The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Subscribe to get Parts 1, 2, and 3 ad-free right now. Continuing on Judith Jarvis Thomson's "A Defense of Abortion" (1971), plus Don Marquis' "Why Abortion is Immoral" (1989) and a summary of Mary Anne Warren's "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion" (1973), which we'll continue next week in part three with Jenny Hansen. Marquis claims that killing is wrong is because it deprives a being of a...

Who is to blame for Mary Tyrone’s morphine addiction? Is it Mary herself? Is it Edmund, her younger son, after whose difficult birth Mary was first prescribed the drug? Is it Jamie, her older son, who caused the death of the brother that Edmund was born to replace? Is it the doctor who prescribed morphine too readily? Or is it James, Mary’s husband, who hired a third-rate doctor because he was too...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. We discuss widely read papers about abortion, including an excerpt from Roe v. Wade (1973) and Judith Jarvis Thomson's "A Defense of Abortion" (1971). Thomson argues that even if we grant (for the sake of argument) that a fetus is a person, abortion should still be permissible given that a woman owns her body. The post Ep. 301: Is Abortion Moral...

Thanks to the new film Prey , we now have six films (starting with 1987's Predator ) featuring the dreadlocked, camouflaged, infrared-seeing race of alien hunters who have apparently been flying around collecting our skulls for 300 years. Mark is joined by Lawrence Ware, Sarahlyn Bruck, and Al Baker to talk about the appeal of this franchise and what makes a good Predator film. For more, visit pre...

Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3 , which you can preview . Continuing on “On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life” (1874), we get into the antiquarian use of history and the critical approach to history and Nietzsche's humanistic goals in his essay. How can we use history to help refine human nature? The post Ep. 300: Nietzsche on Relating to Hist...

Subscribe to get Part 3 of this episode in its entirety. Mark, Wes, and Dylan conclude our discussion of “On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life” (1874). What is the practical upshot of Nietzsche's recommendations for using history well and not letting it overwhelm you? The post PREVIEW-Ep. 300: Nietzsche on Relating to History (Part Three) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life...

Jay Sanders, famed not only for his appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and The Day After Tomorrow and many many other screens and stages, joins us to talk tragedy, how he's applied the lessons of improv to his scripted acting, and more. Jump into the improv maelstrom with us! In the post-game, which just this once , we're sharing with the general public, we more about Jay's proje...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. In this live-streamed show , we discuss “On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life” (1874), aka Untimely Meditation #2. What is the healthiest way to relate to our history? Nietzsche describes some approaches to history which meet human needs but which can also become oppressive. The post Ep. 300: Nietzsche on Relating to His...

To honor the death of Gilbert Gottfried, we discuss jokes like the 9-11 one he was pilloried for . Can comedy really be "too soon" in relation to its tragic subject matter? Is comedy really tragedy plus time, or are jokes in fact most needed immediately when pain and discomfort are most acute? Mark is joined by three comedians: Adam Sank (of the LGBTQ-themed Adam Sank Show ), Twitch-streaming song...

It’s all down to this. Which discipline, which host will prevail? Will a third-party cheater bust in and take the big prize? All stakes are on the table, and if this thinking isn’t critical enough, if these scenes aren’t congruent enough, if we fail the big scan-tron test that is life, then it’s all been for nothing. Get out your  Continue Reading … The post PvI#...

Continuing to discuss the play, now with guest Sarah Manton. We get into Cynicism, the Alcibiades sub-plot, a feminist angle on the play, and more. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion including the supporter-exclusive part three to this episode. The post Ep. 299: Philosophy in Shakespeare’s “Timon of A...

Subscribe to get Part 3 of this episode in its entirety. Mark, Wes, and Dylan conclude our discussion of Shakespeare's play. Chiefly, we talk about the exchanges about art in the play: How does art relate to life and to commerce? The post PREVIEW-Ep. 299: Philosophy in Shakespeare’s “Timon of Athens” (Part Three) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast .

