The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

In light of the new, acclaimed film, The Boy and the Heron , Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al reflect on the Studio Ghibli films that Hayao Miyazaki has directed since the '80s. Does the visionary design make up for the languorous pacing? We talk about the anime style, subtitles vs. dubbed, using this style for children's vs. adult entertainment, the relation of these films to fairy tales, and mor...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a supporter-exclusive Nightcap anticipating our upcoming series on Aristotle's Metaphysics . Listen to a preview . Continuing on "On the Ontological Mystery" (1933), we talk more about problems vs. mysteries: The latter implicate OURSELVES; we are not merely witnesses, but our involvement complicates things....

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Discussing "On the Ontological Mystery" (1933) about our need for meaning. Marcel asserts that our need for "mystery" is much more primal than the scientific, technical point of view that breaks down problems into component parts for easy analysis. In fact, this more modern-seeming way of looking at the world presuppo...

It's our office holiday party, where we engage in chit-chat then enter into a few holiday scenes. Is there any philosophy content in this one at all? We do talk a bit about status and authority. Was there any particular improv lesson? We forgot to actually lay out our lessons at the end, and (SPOILER) declined to name a winner. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a supporter-exclusive episode of Closereads that relates the Sermon on the Mount to Kierkegaard Listen to a preview . Continuing on Kierkegaard's perhaps most famous book, this time focusing largely on "Problem One: Is There a Teleological Suspension of the Ethical?" The post Ep. 333: Kierkegaard’s “Fear and...

Your hosts Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al explore Jewish comedy with stand-up Daniel , whose film Reconquistador is about his ancestors being kicked out of Spain. What's the connection of Jewish humor to anti-semitism? What's the relation of a creator's identity to the creation? How does comedy relate to politics and philosophy? We touch on Mel Brooks, Larry David, Adam Sandler, Woody Allen, Len...

It’s a film bursting with objects—the treasure troves of Xanadu, a snowglobe, jigsaw puzzles, a winner’s cup, the famous sled. Even the conceptual elements of the film’s plot are expressed tangibly. Kane’s mind-boggling wealth isn’t an abstraction, but a list of concrete holdings—gold mines, oil wells, real estate. And the news Kane controls and manipulates, when yoked to another noun, is somethin...

To wrap up our coverage of Kierkegaard, we consider his religious stage of development through this 1843 text analyzing the Biblical story of Abraham. Can we understand, much less admire, an attitude whereby you think God has commanded you to kill your son and you gladly go along with it? How does this sort of "greatness" relate to ethics? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexa...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a supporter-exclusive, Kierkegaard-related Nightcap. Listen to a preview . Concluding our discussion of Either/Or , still this time considering "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" on how the ethical helps us to develop a self. What is this ideal self that...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On the second half of "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" from Vol. 2 of Either/Or (1843). How do we "absolutely" form a coherent self by embracing ethical conventions like marriage, friendship, and having a job? The post Ep. 332: Kierkegaard’s “Either/Or”: The Ethi...

Sukaina teaches philosophy at U. of Pennsylvania , combining work from ancient Greek, contemporary moral, and feminist philosophy. She lets Mark and Bill know about critiques by feminist philosophers of the idea of consent. We talk a bit about moral agency, teaching dynamics given these kids today , Aristotelian virtue, and testing personality types by turning them up to 11. Mark philosophizes at...

For our annual holiday episode, Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk all things Muppets, but in particular the 1992 film The Muppet Christmas Carol . What's the appeal of this puppet act? Is its humor post-funny ironic? Should it still exist and can it still have the magic with a new generation behind the felt? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content at patreon.com/prettymuchpop or...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a supporter-exclusive, part three to this episode. Listen to a preview. . Continuing on "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality," with a critique of (Hegelian) philosophy and concrete advice for how to build yourself in an optimal way. The post Ep. 331: Kierkeg...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" from Vol. 2 of Soren Kierkegaard's Either/Or (1843). What is choice? Kierkegaard's character Judge William criticizes the aesthete from our previous episode on the earlier part of this book: The aesthete doesn't make any authen...

Mark will again be teaching students like YOU over the Internet, once every two weeks, homework entirely optional. Get details and express your interest at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class . The post Announcement: Spring 2024 Core Texts in Philosophy Class first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast .

Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, Al and special guest Vi Burlew talk about the new film The Marvels as well as more generally what's been coming out in film and TV from the Marvel folks in the latest "phase." Does Marvel have a consistent tone at this point)? What explains the box office poison of the new film? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content at patreon.com/prettymuchpop or by subs...

Kevin is the creator and host of the storytelling podcast RISK! and is the alphabetically foremost member of the MTV-televised, newly reformed, celebrity-infested sketch comedy troupe The State . But can he improvise? Mark and Bill surprise Kevin into a scene about a suspicious hotel. How does one engineer one's legacy? Will history inevitably either reduce your greatest contributions to mere nois...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a supporter-exclusive, part three to this episode. Listen to a preview. . Continuing on "Diapsalmata" and "Rotation of Crops" from the "Either" portion of Kierkegaard's pseudonymous book.  We talk through more of K's aphorisms, his narrator's solution to boredom, and we take the critique personally: Is...

On the aphorisms ("Diapsalmata") that begin Soren Kierkegaard's Either/Or (1843), plus the essay also in the first volume, "Rotation of Crops." What is it to live your life as if it were a work of art? K thinks such a life is unserious and unsatisfying. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. The post Ep....

Mark and Wes Closeread the conclusion to Soren Kierkegaard's On the Concept of Irony (1841), "Irony as a Controlled Element, the Truth of Irony." The discussion starts with the role of irony in good art, and then moves on to discuss the proper role of irony as an existential strategy in a well-grounded, thoughtful life. To get all Part Three PEL episodes, plus paywalled vintage episodes, Nightcaps...

When King Leontes accuses his pregnant wife of adultery, the nobleman Antigonus assumes that Leontes has been “abused and by some putter-on”—in other words, some Iago-like villain has been putting malevolent ideas into his head. In fact, Leontes is the father of his own misconceptions, just as he is the father of his wife’s children. But unlike his children, his ideas might be said to have no moth...

We discuss the loose mishmash adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe stories that makes up Mike Flanagan's Netflix show, The Fall of the House of Usher . Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk about the various creative choices, moral responsibility in the show, the relation between gothic and camp, Poe's continued standing as horror icon, and more. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content at...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a third part to this discussion. Continuing with On the Concept of Irony , defined as "infinite absolute negativity." K criticizes his Romantic peers of taking irony too far. So what is healthy, well-grounded irony? The post Ep. 329: Kierkegaard on Irony (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Li...

Recorded on 9/11 (a date not known primarily for its improv activities), only now making its way to you, this discussion between Mark and Bill talk child deification, pop philosophy vs. pop improv, foreign accents, and guns in schools in the hands of improvisers. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com . Hear more at philosophyimpr...

Hannah supports her sisters. She’s a source of money, encouragement, and advice, and seems to ask for nothing in return. In fact, she’s so giving and self-reliant that her husband Eliott begins to believe that she has no needs. This seems to be the spark that ignites his infatuation with Hannah’s sister Lee. It also leads her sister Holly to rebel against what might be called Hannah’s regime of ca...