Unsolicited Advice

Bookshelf Tour: Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy by Maudemarie Clark

Paid Blog Post - The Epistemic Argument for Going Outside

Sorry for the delay in getting this out. Also I should have some more bookshelf tour videos soon :). It’s been a bit of a mad dash before Christmas!

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Recently on my channel, I discussed the many and varied ways engaging with the world primarily online can distort our thinking by making us angrier, less patient, and more hostile to one another (importantly, this is a can, not...

Reading Group Suggestions!

I want to start a reading group shortly! What books are people interested in reading? I know I want the second one to be Wittgenstein’s Tractatus, but I want some experience going through at least one other book before we tackle that one.

Important Announcement!

I have wanted to launch a paid Substack for a while now for a number of reasons. Firstly because I have had a few people over there who are really interested in it. Secondly just because I want to do more blog-style writing, and Substack is the best place to do that. And thirdly (and perhaps most excitingly) because I am working on pitching a book at the moment and it would look pretty good to ...

Bookshelf Tour: Dostoevsky's Demons

Hello my wonderful patrons :). I always find it difficult to talk about this book because I have read it multiple times and do not quite understand it. Nonetheless, it is fantastic!

• Joe :)

Bookshelf Tour: All Desire is a Desire for Being

Hello there :). Sorry for being so late with these bookshelf tour sections. I will be more on it from now on.

• Joe :)

Early Access Script: My 10 favourite books of 2025

I thought I would start posting my scripts here before videos go out as I think people might enjoy that :). This one should go out tomorrow or Tuesday:

It’s coming to the end of the year now, and there have been a number of books I’ve read that have truly stuck out to me as exceptional, so here they are.

My name is Joe Folley, and this is Unsolicited Advice.

1. The Re...

   2025-11-02 16:32:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Blog Post: In Defence of Memorisation

Hello my wonderful patrons! I hope you enjoy this one :). I feel like memory is unfairly maligned, and wanted to give a word in its defence.

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Memory and memorisation get such a bad rap nowadays. We decry the “rote memorisation” of outdated education systems, and speak of “merely memorising” something, as if remembrance is almost antithetical to “...

Blog Post: The Semi-Romantic Philosophy of Sabrina Carpenter

In a recent video, I said I was a fan of the pop musician Sabrina Carpenter. This took some people by surprise, given that I often sound like I’ve just walked off the set of a 1970s comedy about excessively posh people. But in fact, I consider Sabrina Carpenter one of the most interesting popular thinkers on the subject of love currently writing today. And today I would like to explain why. I...

Blog Post: The Century-Long Strawmanning of AJ Ayer

This blog post still needs some work, but something has long bothered me about how AJ Ayer’s philosophy is often presented, and I have tried to put it into words.

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When I was a teenager, one of my favourite books was AJ Ayer’s Language, Truth, and Logic. I was intensely interested in philosophy (and still am), but was conscious of the need to separate “good” philosophy...

Uncensored Bullshit Interview

Hello my wonderful Patrons!

I recently had Dr Shane Littrell on the channel to talk about his research in Bullshit. Unfortunately, YouTube really did not like the amount of times we use that word in the video, so I had to go through and censor it.

I know that is a bit irritating, so I've put the uncensored version here early. I hope you enjoy!

• Joe :)

Blog Post: “All Relationships are Transactional”

I’m still sussing out exactly what I want to say here, but here is a first draft of a blog post on a cynical statement that managed to get under my skin a bit.

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I am very interested in human relationships. Be they friendship, commercial, romantic, or familial, I just find them fascinating. And there is one statement I see over and over again (especially in popular discussion...

Blog post: 4 Great Philosophers (who are still alive)

I have seen a worrying number of people assert that there is no good or practical philosophy going on today. I politely disagree with this assessment, and so here are 4 philosophers who I think are readable, accessible, and insightful. And, more importantly, they all still draw breath.

Massimo Pigliucci

Massimo Pigliucci is both a philosopher of science, and has made more recent for...

Blog Post: The Problem with Self-Improvement

I have always been fascinated by the world of self-improvement. For a long time I was deeply enmeshed in it, and found it genuinely helpful. A few years ago I was at a very low point. I did not enjoy who I was, and really needed a kick up the backside in order to change this state. And the standard dose of self-improvement wisdom: equal parts gym, discipline, and work ethic, was really what I n...

