The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey
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 Much Pop (prettymuchpop.com, covering all media), Nakedly Examined Music (nakedlyexaminedmusic.com, deconstructing songs), Philosophy vs. Improv (philosophyimprov.com, fun with performance skills and philosophical ideas), and (sub)Text (subtextpodcast.com, looking deeply at lit and film). Learn about more network podcasts at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
We also feature episodes from other podcasts by our hosts to round out your partially examined life, including Pretty Much Pop (prettymuchpop.com, covering all media), Nakedly Examined Music (nakedlyexaminedmusic.com, deconstructing songs), Philosophy vs. Improv (philosophyimprov.com, fun with performance skills and philosophical ideas), and (sub)Text (subtextpodcast.com, looking deeply at lit and film). Learn about more network podcasts at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books
12 snips
Dec 24, 2013 • 1h 28min
Episode 86: Thomas Kuhn on Scientific Progress
Philosopher of science, Thomas Kuhn, challenges linear scientific progress, emphasizing scientific revolutions and paradigms. Discussion on paradigm shifts, anomalies, and Kuhn's views compared to Popper. Exploration of occult properties in theories, theory-laden observations, and paradigm influence on data interpretation. Reflecting on incommensurable paradigms, rebellion in language, emotional awareness, and decision-making in challenging times.
Dec 23, 2013 • 6min
Precognition of Ep. 86: Thomas Kuhn
Dylan Casey lays out Thomas Kuhn's thesis in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
Dec 7, 2013 • 1h 47min
Episode 85: Rawls on Social Justice
On John Rawls's A Theory of Justice (1971), most of ch. 1-4.
Dec 6, 2013 • 11min
Precognition of Ep. 85: John Rawls
Seth Paskin summarizes the John Rawls's A Theory of Justice.
Nov 11, 2013 • 33min
PREMIUM-Episode 84: Nietzsche’s “Gay Science”
On Friedrich Nietzsche's The Gay Science (1882, with book 5 added 1887). What is wisdom? Nietzsche gives us an updated take on the Socratic project of challenging your most deeply held beliefs. Challenge not just your belief in God (who's "dead"), but uncover all your habits of thinking in terms of the divine. Realize how little of your life is actually a matter of conscious reflection, and the consequent limits on self-knowledge. The very act of systematization in philosophy overestimates what we can know; instead, we need a "gay" (in the sense of cheerful, carefree, and subversive) science (in the sense of organized knowledge) that chases after fleeting insights and is able to question, i.e. laugh at, the pretensions of its own activity. Looking for the full Citizen version?
Nov 1, 2013 • 58min
Episode 83 Follow-Up: Q&A with Frithjof Bergmann
In light of our ep. 83, many listeners had questions on Frithjof's social/political/economic proposals for creating a post-job, pro-meaningful-work world.
Oct 11, 2013 • 1h 31min
Episode 83: New Work with Guest Frithjof Bergmann
alking with Frithjof Bergmann, Prof. Emeritus from U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor about his book New Work, New Culture (2004, English release coming soon).
Oct 10, 2013 • 13min
Precognition of Ep. 83: New Work
An introduction to and summary of Frithjof Bergmann's New Work, New Culture, read by Mark Linsenmayer.
Sep 24, 2013 • 30min
PREMIUM-Episode 82: Karl Popper on Science
On Popper's Conjectures and Refutations (1963), the first three essays. What is science, and how is it different than pseudo-science? From philosophy? Is philosophy just pseudo-science, or proto-science, or what? Popper thinks that all legitimate inquiry is about solving real problems, and scientific theories are those that are potentially falsifiable: they make definitely predictions about the world that, if these fail to be true, would show that the theory is false. Looking for the full Citizen version?
Sep 23, 2013 • 13min
Precognition of Ep. 82: Popper
A summary of the first three essays in Karl Popper's collection Conjectures and Refutations, read by Dylan Casey.
