The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Finishing up U.T. Place's "Is Consciousness a Brain Process?" (1956) and starting on J.J.C. Smart's "Sensations and Brain Processes" (1959). Place argues against the "phenomenological fallacy," i.e. the reality of the contents of one's inner life. Then Smart considers objects against mind/brain identity: Must qualities of sensations be something over and above qualities of brain processes? Finally...

Joan Wasser started as violinist/support member in the 90s for The Dambuilders and then for Mind Science of the Mind and Antony and the Johnsons. In the mid-90s, she co-led a band called Black Beetle that released nothing, but taught her songwriting. She's had 13 solo releases, as she has continued to guest and tour with major artists including Iggy Pop, and Gorillaz. We discuss "Eternal Flame" fr...

We discuss high school drama TV shows and films in light of the genre-breaking, star-birthing teen drama Euphoria . Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al touch on Riverdale , Skins , Degrassi , John Hughes films, Buffy , Saved By the Bell , 90210 , and many others. How much of the plots are driven by "affluenza?" What do they have to say about friendship? Is there something very white about even shows l...

On U.T. Place's "Is Consciousness a Brain Process?" (1956) and J.J.C. Smart's "Sensations and Brain Processes" (1959), w/ guest Chris Heath. Is there some a priori reason for denying that the mind can actually be the brain? Obviously those two words don't mean the same thing, but can we think of them as a single thing under two descriptions? Place argues that the identity is not unlike other scien...

Mark and Seth rejoin to complete our treatment of Consciousness Explained , focusing on Dennett's responses to Frank Jackson's Mary the Color Scientist thought experiment, Searle's Chinese Room, inverted qualia, 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 .

As an interlude between our Philosophy vs. Improv seasons, here's an interview left over from July with Mark's former classmate, actor/director/writer David, who runs Actor Class on Times Square. We talk about his career and his insights about Broadway, Shakespeare, contemporary entertainment, theory in acting, and more. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com .  Support the podcast and listen ad-free a...

Continuing on Consciousness Explained , ch. 12-14, especially responding to Dennett's discussion of Nagel's "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" which which gets us in a whole conversation about animal consciousness. What is it like to be any languageless creature? How is the debate relevant to ethical issues? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free...

On "Are We Explaining Consciousness Yet" (2001), an article published with and commenting on papers by psychologists, neurologists, etc. on the state of consciousness studies at the time, featuring his newer metaphor for consciousness, "fame in the brain." Follow along with us . You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at  patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy ; follow us there vi...

To begin our new season, we're up to the moment covering the first season of Elizabeth Meriwether's Hulu crime drama Furious , about an abused detective pursuing, and ultimately relating to, an abused revenge killer. The first half is spoiler free! How does this relate to other revenge fantasy films (e.g. Kill Bill ) or other shows where we're supposed to be attracted to a female killer ( Killing...

We focus on the final chapters of Dan Dennett's Consciousness Explained , where he confronts various views, figures, and thought experiments that contend that he's failed to explain the essence of consciousness: the "what it's like" element of any conscious experience that is distinct from a mere judgment or processing of information. One could imagine a being that organizationally matches Dennett...

Jacqui rose to fame with the Australian electronic dance band Single Gun Theory (three albums '87-'94), did some one-off collaborations, and released her first solo album in 2008. After an album as CiiVE and some solo singles, she's now released her second solo album,  Desiderium . We discuss "Planet" and listen at the end to "Cycles" from that new album, plus "Myriad" from  Auraphonic (2008), and...

We wrap up Mary's first year with the podcast, and changes are afoot for our upcoming season, but why? Let's explore to the point of physical discomfort! We act out an odd annual employee review, a dramatic pitch for a new play, and the navel-gazing club. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com .  Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyimprov .

Continuing on Consciousness Explained (Ch. 5, 12). We talk about appearance vs. judgment and whether Dennett's denial of this distinction makes sense or just holds for very short time-scales, as in the phi-phenomenon experiment. Does the rejection of appearances and rejection of the concept of qualia undermine the very thing Dennett is trying to describe? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Vi...

