Otium and The Moral Philosopher – William James

4 July 2025

Episode 6.03 – Otium and The Moral Philosopher – William James

Le Guin leans on an essay by William James, but what does that have to do with all our garden talk? It’s about our blind spots and our privilege. Here’s James’s argument and how it sets up a pragmatic popular ethic that may be worrisome.

William James: “The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life” – https://archive.org/details/jstor-2375309/page/n1/mode/2up

New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/

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Reading Ahead, Journey 6:

• Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf

Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/

CHAPTERS

00:00     The Cranky Professor
05:25     Opening Theme
05:59     Oppositions to Work
12:51     Otium as Privilege
23:22     Hideous Bargains: William James
29:40     Back to Our Garden
32:37     Closing Theme and Credits

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Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-6-00-trailer

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Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas.

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CREDITS:

Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/)

Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski

USING THIS WORK:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution.

MLA CITATION:

Chisnell, Steve. “Otium and The Moral Philosopher – William James,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 4 July 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.