The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Continuing on Faces At the Bottom of the Well  (1992), with guest Lawrence Ware. We discuss "The Racial Preference Licensing Act" (ch. 3). If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support . The post PREVIEW-Ep. 278: Derrick Bell on the Dynamics of Racism (Part Two) first appeared on The Partia...

Mark discusses how Internet culture has changed stand-up with three comedians: past guests Rodney Ramsey and Daniel Lobell , plus Dena Jackson . How have YouTube, social media, and virtual spaces changed the way comedians work? We talk about story-telling vs. one-liners, repping your hometown, comedy cliques, surviving negativity, and more. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content fo...

Turkeys speculate in a game scene. Are they reasonable and/or jive turkeys? Then, geometry is subject to ad hominem attack in an instructive relationship scene. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com . Hear more PvI . Support the podcast to get our post-game discussion and other bonus stuff. The post Philosophy vs. Improv #10: Rea...

The Nostromo is a labyrinthine spaceship, a hulking ore refinery run on a sophisticated computer operating system and manned by a crew of seven. But somehow it’s not the most impressive piece of technology in Ridley Scott’s 1979 film “Alien.” That distinction belongs to the title character, an organism with blood of acid and two sets of jaws, highly-evolved, adaptable to any climate. Its scientifi...

Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode. Listen to a preview . Hear this part ad-free . On Faces At the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism (1992), a foundational text in critical race theory that presents thought experiments in the philosophy of law, including "The Space Traders." With guest Lawrence Ware . Sponsors : Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/pel . The post Ep. 278: Derr...

Mark is joined by novelist Sarahlyn Bruck and playwright Kayla Dryesse to discuss the conventions, evolution, and influence of daytime soaps. Are they actually terrible, or is critical dismissal of them largely sexist? Are prestige TV shows like Downton Abbey and White Orchid really just soaps in disguise? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prett...

With the recent theatrical release of The Green Knight , Mark and Brian along with Den of Geek's David Crow and the very British Al Baker consider the range of cinematic Arthuriana, including Excalibur (1981), Camelot (1967), King Arthur (2004), King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), First Knight (1995), Sword of the Valiant (1983), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1973), and Monty Python and th...

p>Why is lying wrong? Scene conceptions clash. It is hard to lie in a pretend scene, because the pretending is already a lie. You can lie inside-out or outside-in. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com . Hear more PvI . Support the podcast to our post-game discussion and other bonus stuff. The post Philosophy vs. Improv #9: Keepi...

Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” is subtitled a “Story of Wall St.,” yet there is almost nothing in it of the bustle of city life, and entirely nothing in it of the hustle of the trading floor. The story’s walls block out the streets, serving on the one hand as a container for a colorful assortment of human Xerox machines, on the other as a blank projection screen for the reveries of a man who...

Mark and Bill do impressions of people you don't know. The is-ought distinction is bravely explored. Does pretending to be cavemen help? Magic business is afoot. Childhood speaks. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com . Hear more PvI . Support the podcast to get bonus stuff (including the "post-game" portion of this discussion. T...

Does it make sense to try to have everyone get what they "deserve"? We act out the desert machine but yet get no predictable cake. Judgebot 5000 enters our lives. Is this our first really good episode? Maybe. Hear more PvI . Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma! The post Philosophy vs. Improv #7: Meritocracy Now! first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast .

Continuing on The Phenomenology of Spirit , ch. 3, "Force and the Understanding." We start off by considering the players in force: the thing exerting the force and the thing receiving. By arguing that these are not so different, Hegel moves to arguing that knowledge and the world are likewise not sharply distinguished. If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign u...

We try to be boring. Bill tries to make a discovery amidst the canards. Mark tries to be a good meta-dupe. With our first celebrity guest, the final judge is unveiled! Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com . Hear more PvI . Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma! The post Philosophy vs. Improv #6: Let’s Have Made a...

The story begins and ends with two variations on the meaning of the title. On the one hand, to give another turn of the screw is to ratchet up the horror of a good ghost story, in this case by involving children in it. On the other, it’s to treat the cause of that horror as if it were just another of life’s many obstacles, to be overcome both by screwing one’s courage to the sticking place, and by...

Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode. Listen to a preview . On The Phenomenology of Spirit , ch. 3, "Force and the Understanding." What is "force" as physics describes it? And scientific law? Do these terms denote objects in the world, or models for how we describe the world? The post Ep. 277: Hegel on Our Understanding of Physics (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philoso...

"Queering" doesn't just mean adding LGBTQ+ representation to games; it's disruption of norms through added player freedom. Mark and guest co-host Tyler engage game designer Naomi Clark on sandbox games, character creation, how games train us, glitches, speed runs, and more, touching on The Sims, The Last of Us, Cyberbpunk, Mass Effect, and her own games like Sissyfight 2000 and the card game Conse...

Two scenes reveal our underlying definitions. How will we overcome the lag between our words? How many beats in an heirloom beet if an heirloom hair-looms beets? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com . Hear more PvI . Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma! The post Philosophy vs. Improv #5: What Is Bread? Are You...

Focusing on The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), ch. 2 "Perception." Hegel's critique of the adequacy of perceptual knowledge has metaphysical aspects: The relation of substance to properties, properties to each other, and things to other things and to the perceiver all create difficulties that call for more active participation by the mind. To hear the full second part , you'll need to go sign up...

Is death something to be feared? What's next? What are the DETAILS? Do not adjust your listening device; that sound you hear is improvisation. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com . Hear more PvI . Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma! The post Philosophy vs. Improv #4: Death at Not a Doctor’s Office first appea...

Gone with the Wind— adjusted for inflation, the highest-grossing film in American history— has undergone several critical reappraisals in the 82 years since its production and release. Certainly the film romanticizes the Antebellum South and the Confederacy while glossing over the evils of slavery and stereotyping many of its black characters. Yet it may also provide a sharp critique or even satir...

Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode. Listen to a preview . On The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), ch. 1 "Sense Certainty" and ch. 2 "Perception." We walk through the first step in considering Hegel's dialectical analysis of theories of knowledge. Sense-certainty claims that we have direct access to sensory particulars which can act as foundational. But can we really refer or point to a particu...

Our first improvised scene! We get real high on self-esteem. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com . Hear more PvI . Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma! The post Philosophy vs. Improv #3: Equality of Ignorance first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast .

Continuing on the Introduction, we get into more detail on Hegel's goal and his tricky terminology. To hear the full second part , you'll need to go sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support . The post PREVIEW-Ep. 275: Hegel’s Project in “The Phenomenology of Spirit” (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast .

Mark Linsenmayer asks what is real? Bill Arnett accommodates and highlights as appropriate. A flawless performance by all, despite the judges' feedback. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com . Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma! Hear more PvI . Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma! The post Phi...

In the transition from stage to screen, “A Streetcar Named Desire” retained its long-running Broadway cast with a single exception: the role of Blanche Dubois, which passed from Jessica Tandy to Vivien Leigh. Like Blanche, Leigh was the odd woman out. A symbol of the glories of the studio system, married to the symbol of English stage acting, her classical training ran contrary to that of her Meth...