The Partially Examined Life

We continue on Theory of Art , getting more into sections of the text about the relationship between beauty and purposiveness, genius, unconscious vs. conscious creation, style vs. manner, and art imitating nature. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and a supporter-exclusive Nightcap discussion largely about philosophy of technol...

Chris has an act called "I Am the Show" where he improvises to a film that he hasn't seen that's playing silently, making up all the dialogue and sound effects. Mark and Bill talk to Chris about being a spectator or critic of art: To understand a work, is it good or necessary to try to divine the artist's intentions, or is meaning in art something that happens after a work becomes an objective thi...

Covering the elder Schlegel  brother's Theory of Art (ca. 1800). How does our experience of Beauty relate to the infinite? Schlegel provides a Romantic response to Kant on knowing the divine, inner essences of things through art, how genius works, and the relationship between art and nature. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and...

Chris started in the mid 70s in Sneakers, then backed Alex Chilton, started a record label, and then founded the dB's, which he left after two albums in 1983. He then became a producer and has released nine solo albums plus avant garde guitar collaborations with Kirk Ross and four reunion albums with Peter Holsapple and/or the dB's. We discuss "I Will Try" from The Great Escape (2023), the title t...

Genevieve is a comedian, podcaster , and she was a philosophy major who's studying for her doctorate in Divinity. We talk about the idea that "we are all one" (and thus we are all God, if you want to call the sum of all things by that name) that's in various traditions. Ralph Waldo Emerson called this the "oversoul." We spend the rest of the discussion under the bleachers not making out, getting b...

Mark and Wes conclude our discussion of the younger Schlegel brother by going through more of his critical fragments, largely published in 1797 in the journal Lyceum Tier Schonen Kunste . 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 .

We continue on Schlegel's "Dialogue on Poesy" (1799) and "Concerning the Essence of Critique" (1804). How can Romantic art always aim at some common source of our humanity yet also require originality? How can having some sort of common mythology help artists be original in this way, and how can we embrace mythology as modern people? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedl...

Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al disagree about the Jason Sudeikis-headed Apple TV+ pandemic hit that's just wrapped up with its third season. Was it actually as good as everyone thought when its first season hit, or was its vibe just something we needed at the time? Should it have stayed slim and comic instead of becoming the stretched out, soapy dramedy that it ended up as? For more, visit prett...

On selected fragments from 1797-1801, "Dialogue on Poesy" (1799), and "Concerning the Essence of Critique" (1804). What makes art "Romantic"? Schlegel sees good art as uniquely, authentically reaching out to a divine source that underlies and connects each of us. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sp...

Bonjo started in the '70s as a session hand percussionist, played for a few years with Creation Rebel, and became a band leader in 1980, first recording a bit as Noah House of Dread, then creating African Head Charge, which has had more than 20 releases. More at africanheadcharge.bandcamp.com . We discuss "Microdosing" and listen to "A Bad Attitude" from A Trip to Bolgatanga (2023), "Fear of a Man...

We complete our treatment of On the Aesthetic Education of Man by considering its final letters in more detail. Does Reason really make us more moral? And does the embrace of Beauty really point us to Reason, or does self-consciousness rule out immersion in art? If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife...

Starting with letter 20 in On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), we tell more of the story of how art is supposed to get us from sensation to thinking. Aesthetic perception ends up being essential to any conceptualization (thinking) whatsoever! Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and a supporter-exclusive part three to this di...

Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff of the Brain in a Vat podcast join Bill and Mark L. (aka Alf) to talk about rationality, broadly construed, while not moving a couch and not giving each other Christmas presents. Does "reason" by itself tell us what to do and what to believe? Is trypophobia really just bigotry (it is not)? What's the rationale for making negative comments on a podcast? Are bigo...

On the second half of Friedrich Schiller's On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), getting into the mechanics of how aesthetic experience work in giving us a midpoint between animality and pure rationality where we can feel free. Also, does art reveal truth? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Spons...

The regular gang (Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al) address Jesse Armstrong's prestige HBO dramedy that premiered in 2018 and has just wrapped up. Why all the fuss over this show? Is it really worthy of comparison to Shakespeare? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content at patreon.com/prettymuchpop or by subscribing via Apple Podcasts to the Mark Lintertainment Channel . Sponsors: Ge...

Swans started in the early '80s with a brutal sound gradually became more subtle and textured. The band broke up in 1995 after ten albums (and three other releases under the name World of Skin), then Michael released a couple of solo albums and six alt-country releases as Angels of Light before starting a new chapter of Swans in 2010 which has now released its sixth album. We discuss "Michael Is D...

Mark and Wes dive deeper into the text of the first several letters of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795). Are verbal descriptions of art destined to fall short?  What is it to put yourself forward as a representative of your species? These and many more of Schiller's puzzling proclamations are debated in detail! If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up...

We continue working through letters 1-15 of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), helped by Markus Reuter . We get clearer on what Schiller means by Beauty, and how two contrary drives toward matter and form somehow cancel each other out to combine in a "play drive" that is at the heart of appreciating and creating art. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/su...

Mark, Lawrence, and Sean Michael Cooney discuss the gothic romance vampire soap opera from 1966-1971 plus the spin-off movies and reboots. We interview one of the stars of the original show, the author Kathryn Leigh Scott , to talk about the appeal and enduring legacy of this show that was once massively popular but is now a quintessential cult property that will likely be rebooted for the fourth...

Can art make us better people? Musician Markus Reuter joins Mark, Wes, and Seth to discussion the first half of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795). Given the failure of the French Revolution, this famous German poet wondered what could make the masses capable of governing themselves? His answer: Beauty! Aesthetic appreciation puts us at a distance from our savage desires, enables the abstrac...

Zach is an improvisor who's written for MST3K , been a commentator for Resistance Pro Wrestling , and has been a recurring guest on Hello From the Magic Tavern . He joins Mark and Bill to discuss competitiveness in all its forms. Is strife part of utopia, or would all conflict be removed in an ideal political situation? Is the controlled competitiveness of sports or improv games fundamentally diff...

To conclude our discussion of the novel, we turn to the philosophies of Dmitri and Ivan, plus the Biblical book of Job and our takeaways. Do we need some philosophy of transcendence to cope? 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 .

Nick has fronted 10+ carefully arranged solo albums since 1985 in various styles from R&B to Latin to alt-country. We discuss "Amanda and the God’s Honest Truth" from Rarified World (2021), "Buffalo Man" from Little Big Songs (2008), and "River of Love" from  More Than Truth (1986). End song: "Super Human Love" from For the Baby Doll (2013). Intro: "Heartbeat Getting Stronger" from Nicholas Tr...

Following up on our live episode , we further ponder the 1869 novel, revisiting the "problem of evil" arguments and how the various brothers cope with an imperfect world. Plus, we relate Dostoevsky to other existentialists. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion, including a supporter-exclusive final part...

It's our most successful sports film franchise ever, starting with the Best Picture winning, highest grossing film from 1976, through eight sequels to land us with Creed III . Mark, Al, Sarahlyn, and Lawrence talk about the ups and downs of this journey. How can such an apparently simple formula stay fresh? Is there any rationale for a larger Rocky-verse? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear b...