sein und Zeit, using only the German text and his own translations, reveals for the first time that Heidegger’s work has been mistranslated and therefore misunderstood as Being and Time.
Plato’s “Allegory of The Cave”: Introduction to Epistemology
Plato’s "Allegory of The Cave" is the most famous story in Western philosophy. This 3-lecture course shows how Plato’s allegory gives us insight into how the world is an illusion, how it is real, and how to know the difference.
Developing a critical social epistemology, the course connects Plato's teaching to modern marketing, psychological operations, conspiracy theories, and mass deception. It offers a concise introduction to Plato’s metaphysics and epistemology, while revealing the essential spiritual dimension of philosophy as a practice of liberation, presenting the essentials of Loncar's approach to epistemology as a form of applied philosophy.
This course is a prerequisite for the forthcoming live course “Psy Ops: Psychological Warfare as a Global Epistemic Regime.”
Eros, Magic, &
Immortality:
Plato’s Symposium
Science, magic, and immortality all lead back to the same ancient god: Eros.
The history of revolutionary advances in humanity, the Holy Grail, and Ray Kurtweil's Singularity can all be traced back to a single myth, the Myth of Diotima, found in Plato's “Symposium”—the most literarily intricate of all Plato's dialogues.
Diotima, the mysterious wise woman from Mantinea, reveals to Socrates the secret of immortality. Central to that ancient mystery is Eros (Love).
This three episode series on the Symposium and the Myth of Diotima explores Socrates' integrated vision of Eros that unifies the sensuality of the bedroom, the most rarified delights of mathematical epiphany, and the experience of mystical enlightenment.
Gain an rich a introduction to the classic categories framework of ancient and medieval philosophy--cosmology (world), psychology (soul), and teleology (gods) --and how they still shape our world today + my original interpretation of two of Plato's most famous texts: Plato's Allegory of the Cave: An Introduction to Epistemology and Plato's Symposium: An Introduction to Aesthetics, in light of my work on philosophy, religion, and science.
Becoming Human: Origins
Becoming Human: Origins tells the story of how an atheistic revolution in philosophy, beginning with Socrates and Jesus, remade religion and science, and set the stage for our post-human age. It argues that the dominant story of reason, science, and religion is a modern myth, and must be replaced if we are to make real progress.
This 10-episode (10 hour) series begins by presenting Socrates as a revolutionary religious martyr and ends with the death of God and Reason, revealing the common connection between Protestant Christianity, the Enlightenment, Marxism, and Science. These movements are perceived as radically contradictory, but the source of their conflict is their common ancestry: they are all part of a single atheistic narrative—one that has never been told.
That story, recounted here, explains why atheists are religious, why antisemitism persists through all these movements, and why we have a current crisis around the question: What does it mean to be human?
Becoming Human: Origins is based on a decade of research at Yale on science and religion. It was the first public form of my book, Philosophy as Science and Religion from Plato to Posthumanism (appearing with Columbia University Press), and it launched the Becoming Human Project: a multimedia project that brings philosophy as a way of life to everyone and seeks to build a community of creators pursuing a more meaningful life.
Becoming Human: Origins tells the story of how an atheistic revolution in philosophy, beginning with Socrates and Jesus, remade religion and science, and set the stage for our post-human age. It argues that the dominant story of reason, science, and religion is a modern myth, and must be replaced if we are to make real progress.
FAQs
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No membership is needed to purchase a course.
Becoming Human Members receive access to The World, the Soul, and the Gods + the Philosophy as A Way of Life Guidebook.
If you are already a member and purchase another course, like Becoming Human: Origins, it will be added to your account. No new log-in is needed.
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Your membership is accessible through your personal log-in.
Memberships provide access to your membership resources + all course purchases.
The same login gives you access to all of your course purchases, so you can create a personal library of digital content, accessible on-demand.
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Each membership or course is a single product.
Some products allow you to pay-over-time (like $10/ month OR $100/month).The payment plan for a product can not be canceled.