On "First Person Authority" (1984). What warrants our superior knowledge of our own mental states, as oppose to those of others? Why is this not obvious? Read along with us . You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at  patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy ; follow us there via the free tier to get many other episodes like this one ad free, or pay us to get part 2 and everything...

It's been 2019 since our last Spider-Man episode, so what's with the new film ( Brand New Day ), and the Spider-Verse, and Nicholas Cage being Spider Noir ? Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al discuss in this, our SEASON FINALE! Get more at  prettymuchpop.com . Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop .

On Daniel C. Dennett's Consciousness Explained (Ch. 1, 5), featuring guest Mark, Seth, Dylan, and guest Chris Heath. What is the mind? Dennett puts forth his "multiple drafts" model against the centralization that he characterizes as the "Cartesian Theater." Dennett claims that there is no central place in the brain, or (more controversally) no central processing center in experience, that receive...

Chris Sunami, the editor of the PEL book , joins Mark, Wes and Seth as part of the launch of his new book, Free Your Mind , which is a series of PEL-like conversations all coming out of Chris' brain, using the model of Plato's symposium to talk about race, AI, art, religion, and more. Chris then starts us talking about what we all might want to communicate to all the future people, so we get going...

lenn was a central figure in the Hoboken punk scene, fronting the band "a" in the late '70s and then The Individuals in the early '80s. His next band, Rage to Live, was the first release from Bar/None records in 1986, and Glenn then joined the label as a partner and signed They Might Be Giants, Yo La Tengo, etc. He started recording his own music again in the early 2010's and has now released thre...

Continuing on Consciousness Explained (Ch. 5, 12). We talk about appearance vs. judgment and whether Dennett's denial of this distinction makes sense or just holds for very short time-scales, as in the phi-phenomenon experiment. Does the rejection of appearances and rejection of the concept of qualia undermine the very thing Dennett is trying to describe? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Vi...

Future co-host philosophy Jenny joins past co-host improviser Bill along with the usual Mark and Mary for some tag-team mud swimming, hot takes about The Odyssey, and discussion and play about Bill's return to school, Maslow's hierarchy, gamified syllabi, some math stuff, and academic dishonesty. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com .  Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyi...

How shall we break down the universe into basic types of things? Peirce has an idiosyncratic way of thinking about this problem and coming up with his division, revolving around the steps and presuppositions involved in predicating something. Read along with us . You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at  patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy ; follow us there via the free tier...

On "Mental Events" (1970) and "Actions, Reasons, and Causes" (1963), w/ guest Chris Heath. When we talk about mental events (e.g. desires) causing physical occurrences (an action to obtain what is desired), are we giving a causal picture in the scientific sense, which would rule out free will? Or are reason-giving and causality just different language games? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com ....

We discuss the various films Steven Spielberg has released about alien encounters: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982), War of the Worlds (2005), and our inciting film, Disclosure Day . Featuring Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al. How is the new film as "mature Spielberg"? Is it as fun as the older films? Is it too heavy handed? Do the older films hold up? W...

We now have a free-form discussion in light of what was raised in part one about the Federalist Papers and Frederick Douglass' Fourth of July Speech: What should we do about the problems identified? Is the system broken beyond repair? Was it built with fatal flaws in it? Is it just working as normal, and the pendulum will inevitably swing away from madness as the system reasserts itself? We then o...

Dan was Ben Vaughn's sound-man and released his first solo album of Americana rock in 2004. We discuss "Busted" from his eighth album (produced by Vaughn), the just Dan-and-his guitar effort Dispatches from the Desert , then "Beaumont" from Cast-Iron Songs and Torch Ballads (2023), "Favorite Color" from Rosetta, Please (A Love Story) (2006). End song: "Lookin' for a Fight" also from the new album....