Jordan Peele's launch from a solid comedy base with Key & Peele to the unexpected Get Out was so impressive that he's generated a huge amount of good will that allows him to play the full-on auteur with huge budgets. Did that pay off with his third film, the monster movie Nope ? Mark is joined by Lawrence Ware, Sarahlyn Bruck, and Nicole Pometti. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. Jonathan Bate, editor of the new RSC complete Shakespeare, joins us to talk about the role of money in the play, the psychology, cynicism, and more. Listen to our performance of the play first . The post Ep. 299: Philosophy in Shakespeare’s “Timon of Athens” (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast .

Skye teaches and Columbia and the City University of New York, and she recently published How to Be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment (which is very good, and NOT snake oil) . She joins Mark and Bill to talk about what authenticity might mean for an existentialist, how it relates to truth, responsibility, and picking a theme for your birthday party. Mark philosophizes at...

Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free plus tons of bonus content. Continuing our performance of William Shakespeare's play, finishing things up with acts 4 and 5 plus some post-performance discussion with the cast. Start with part one . We'll be live-streaming video for our big ep. 300 on Friday, Aug. 19 at 8pm ET. More info at partiallyexaminedlife.com/pel-live . Sponsors : Maximize the impact o...

The 2022 Oscar winner for Best Picture was CODA , a story about a musically inclined girl with a deaf family. Kambri Crews , herself a CODA, joins your host Mark, Sarahlyn Bruck , and Al Baker to talk about how deaf culture interacts with film. Films tend to show deafness as tragic, which is not necessarily how the deaf community views themselves. We talk about balancing the demands of a story, ho...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. The PEL players do an unrehearsed reading of Shakespeare's least popular play, which is about money and cynicism. This part includes Acts 1-3. The post Not Ep. 299: Shakespeare’s “Timon of Athens” Audioplay Feat. Jay O. Sanders, Michael Ian Black, and Michael Tow (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast .

Subscribe to get this recording in its entirety. Mark and Wes consider more passages from Ficino's Commentary on Plato's Symposium on Love , getting into Ficino's religious psychology and how this relates to Kierkegaard's. The post PREVIEW-Ficino-Flavored Nightcap Early August 2022 first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast .

Is re-playing or re-recording a song written and performed by someone else an act of love or predation? Mark is joined by Too Much Joy's Tim Quirk , the Gig Gab Podcast's Dave Hamilton, and the author of A Philosophy of Cover Songs Prof. P.D. Magnus to talk about different types of and purposes for covers, look a little at the history, share favorites, and more. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com ....

Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Nightcap featuring more Ficino discussion , which you can preview . Continuing on Commentary on Plato's Symposium on Love with guest Peter Adamson. We consider F's views on beauty and fill out his neo-Platonic epistemology. The post Ep. 298: Marsilio Ficino on Love (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy...

We talk about observations and how they relate to theories and other types of preconception. Is there such a thing as pure observation?  We tour a submarine and plan a party. There is no Chumbawamba in either case. Improver Chris starred in the Improvised Star Trek podcast and has been a recurrent guest and now an editor on Hello From the Magic Tavern . Mark philosophizes at partiallyexamined...

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On Commentary on Plato's Symposium on Love (1475), with guest Peter Adamson. What is the role of love in the universe? Ficino tries to combine Plato's theory of love as reproduction in the presence of beauty with an unorthodox take on Christian theology. Attention : We'll be live-streaming video for our big ep. 300 on Friday, Aug. 19 at 8pm ET....

Mark is joined by NY Time entertainment writer/philosophy prof Lawrence Ware , novelist/ex-actor Sarahlyn Bruck , and filmmaker/ Remakes, Reboots, and Revivals host Rolando Nieves to discuss the Jurassic Park franchise in light of the new film, Jurassic World: Dominion . Is the mere presence of cool dinosaurs enough to justify a film, or are these actually good films by any standard? What childhoo...

Subscribe to get Part 3 of this episode in its entirety. Concluding our close reading of Being and Time , on ch. 3, sec. 15 and 16 on the world as "ready to hand" or equipment. The post PREVIEW-Ep. 297: Heidegger on the Human Condition (Part Three) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast .