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<p class="in-category"> <span>in:</span> <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/" rel="category tag">Character</a>, <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/manly-lessons/" rel="category tag">Manly Lessons</a>, <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/podcast/" rel="category tag">Podcast</a></p>
<p class="single-date"> <span class="vcard author" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"> <span itemprop="name">Brett &; Kate McKay</span> </span> • <span itemprop="datePublished">April 29, 2025</span><meta itemprop="dateModified" content="April 29, 2025"/></p>
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<p><iframe src="https://player.simplecast.com/45136bed-c4ca-4805-9445-3d3b29c6b458?dark=true" width="100%" height="200px" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless=""></iframe></p>
<p>Feelings of burnout and boredom have become prevalent in modern life. To understand the roots of and solutions to these issues, we can turn to both ancient philosophers and contemporary thinkers. Among the latter is Korean-German philosopher Byung-Chul Han, whose thought-provoking analyses are gaining increasing recognition.</p>
<p>If you’re not yet familiar with Han’s philosophy, Steven Knepper, a professor at the Virginia Military Institute and the co-author of a <a href="https://amzn.to/44LyI8t">new critical introduction to this modern philosopher’s work</a>, will take us on a tour of some of Han’s key ideas. In the first part of our conversation, Steven unpacks Han’s concept of the “burnout society” and why so many of us feel tired from participating in what he calls “auto-exploitation” and “positive violence.” We then discuss how our burnout society is also a “palliative society” that tries to avoid suffering at all costs and how our obsession with health has turned us into a modern version of Nietzsche’s “last man.” We end our discussion with some of Han’s ideas for resisting the pitfalls of modernity, including embracing ritual, contemplation, and an openness to the mystery of others.</p>
<h2>Resources Related to the Podcast</h2>
<h2><b>Connect With Steven Knepper</b></h2>
<p><a href="https://amzn.to/44LyI8t"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-189639" src="https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2025/04/81Chp6cIQhL._SL1500_.jpg" alt="Book cover for ";Byung-Chul Han"; by Steven Knepper, Ethan Stoneman, and Robert Wyllie, featuring a maple leaf on smooth stones and the series title ";Key Contemporary Thinkers." width="325" height="489" srcset="https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2025/04/81Chp6cIQhL._SL1500_.jpg 325w, https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2025/04/81Chp6cIQhL._SL1500_-320x481.jpg 320w" sizes="(max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px"/></a></p>
<h2>Listen to the Podcast! (And don’t forget to leave us a review!)</h2>
<p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2vJHmWhhcMQRXtTruuFWTJ"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-111444 size-full" src="https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2020/02/spotify.png" alt="Spotify." width="300" height="109"/></a><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-art-of-manliness/id332516054?mt=2"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-111440 size-full" src="https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2020/02/listen-apple-podcasts.jpg" alt="Apple Podcast." width="300" height="77"/></a></p>
<p><a href="https://overcast.fm/itunes332516054/the-art-of-manliness"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-111443 size-full" src="https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2020/02/overcast-1.png" alt="Overcast." width="300" height="79"/></a></p>
<p><a href="https://the-art-of-manliness.simplecast.com/episodes/auto-exploitation-positive-violence-and-the-palliative-society-a-modern-philosophers-ideas-for-making-sense-of-the-present-age">Listen to the episode on a separate page.</a></p>
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<h2>Read the Transcript</h2>
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Podcast #1,066: Auto-Exploitation, Positive Violence, and the Palliative Society: A Modern Philosopher’s Ideas for Making Sense of the Present Age
