The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast - podcast cover

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Caseypartiallyexaminedlife.com
The Partially Examined Life is a podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a short text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don't have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we're talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion. For links to the texts we discuss and other info, check out www.partiallyexaminedlife.com. We also feature episodes from other podcasts by our hosts to round out your partially examined life, including Pretty Much Pop (prettymuchpop.com, covering all media), Nakedly Examined Music (nakedlyexaminedmusic.com, deconstructing songs), Philosophy vs. Improv (philosophyimprov.com, fun with performance skills and philosophical ideas), and (sub)Text (subtextpodcast.com, looking deeply at lit and film). Learn about more network podcasts at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Episodes

Ep. 296: Heidegger Questions Being (Part Two)

Continuing with our close reading of Being and Time , we talk about why time is the focus of Heidegger's analysis of the human condition, what are phenomena, and so what his phenomenological method looks like and why it must investigate us in our "average everydayness." Hear more PEL at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Get episodes ad-free with tons of bonus content at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Jul 04, 20221 hr

Ep. 296: Heidegger's Questions Being (Part One)

Continuing from our overview in ep. 32 , we do a close reading on selections from the introduction of Martin Heidegger's Being and Time to consider Heidegger's Being in relation to Aristotle's Categories, what questioning means, and some of Heidegger's basic terms. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion....

Jun 27, 202250 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 295: Kant on Preventing War (Part Three)

Concluding on Kant's "Perpetual Peace," plus Jurgen Habermas' "Kant's Idea of Perpetual Peace, with the Benefit of Two Hundred Years' Hindsight." If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Jun 18, 202210 min

Ep. 295: Kant on Preventing War (Part Two)

Continuing on Immanuel Kant's essay "Perpetual Peace," we go further into how Kant's politics relate to his ethics and consider his actual policy proposals: each state must be a republic, they should join in a federation, and we all owe each other hospitality as a cosmopolitan right. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion including the supporter-exclusive part three to this episode....

Jun 13, 202245 min

Ep. 295: Kant on Preventing War (Part One)

On Immanuel Kant's essay "Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch" (1795). Do nations have the "right" to go to war? What principles ground just international relations, and are there structures and agreements that we can embrace to prevent prevent future wars? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion....

Jun 06, 202240 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 294: Quine on Science vs. Epistemology (Part Three)

Concluding on W.V.O. Quine's "Epistemology Naturalized" (1969). We talk more about the attempt to found epistemology on psychology. If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Jun 03, 202214 min

Ep. 294: Quine on Science vs. Epistemology (Part Two)

Continuing on "Epistemology Naturalized" (1969), we work further through the text, getting into what this new psychology-rooted epistemology might look like and how Quine changed empiricism. Plus, more of us trying to figure out his claims about the indeterminacy of translation. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion including the supporter-exclusive part three to this episode....

May 30, 202235 min

Ep. 294: Quine on Science vs. Epistemology (Part One)

On W.V.O. Quine's "Epistemology Naturalized" (1969). What justifies scientific theory? Not theory-free observations, as Quine shows us by considering how we figure out foreign languages. Instead of basing science on epistemology, Quine thought we need to make epistemology part of science. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion....

May 23, 202245 min

Philosophy vs. Improv #32: "On the Standard of [Bad] Taste" w/ Babette Babich

Babette teaches at Fordham and recently edited the collection " Reading David Hume's 'On The Standard of Taste,' " which Mark made use of for PEL#289 . So, more philosophically beefy than our typical PvI episode, and yet also live and hence unpredictable. Taste it! Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com . Hear more at philosophyimprov.com . Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff....

May 22, 202255 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 293: Donna Haraway on Feminist Science (Part Two)

Continuing on "Situated Knowledges" and other essays with guest Lynda Olman. We try to get at the practical import of Olman's scheme and get further into her use of metaphors and what those mean for her critical stance. If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

May 16, 202211 min

Ep. 293: Donna Haraway on Feminist Science (Part One)

On "Situated Knowledge" (1988), "A Cyborg Manifesto" (1985), etc. featuring guest Lynda Olman. What is scientific objectivity? Haraway rejects both relativism and traditional, "god's eye" objectivism in favor of a "cyborg" view that looks for alternate ways of seeing and acknowledges the ways that science and technology are tied to politics. Part two of this episode is only going to be available to you if you sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support or via Apple Podcasts ....

May 09, 202254 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 292: Langer on Symbolic Music (Part Two)

Concluding on Susanne Langer's Philosophy in a New Key (ch. 8-10). We continue discussing whether and how music is symbolic. Sing along with us! If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

May 02, 202215 min

Ep. 292: Langer on Symbolic Music (Part One)

On Susanne Langer's Philosophy in a New Key (1942), ch. 8-10. Is music (the supposedly non-representational artform) a language? If it's "expressive," what exactly does it express? Part two of this episode is only going to be available to you if you sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support or via Apple Podcasts ....

Apr 25, 202248 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 291: Cassirer and Langer on Myth and Ritual (Part Two)

Continuing our discussion on the symbolic value of religion and its antecedents, primary at this point discussing Susanne Langer's Philosophy in a New Key , ch. 7. If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Apr 18, 202213 min

Ep. 291: Cassirer and Langer on Myth and Ritual (Part One)

On Ernst Cassirer's An Essay on Man (1944), ch. 6-7, and Susanne Langer's Philosophy in a New Key (1942), ch. 6-7. Why do people produce ritual, mythology, and religion? According to our authors, these are spontaneous, symbolic modes of self-expression. They're not opposed to rational, scientific thought, but are necessary preconditions for it. Part two of this episode is only going to be available to you if you sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support or via Apple Podcasts . Sponsors : Get ...

