The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Rameau's Nephew , getting further into Rameau's philosophy and practices and trying to figure out what this anti-hero can tell us about ethics, given that he displays the virtue of being candid about his own vices. We talk about "trade idioms" (unethical practices that we consider normal), education, and...

Every PvI recording is an experiment, and in this case, our guest (a bigwig acting coach in NYC whom I went to high school with) didn't feel great about the episode, so I offered to paywall it. Here you get to hear what you're missing, along with a little pitch about why you should support the show. To respond affirmatively to this pitch and hear (and see!) the whole episode, visit patreon.com/phi...

Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get previous and future installments of this podcast. On Ch. 2 "The Honest Soul and the Disintegrated Consciousness" in Sincerity and Authenticity (1972). This chapter focuses on a reading of Diderot's Rameau's Nephew and what Hegel made of it in the Phenomenology . The post Closereads: Lionel Trilling on Sincerity (Part One) first appe...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Denis Diderot's Rameau's Nephew , a dialogue written in the 1760s. Is virtue necessary for happiness, or in the real world, is vice necessary to get by? Diderot's character Rameau argues the latter: that philosophical morality is problematic, and our imperative is prudence, which in Rameau's case involves a lot of...

BJ is an LA improviser/actor/TV host (who teaches wounded warriors among others), and he chats with Mark and Mary about migratory patterns, TV shows that date you, how to draw in students, the realness of birds, and playing unsafe characters. Scenes include a forced-Fargo college experience, improv class on the roof, spying on birds, and keyboard warriors. Plus Marge and Larry. Hear more at philos...

We discuss the hard sci-fi film Project Hail Mary , which along with The Martian (2015) was based on a novel by Andy Weir and adapted by Drew Goddard. Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al consider how hard we actually like our sci-fi, the directors of these films (by Lord/Miller and Ridley Scott respectively), how the books got adapted, Weir's other work ( Artemis , some webcomics, etc.), and more. How...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Concluding on "Culture and its Realm of Actuality," in Hegel's Phenomenology via sections 519-526. We get into some of the ironic psychology here: In giving loyalty to the king, the nobles actually boost themselves qua givers. They should be grateful to the king to get wealth back from him, but being dependent on the...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology , "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 511-526, which finishes off the sub-section of "Self-Alienated Spirit" called "Culture and its Realm of Actuality." Whereas in our last discussion, obeying the state (public power) ran counter to hoarding wealth (private power), at this stage,...

Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get previous and future installments of this podcast. On "Against Narrativity" (2004), where Galen (son of P.F.) argues against the claims that we do and should make sense of our experience by conceiving of it as a story, with a logical progression and dramatic arc. Many normal people do not do this, and are not unethical for being the...

In this pitched, high-stakes battle, your hosts have it out about astrological biases, doing offensive accents, letting go of control in an improv scene, and group-based restrictions on who you feel you date. Does Jesus have time to appear on your toast? Are all TV characters robots in a shared robot universe? Are zodiac signs based on serial killer characteristics? How does Pluto FEEL about not b...

We talk about the Scream meta-slasher film franchise, from the original Wes Craven /Kevin Williamson 1996 debut starring Neve Campbell, and Courtney Cox to the new one (#7), still with three out of four of those participants (Wes Craven being dead). Is the self-reflection about the horror genre in these films actually elevating, or just a permission structure to enjoy the base pleasure of seeing p...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on the "Spirit" chapter (more specifically. "Culture and its realm of actuality") in Hegel's Phenomenology , now covering sec. 490-510. How exactly does the process of acculturation work? Sponsors: Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health. Get a $1/month e-commerc...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology , "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 484-510, which is the first part of "Self-Alienated Spirit. Culture." In Hegel's ongoing semi-mythical story about the development of the modern self and society, we're now at a point where people are "bare persons," legally recognized but not...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on on sec. 469-483 of Hegel's Phenomenology , finishing the analysis of Antigone and bringing in Oedipus to say why the conflict between types of law is both criminal and destined. We then turn to the aftermath: a society alienated from law but with legally recognized self-conscious individuals. Sponsors: G...

St. Lawrence philosophy prof Jennifer L. Hansen , one of the most frequent guest on Mark's podcasts and expert in feminist philosophy, here hits it off with our new host Mary. We act out vegan jerky time, snacktime at the all-girls clubhouse, and two gals getting pulled over by a cop. Does the "come debate me" style of philosophy include unnecessarily masculine tropes? How does this Charlie Kirk m...

Photography is a technology of contradictions. It is at once mechanical and mysterious, even magical. It furnishes evidence of presence while being a token of absence. It can show us proof but can’t, without accompanying narration or context, make us understand. And perhaps most perplexing of all, it is an imperialistic technology which, paradoxically, atomizes the world and democratizes all event...

In light of Judd Apatow's HBO documentary The 99-Year-Old Man , we discuss the films of Mel Brooks, which were to varying degrees formative on us (i.e. Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al). Get more at  prettymuchpop.com . Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at  patreon.com/prettymuchpop . Sponsors : Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp . Visit squarespace.co...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology , "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 464-483, which are under the sub-headings "Ethical Action. Human and Divine Knowledge. Guilt and Destiny" and "Legal Status." After anticipating it in last episode, we get  Hegel's allegorical analysis of Antigone as a clash between two types o...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a supporter-exclusive part three . Continuing on the "Spirit" section of The Phenomenology of Spirit , giving a sort of social metaphysics, wherein the ethical life of a society is analyzed into two complementary types of law, human (explicit laws but also customs) and what Hegel calls "divine" (a subconscio...

Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get previous and future installments of this podcast. On an excerpt from Soren Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript (1846) that critiques Hegel's idea of logic (dialectic) and then argues for his own conception of "truth as subjectivity." The post Closereads: Kierkegaard on Knowledge first appeared on The Partially Examined...

What is it worth raising an objection over, and how hard do you fight? We hear (and act out) Mary's roommate-searching trauma, plus Mary for President, curiosity about bellicose Twitter, respect vs. reverence, rationality and religion, dealing with QAnon believers, family Thanksgiving, giving someone else a name, vegetarianism, and the angel of philosophy. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com .  Supp...

If an understanding of music implies a love of structure, perhaps the musician’s relationship to his art mirrors the one he has with authority, both human and divine. Salieri, whose father was a man of commerce, sees God as a kind of bank manager who records prayers and sacrifices as payments on a long-term loan of musical talent. Salieri’s economics work just fine until the arrival of Mozart, who...

In light of the now-completed black history month and the upcoming Oscars, we consider the "Oscars So White" issue that was a hot topic about a decade ago. We all tried to watch some of the Oscar-nominated films by black creators, like Twelve Years a Slave , Moonlight , Judas and the Black Messiah , Boyz in Da Hood , et al. What makes for a critically lauded drama in this genre? Does a film have t...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On. G.W.F. Hegel's The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), sec. 438-463. What constitutes society?  We're beginning a multi-episode arc here on the "Spirit" chapter of the book, so we learn what Spirit actually is and how it relates to individuals. We also talk about the two layers of law that make up society and how thes...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. In our continuing Q&A with Graham, we engage him about Kantian Things-In-Themselves, complex things (that if divided, must be cut at the joints) vs. mere heaps, fact ontology, natural kinds, fictional objects, why philosophy is not knowledge, and philosophical style. Sponsors: Go to NerdWallet.com/PEL for trustwo...