Book Tour 3 - The Philosophy of Science

Hello my wonderful patrons!

Here is the third book on the tour, I hope you enjoy!

• Joe :)

Blog Post: Prescriptivism and Descriptivism in Language

I thought I would write something about a phrase I see a lot in online discussions about language. I’ll throw this up on Substack once I’ve had a chance to polish it, but I thought you might enjoy it in its very much unpolished form :).

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It has become a kind of thought-terminating cliche in discussions around language to say something like “definitions are not pre...

Blog Post: Nietzsche and Pain

I will put this up on Substack at some point, but wanted to put it here first :). It is a bit of a work in progress re: an area of Nietzsche I sometimes think goes a bit unnoticed.

I am writing this post, having spent most of the day lying on my sofa, trying in vain to focus on my copy of Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons, which I am re-reading for a video (though, between you and ...

Bookshelf Tour 2

Hello there!

Here is another book, I hope you enjoy it!

- Joe :)

Bonus Bad Philosophy (out)takes

Hello my wonderful Patrons!

I recorded far far too much footage for the latest philosophy takes video, so here is what I cut! I hope you enjoy :).

• Joe

Blog Post- A Few Thoughts on “Objectivity” and “Subjectivity”

If you prowl the bowels of internet comment sections, particularly those around art, music, philosophy, and more, you will find many people arguing about whether things are “subjective” or “objective”. That is, roughly speaking, whether they depend on a mind or not. They will discuss whether there are any “objective standards for art”, whether there is “objective morality without ...

Bookshelf Tour Part 1

Hello there!

I had many requests for a bookshelf tour when I got this lovely bookshelf behind me, so I thought I would do it in parts (maybe even one book at a time).

These are totally unscripted and just off the top of my head, so enjoy!

Blog Post: The Joy of Slow Reading

I have always been a fast reader. For a long time I thought this was one of my greatest strengths, and it is still incredibly handy for work. Oftentimes, the life of an “educational YouTuber” (as I call myself with the appropriate level of shame), is a matter of reading dozens upon dozens of papers, books, and articles, in the hope that one or two of them will ultimately be used in whatever...

Blog Post: The Rise of Show Vulnerability

Hello my wonderful Patrons.

I was in two minds about posting this. I wrote it a couple of weeks ago and was worried it came across as a bit pessimistic and it is definitely the outcome of re-reading Notes From Underground a lot for an upcoming double-length video (which should come out at some point this month). But, in the spirit of the post, I thought I ought to do so anyway.

So, ...

Extra Philosophy memes

I found some cut philosophy memes in the old video archive, so I thought I would share. There should be a new philosophy memes video going out next week as well, so it's all very meme-heavy at the moment.

• Joe :)

First Blog Post

I have decided I am going to start writing short opinion columns to go on my Substack, but since you are all kind enough to support me here, I plan to post them here a week early :). This is my first one and I am still getting used to the different style of writing, but it is on the need for more noble failures in our stories. I hope you enjoy.

The Need for Failed Heroes

I have wr...

Full Interview with Alex O'Connor

Hello my wonderful patrons!

Sorry for being so AWOL recently, I will be back in the thick of Patreon things shortly, and I will do the Q&A. I may do it in parts just because answering them has ended up much harder than I expected.

In the meantime, here is the exclusive full interview with Alex O'Connor on ChatGPT, AI, and philosophy. I hope you enjoy :)

Q&A

Hello my wonderful Patrons :)

I wanted to record a Q&A on here for any questions you guys would like to ask me. So please do fire away and I will record some answers!

Have a great weekend!

• Joe :)

Some Philosophy Meme Outtakes

Hello my wonderful Patrons!

I just thought I would post some outtakes from my philosophy memes video in case anyone was interested.

Article on Gettier cases: https://iep.utm.edu/gettier/

Have a fantastic week!

• Joe :)

5 Book Recommendations on Existential Philosophy

Hello my wonderful Patrons!

For this casual video, we'll be looking at 5 book recommendations to get started with the ever-thorny topic of existential philosophy.

I hope you like it, and let me know anything else you would like me to cover.

Thank you so much for all your support.

• Joe :)

A User's Guide to Reading Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky is such a legendary author. He explores timeless themes in an (ironically) quite material and down-to-earth fashion.

I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you might want me to cover next. And thank you so much for all your support.

• Joe :)