Apr 11, 202245 min

PEL Presents NEM#170: Bob Mould From Hüsker Dü to Sugar to Now

Bob has released 20+ albums since the early '80s. We discuss "Forecast of Rain" from Blue Hearts (2020), "I Don’t Know You Anymore" from Beauty & Ruin (2014), "JC Auto" by Sugar from Beaster (1993), and "In A Free Land" by Hüsker Dü, 1982 singe remixed for Savage Young Du (2017). End song: the title track to his new acoustic EP, The Ocean . Intro: "If I Can't Change Your Mind" by Sugar from Copper Blue (1992). For more see bobmould.com . Hear more Nakedly Examined Music . Like our Facebook page ...

Apr 11, 20221 hr 4 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 290: Susanne Langer on Our Symbol-Making Nature (Part Two)

Continuing on Philosophy in a New Key (1942), ch. 1-5. Is symbolism the software running on the hardware of our senses, or are symbols baked even into that hardware? We talk pictures vs. symbols, types of symbol-pictures, and what it means for experience to be symbolic. If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Apr 04, 202212 min

Ep. 290: Susanne Langer on Our Symbol-Making Nature (Part One)

On Philosophy in a New Key (1942), ch. 1-5, plus as background most of us looked at Ernst Cassirer's An Essay on Man (1944), ch. 1-5. What does it mean to say that humanity is homo symbolicus, the symbol-making creature? Part two of this episode is only going to be available to you if you sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support or via Apple Podcasts ....

Mar 28, 202249 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 289: Aesthetic Sense Theory: Hume (Part Two)

We get into more detail on David Hume's "The Standard of Taste" (1760). How does he resolve the paradox that it seems both that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yet some judgments about beauty are obviously wrong? If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Mar 21, 202213 min

Ep. 289: Aesthetic Sense Theory: Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, Hume (Part One)

How do we know what opinions about beauty are correct? We read The Moralists: A Philosophical Rhapsody (1709) by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, aka the third Earl of Shaftesbury, Part III section 2 "Beauty," and An Inquiry Concerning Beauty, Order, Harmony, Design (1725) by Francis Hutcheson, and "The Standard of Taste" by David Hume (1760). Part two of this episode is only going to be available to you if you sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support or via Apple Podcasts ....

Mar 14, 202252 min

PEL Presents Philosophy vs. Improv #28: Enhanced Interrogation w/ Adal Rifai

Today's episode is about questioning: how one might question, what sets the parameters for a proper answer, and how to give those answers in an informative and/or dramatically effective way. Watch out for dream pigs! Also, how to get into the VIP room at Stuckey's. Perhaps a pair of paralegals can help. In the post-game, included JUST THIS ONCE for public enjoyment, we reflect on improv in the real world and some potential spin-off improv podcasts from our episode. Mark philosophizes at partiall...

Mar 11, 20221 hr 10 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 288: Scruton on Ethical Art (Part Two)

Concluding on Beauty (2009). Why would we be attracted to beauty if on Scruton's account it takes so much work? We consider the form/function distinction as it applies to architecture and human beauty. If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Mar 07, 202212 min

Ep. 288: Scruton on Ethical Art (Part One)

On Roger Scruton's Beauty (2009), ch. 5-9. Scruton argues against aesthetic relativism on moral grounds: That the "flight from beauty" in modern art and the crassness of popular art deny important things about being human. Part two of this episode is only going to be available to you if you sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support or via Apple Podcasts ....

Feb 28, 202246 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 287: Roger Scruton on Beauty (Part Two)

Continuing on Beauty (2009), ch. 1-4. Does apprehending beauty really have to involve reason, or can it be merely sensory? If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Feb 21, 202211 min

Ep. 287: Roger Scruton on Beauty (Part One)

On Beauty (2009), ch. 1-4. What truths about beauty does any theory of beauty have to acknowledge? Scruton argues that appreciating beauty is a cognitive act: something we argue about, and not just "in the eye of the beholder." Part two of this episode is only going to be available to you if you sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support or via Apple Podcasts ....

Feb 14, 202248 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 286: Malebranche on Causality and Theology (Part Three)

Concluding on On Dialogues on Metaphysics and Religion (1688), with consideration of his explanation for why we can't prove the existence of the external world, but that we can reasonably take this on faith. Also, theodicy! If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Feb 07, 202213 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 286: Malebranche on Causality and Theology (Part Two)

Continuing on Dialogues on Metaphysics and Religion (1688), dialogue 7 where he gets into his occasionalist theory of causality. How does this relate to mind-body interaction and concepts in physics like inertia? What is the metaphysical relation of natural law to things in the world? If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Jan 31, 202212 min

Ep. 286: Malebranche on Causality and Theology (Part One)

On Dialogues on Metaphysics and Religion (1688), dialogues 5-7. We get clearer on M's rationalist epistemology and into his occasionalist theory of causality. Is M's theory as archaic as its theology makes it sound? Part two of this episode is only going to be available to you if you sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support or via Apple Podcasts ....

Jan 24, 202250 min

PREMIUM-Ep. 285: Nicolas Malebranche on Knowledge (Part Two)

Continuing on Dialogues on Metaphysics and Religion (1688), ch. 1-4. We talk about the character of the intelligible world, how we generate general concepts, the existence of God, seeing God, original sin, and more. If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support ....

Jan 17, 202212 min

Ep. 285: Nicolas Malebranche on Knowledge (Part One)

On Dialogues on Metaphysics and Religion (1688), ch. 1-4. We walk through M's rationalist (post-Descartes, pre-Leibniz) epistemology with its surprising implications for the metaphysics of causality and the role of God in nature. Part two of this episode is only going to be available to you if you sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support or via Apple Podcasts ....

Jan 10, 202248 min
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