The Partially Examined Life

Continuing on "The Origin of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong" (1889), getting into how we measure the comparative value of things. While Brentano does observe actual practices in these areas, his phenomenology detects moral facts that can be used to cast judgments of people's actual practices, saving him from relativism. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/supp...

Mark and Bill introduce a new potential setting and some characters for ongoing use in future improvisations. We talk about techniques for doing that and wrap up by getting an update from Bill on his substitute teaching and talking about what makes for a good teacher. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com . Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support . Check out other Evergr...

On "The Origin of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong" (1889). What justifies basic moral facts? Brentano claims that right there in our experience, we can rationally sense with complete certainty that certain kinds of preferences are good ones, and others are not. This take on intuitionism is a response to Kant that (like Kant) cuts between the traditional epistemic categories of rationalism and emp...

We acknowledge this hugely popular form of "entertainment" recently embodied by The Baldwins , but popularized by shows like The Osbournes  and The Kardashians, wherein some celebrity and/or family just shows off their life, Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al are joined by returning guest Kayla Dryesse to talk about why this kind of show exists, its variations, and its redeeming value (if any). Is Th...

Continuing on Ecclesiastes with guest Jesse Peterson, getting into some more close reading of particular sections. We make some connection from the author's observations to ancient Greek Skepticism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism. How is the world "absurd" according to this book? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus d...

Are we taking for granted this unique, talent-filled weekly nationally televised live comedy event that's been around for 50 years? (as in "What do we think this show is? Chopped liver?") Does its format even make sense at this time given YouTube and streaming? What will its legacy be? Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al discuss the casts, highlights, and the recent anniversary specials. For more, vi...

Ecclesiastes is often cited as one of the most philosophical books of the Bible, so we approached it in that spirit with the help of Jesse M. Peterson, whose soon-to-be-published book is called Qoheleth and the Philosophy of Value . Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Check out the History of...

JR has drummed on over 200 US Billboard Hot 100 songs and 50 Grammy winning tunes. He was in Rufus w/ Chaka Khan in the late 70s/early 80s, has released two solo albums, written for soundtracks, produced other artists, and has led various combos over the years. He is currently promoting his auto-biography King of the Groove . We discuss "Gonna Be Alright" from  The Bronx, USA soundtrack (2020), "F...

On "Fragment on Machines" (1858). Shouldn't automating work free workers? Not according to Marx, until capitalism is overthrown. Until then, automation actually just makes labor conditions worse and certainly doesn't give people more free time, since the capitalist keeps all the surplus gained by greater productivity. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support...

Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al discuss the Coralie Fargeat/Demi Moore film The Substance in light of its Oscar nominations, along with related reflections on lost youth, e.g. Sunset Boulevard (1950), Death Becomes Her  (1992), and Neon Demon (2016). We also touch on other cloning scenarios. Is this film a serious meditation on aging in Hollywood, or just a particularly vivid but logically confuse...

We finish our treatment of Capital , Ch. 1, covering the little bit that Marx says about actual communism (he was wary of utopianism, contra his reputation), and think through a number of related practical problems. We introduce "Fragment on Machines" (1858). Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponso...

Mark and Bill are joined by two north-of-the-border podcasters, Shawn Vulliez and Aaron Moritz, who incorporate both improv and philosophy in their dirty leftist podcast . We simulate conversation as competing knowers-of-the-good-life and talk about using improv for political purposes. Note that this was recorded back in December when we were in the thick of Luigi Mangione fever and not yet consum...

Continuing on Capital , Ch. 1 on commodities. We go into detail on his account of how money gets derived from the continued comparison of various commodities, how use value comes back into play when we compare the economic value of one commodity as compared to another, and finally, the details of commodity fetishism. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support t...

Django is a singer/songwriter/guitarist who released his first solo album in 1996 and has released seven albums with The Old Ceremony since 2004 plus several more solo releases. We discuss The Old Ceremony songs "Too Big to Fail" (and listen to "Hangman's Party at the end) from Earthbound (2024), "The Disappear" from Walk On Thin Air (2009), and "Reservations" from Our One Mistake (2006). Intro: "...

On Capital (1867), Ch. 1, "The Commodity." What makes something we buy or sell valuable? Marx says it's ultimately the labor that goes into it, though there are some wrinkles in formulating this accurately, and the commodities and surrounding marketplace activity blind us to labor's role and its ethical import. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get...

In light of the recent release of the James Mangold film A Complete Unknown , Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Dylan superfan Al discuss the man, the myth, and the music. The film clearly aimed to make the music, environment, and political activity of the '60s come alive today, but does the simplification required to make a coherent film undermine that goal? We also touch on his Chronicles , plus I'm...

Mark and Wes read through and discuss Karl Marx's The German Ideology (1846), delving deep into the middle of his critique of Max Stirner's The Ego and Its Own .  Marx articulates and criticizes Stirner's attempt to distinguish the mere common egoism of an unthinking person from the enlightened egoism that Stirner is recommending. Read along with us , starting on p. 259 (PDF p. 255). Sign up to su...

We continue on the introduction to Marx's Grundrisse , going through his criticisms of prior economists who were too ahistorical and didn't understand how production, consumption, distribution and exchange hang together as a single system. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Learn about St. J...

Randy  is a literature guy who has written a couple of books about improv and here joins Mark and Bill to talk about WINGING IT: Improv's Power and Peril in the Age of Trump , wherein he basically blames improv for giving us the orange man. Our scenes are about Trumpers hustling a fast food joint and improv for dogs. Mark and Bill stick around for some post-game bringing in yet another metaphor: m...

On the intro to Marx's Grundrisse (1857) and "Theses on Feuerbach" (1845). Why economics, and why do it the way Marx does? We see Marx argues that Feuerbach's materialism was not materialistic enough, start looking at production, consumption, distribution, and exchange as moments within a single process, and talk about why anyone would want to read a historical economic text. Get more at partially...

In light of Robert Eggers' film Nosferatu  and the end of What We Do in Shadows , Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al discuss the many vampire shows and films all the way back to Bram Stoker's 1897 novel. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear this ad-free with bonus content at patreon.com/prettymuchpop or by subscribing via Apple Podcasts to the Mark Lintertainment Channel . Sponsors: Get 10% off...

Continuing on The Ego and Its Own , focusing now on the sections "The Owner" and "My Power." Stirner lets us know that his egoism ("ownness") is not compatible with liberal egalitarianism, which he sees as just a continuation of the Christian project of perfecting humanity. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus dis...

On The Ego and its Own (1844), another big influence on Karl Marx and a precursor of NIetzsche, or perhaps an early Ayn Rand. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Have up to a $100 donation to effective charities matched at GiveWell.org .

Iain started in Britain's Fairport Convention in the late '60s, but quickly left that band to start a couple more and then move to the US for a lengthy solo career. He has in total released close to 50 albums, including many collaborations. We discus the title track from How Much Is Enough  (2024), the title track from God Looked Down  (1996), and "Road to Ronderlin" by Matthews Southern Comfort f...

Read more about Mark's online class that starts later this month at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class , and sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/enroll .