Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
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...
Author
Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Jul 6, 2026
Where to listen?
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Episodes
Episode 113: Jesus's Parables 06.04.2015 2:24:27
Interpreting the Parables using texts from Paul Ricoeur, John Dominic Crossan, Paul Tillich, et al, with guest Law Ware.
Episode 112: Ricoeur on Interpreting Religion 16.03.2015 2:09:02
On Paul Ricoeur's "The Critique of Religion" and "The Language of Faith" (1973), with guest Law Ware. How can we apply hermeneutics to the Bible?
Episode 111: Gadamer's Hermeneutics: How to Interpret 02.03.2015 2:21:30
On Hans-Georg Gadamer's Truth and Method (1960, ch. 4), "Aesthetics and Hermeneutics" (1964), "The Universality of the Hermeneutical Problem" (1966), and "Hermeneutics as Practical Philosophy" (1972).
Close Reading (PREMIUM) of Heidegger on Truth 23.02.2015 16:49
Mark and Seth go line-by-line through the first half of "On the Essence of Truth" to help you understand Heidegger's language. This is a 17-min preview of a 2 hr, 37-min bonus recording . Citizens, log in and listen now.
Ep. 110 Aftershow (PREMIUM) with Stephen West 22.02.2015 19:11
Stephen West returns: Citizens should log in and listen to the Aftershow on Whitehead featuring Dylan Casey and David Buchanan. Everyone can listen to the first chunk of the discussion now.
Close Reading (PREMIUM) of Kant on the Sublime 16.02.2015 13:50
Mark and Wes go line-by-line through a chunk of the Critique of Judgment to help you feel confident decoding Kant and other difficult texts. This is a 13-min preview of a 72-min bonus recording . Citizens, log in and listen now .
Episode 110: Alfred North Whitehead: What Is Nature? 02.02.2015 2:17:33
On The Concept of Nature (1920). Nature, i.e. the object of our experience, is events, not things, ya dig?
Precognition of Ep. 110: Whitehead 01.02.2015 13:22
Mark Linsenmayer outlines Alfred North Whitehead's book The Concept of Nature (1920)
Ep. 109 Aftershow (PREMIUM) with Stephen West 31.01.2015 20:05
The first chunk of our new after-the-episode discussion, featuring Stephen West from Philosophize This! and Mark Linsenmayer. This is a 20-min preview of a 72-min discussion that can be found in full on our Free Stuff for Citizens page.
Episode 109: Jaspers's Existentialism with Guest Paul Provenza 19.01.2015 2:01:44
On Karl Jaspers's "On My Philosophy" (1941), featuring comedian/actor/director/author Paul Provenza
Precognition of Ep. 109: Karl Jaspers 18.01.2015 10:42
Mark Linsenmayer introduces Karl Jaspers's existentialist tract, "On My Philosophy." (1941)
Episode 108: Dangers of A.I. with Guest Nick Bostrom 06.01.2015 1:42:56
On Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, and Strategies (2014) with the author. What can we predict about, and how can we control in advance, the motivations of the entity likely to result from eventual advances in machine learning? Also with guest Luke Muehlhauser.
Episode 107: Edmund Burke on the Sublime 20.12.2014 2:15:45
On A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful , where young Burke lays out our knee-jerk aesthetic reactions, including those to scary things at a safe distance. With guest Amir Zaki.
Not Ep. 107: The 12 Interminable Days of Xmas: A Musical Extravaganza 20.12.2014 1:28:23
Mark Lint and the PEL Orchestra present the longest, slowest, biggest, fattest, most surreal Christmas carol ever.
Episode 106: Pyrrhonian Skepticism According to Sextus Empiricus 04.12.2014 1:56:03
On "Outlines of Pyrrhonism" from 200 C.E. Can you live while suspending judgment about all non-everyday matters? WIth guest Jessica Berry.
Episode 105: Kant: What Is Beauty? 15.11.2014 2:00:17
On Critique of Judgment (1790), Part I, Book I. What is beauty? Disinterested pleasure!
Episode 104: Robert Nozick's Libertarianism 27.10.2014 2:02:45
On Anarchy, State & Utopia (1974), ch. 1-3 and 7. What are the moral limits on government power? No redistributive taxation, suckah! With guest Stephen Metcalf.
Precognition of Ep. 104: Robert Nozick 26.10.2014 11:52
Seth Paskin introduces Anarchy, State, and Utopia about libertarianism and the limits of legitimate government power.
Episode 103: Thoreau on Living Deliberately 14.10.2014 1:47:11
On Henry David Thoreau's Walden (1854). Should all true philosophers go live in the woods and seek Truth in nature? Probably YOU should.
Episode 102: Emerson on Wisdom and Individuality 20.09.2014 2:06:46
On Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The American Scholar" lecture (1837) and his essays "Self-Reliance" and "Circles" (1841). Be yourself! Don't conform! Realize your oneness with the universe!
Episode 101: Maimonides on God 01.09.2014 1:41:36
On Guide for the Perplexed about God's lack of properties, featuring guest comedian Danny Lobell of the Modern Day Philosophers podcast.
Episode 100: Plato's Symposium Live Celebration! 15.08.2014 2:28:59
Our big live episode (also on video) about love, sex, self-improvement, and ancient Greek pederasty! Featuring a set by Mark Lint, plus Philosophy Bro on Plato's "Apology."
Episode 99: Looking Back on 100 Discussions and 5+ Years 11.08.2014 1:49:45
What have we learned? How has our take on the PEL project changed? On the eve before our big ep. 100 live show, we sat down to reflect on what we've been doing here. With guest Daniel Horne.
Episode 98: Guest Michael Sandel Against Market Society 26.07.2014 1:28:19
Interviewing him on his book "What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets" and continuing the discussion of his first book, "Liberalism and the Limits of Justice."
Episode 97: Michael Sandel on Social Justice and the Self 19.07.2014 1:45:07
On "Liberalism and the Limits of Justice" (1982) where Sandel critiques Rawls's version of liberalism as based on a bogus picture of us as purely choosing beings.
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