The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al discuss the new Amazon TV show based on on the video game series that launched in 1997. How does one best adapt a sandbox game? How dark is too dark for comedy? We talk world-building and exposition dumps, narrative structure and character revelation, and morality in a ruined world. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content at patreon.com/prettymuchpop...

More on the Zhuangzi, books 1-6 and 17-19 with guest Theo Brooks. We discuss epistemology (Can we know the mind of someone else? How can virtue make truth more accessible?), metaphysics (Is the world constantly changing such that we can't actually refer to anything? Does each thing somehow contain its opposite in virtue of being defined by its contrast with all that it is not?), and ethics (What c...

The ancient Mariner kills his Albatross with a carelessness that stands in stark contrast to his impulse for confession. For several days he and his shipmates feed the albatross, play with it, and treat it as if it were inhabited by a “Christian soul.” The mariner never tells the wedding guest why it is that he kills the bird, but the casual and seemingly unmotivated act is followed by a psychedel...

Terry Malloy and his fellow longshoremen on the New York docks are witnesses to union corruption under labor boss Johnny Friendly, but won’t testify against him because of his violent intimidation tactics, which ensure that union members remain “D and D”—that is, deaf and dumb—to any illegal activity. When Terry’s collaboration with Friendly results in the death of his friend Joey Doyle, and when...

Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al look at pop music and the idea of genre. Beyoncé is beloved enough that she can do whatever she wants to musically, but the response to her Cowboy Carter  album among country music listeners has been pretty critical. Is it real country, and what is it to even ask that question? Is gate-keeping about your favorite genre always stupid? For more, visit prett...

Sign up for the new Closereads public feed at evergreen.com/closereadsphilosophy . For an ad-free experience with many extra episodes, sign up to support Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy , or combine your support for PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife . Mark and Wes read through and discuss the first couple of pages of ch. 19, "Fathoming Life," following up on ep...

The Hitchhikers and Appetizers  co-host joins Mark and Bill to talk about cultural relativism. We talk about foreign-ness, what parts of ethics seem to apply to all cultures, the Museum of Soup, pushing back tactfully in a scene, and more. In my culture, listening to this episode while in a work meeting is polite. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches)...

Subscribe to get every PEL episode ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Mark, Dylan, Seth, and Theo Brooks discuss the Zhuangzi (ca. 325 BCE) UNSW Sydney prof. Karyn , co-author of the History of Philosophy Podcast Chinese series. We talk through Daoist advice about virtue, political action, perspectivism, and more. Learn about our new book at partiallyexaminedlife.com/book . The post Ep. 341: Gue...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Concluding on The Philosophy of Nature: A Guide to the New Essentialism (2002) with guest Chris Heath. Are we OK with the metaphysical necessity of natural laws? How do Ellis' mind-independent fundamental objects in the world relate to higher level things, whether biological species or human nature or even things like colo...

The incredible post-Seinfeld improvised sit-com Curb Your Enthusiasm has had its finale, and so Mark, Lawrence, Sarah and Al reflect on its format, its characters, its way of exploring puzzles of modern manners, its treatment of race and gender, and more. Was it too repetitive? Did it get too contrived? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content at patreon.com/prettymuchpop or by subsc...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on The Philosophy of Nature: A Guide to the New Essentialism . Ellis' essentialism about physics and chemistry says that, for example, atoms of various elements are truly and unambiguously different and behave in ways that make them what they are. What does this entail? Learn about our new book at partially...

Your four hosts plus book editor Chris Sunami reflect on doing the podcast for 15 years and making the new book, which you should order on April 25. Plus, the three rules, future ambitions, and more. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Learn more about the book at partiallyexaminedlife.com/book . The...

David is co-host of the excellent  Overthink podcast , popular among the young people today, and so we have him monologue to children as an anti (?) drug speaker. How can drugs change us, our sense of self, and the ways we see the world? Can some drugs be considered "natural"? Also, legally defensible drug use at work, and Nancy Reagan the Heel. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on The Philosophy of Nature: A Guide to the New Essentialism (2002) with guest Chris Heath. We get further into the text about metaphysical realism, criteria for a natural kind, properties vs. predicates, and much more. Learn about the new PEL book at partiallyexaminedlife.com/book . Make a note on your calendar...

Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al discuss the American version, and to a lesser extent the British and Australian versions, of this reality game show that originated in 2021 in the Netherlands, based on the party game Mafia (aka Werewolf), plus Survivor-like challenges and a gothic tone. How does such a simple (stupid?) concept end up creating compelling TV? Are we cruel for liking this show? Is it...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On The Philosophy of Nature: A Guide to the New Essentialism (2002). What kind of metaphysics underlies chemistry and physics? Ellis argues that items such as chemical elements and physical particles have essences, and that these essential properties determine their behavior, which is characterized by scientific laws....

The co-host of the Those Who Aunt podcast joins Mark and Bill to joke about the family as the fundamental political unit and its special place in ethics. On the flip side, what questions should you ask yourself about your character at the start of a scene? Plus, Jan. 6, Platonic eugenics, transcending physical desire, a story that doesn't quite get started, a military upbringing, and the real Chef...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. To conclude our discussion of Aristotle's Metaphysics , we finish discussing potency by talking about the potential to learn (the Meno problem), the metaphysical priority of the actual over the merely potential, and how the Unmoved Mover motivates all primary beings to strive toward their full actualization. The post Ep. 3...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. We read portions of books 9 (Theta) and 12 (Lambda) of Aristotle's Metaphysics , first on "being-at-work" (actuality) vs. mere potency, then on Aristotle's famous argument for the existence of God. The post Ep. 338: Aristotle on Potential vs. Actual and the Unmoved Mover (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Exam...

We discuss the 4-Oscar-winning film Poor Things as well as the other creations of writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos, including most notably The Lobster , Dogtooth , and The Killing of a Sacred Deer . These films mix high concepts, purposively stilted line-readings, and increasingly rich cinematography with horror and gross sex. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content at patreon.com/p...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Aristotle's Metaphysics, Book 7 (Zeta), on essences and what sorts of things have them. Contrasting with Plato, Aristotle believes that some changing, visible things have forms. How do they get them? Well, they're received from some previous thing that has a comparable form, e.g. a child from its parents, or...

It's another TEAM PLAY episode, with our returning champions, star of improv stages and podcasts Chris and College of Southern Nevada philosophy prof Cole receiving NOT THE INFORMATION THEY EXPECT and gettin' all rational and such when consoling a friend and wrangling about a math quiz. Luxuriate in the rich characters and philosophy tools! Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill im...

Do you Who? Did you Who back in the day, or just from the point of the 2005 revival? Did you Who through Tennant, Smith, Capaldi... Were you still on board for Whittaker, and now as Disney+ and revival creator Russell T. Davies attempt to make this more readily accessible in all ways with the transition to Ncuti Gatwa? Mark, Al, and Lawrence are joined by our special guest, improv comedian Chris R...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing for our third session on Aristotle's Metaphysics, now covering Book 7 (Zeta). What exactly is the type of being that is the chief reason why we call anything being? Aristotle says its the substantial form present in an individual animal or plant. The post Ep. 337: Aristotle on Primary Being (Part One) first...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Book 4 (Gamma) of the Metaphysics . We discuss further the relations between the logical and metaphysical versions of the principle of non-contradiction and how Aristotle characterizes relativists like Protagoras who he claims violate non-contradiction. The post Ep. 336: Aristotle on Being and Non-Contradicti...