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
Jun 20, 2012 • 32min
PREMIUM-Episode 58: What Grounds Ethical Claims? (Moore, Stevenson, MacIntyre)
On G.E. Moore's Principia Ethica, ch. 1 (1903); Charles Leslie Stevenson's "The Emotive Meaning of Ethical Terms" (1937), and Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue, ch. 1-2. Is there such a thing as moral intuition? Is "good" a simple property that we all recognize but can't explain like yellow? Or are moral terms just tools we use to convince other people to like things that we like? Get the full discussion at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
May 31, 2012 • 32min
PREMIUM-Episode 57: Henri Bergson on Humor
On Bergson's Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic (1900). What is humor? Bergson says that, fundamentally, we laugh as a form of social corrective when others are slow to adapt to society's demands. Other types of humor are derivative from this. With guest Jennifer Dziura. Get the full discussion at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
May 15, 2012 • 32min
PREMIUM-Episode 56: More Wittgenstein on Language
Continuing discussion of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, Part I, sections 1-33 and 191-360. With guest Philosophy Bro. On "family resemlances" in concepts, dismissing philosophical puzzles as grammatical mistakes, and the private language argument. Get the full discussion at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
May 2, 2012 • 32min
PREMIUM-Episode 55: Wittgenstein on Language
On Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, Part I, sections 1-33 and 191-360 (written around 1946). What is linguistic meaning? Wittgenstein argues that it's not some mysterious entity in the mind, but that it is a public matter: you understand a word if you can use it appropriately, and you know the context in which it's appropriate to use it and how to react when you hear it in that context. W. calls such a context a "language game," and sees language as big heap of these games, spanning a wide range of human activity. With guest Philosophy Bro. Get the full discussion at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
Apr 6, 2012 • 34min
PREMIUM-Episode 54: More Buddhism and Naturalism
Continuing our discussion of Owen Flanagan's The Bodhisattva's Brain: Buddhism Naturalized (2011). Are the basic tenets of Buddhism compatible with a respect for science? We talk (eventually) about talk about karma, nirvana, emptiness, no-self, and the four noble truths. Get the full discussion at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
Mar 26, 2012 • 34min
PREMIUM-Episode 53: Buddhism and Naturalism with Guest Owen Flanagan
Discussing The Bodhisattva's Brain: Buddhism Naturalized (2011) with Owen Flanagan. What philosophical insights can we modern folks with our science and naturalism (i.e. inclination against super-natural explanations) glean from Buddhisim? Flanagan says plenty: We can profitably put Buddhist ethics in dialogue with familiar types of virtue ethics. However, we need to be skeptical of any claims to scientific support the superior happiness of Buddhists. Get the full discussion at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
Mar 17, 2012 • 33min
PREMIUM-Episode 52: Philosophy and Race (DuBois, Martin Luther King, Cornel West)
On W.E.B. DuBois's "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" (1903), Cornel West's "A Genealogy of Modern Racism" (1982), and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (1963) and "The Black Power Defined" (1967), plus Malcolm X's "The Black Revolution" (1963). With guest Lawrence Ware. Get the full discussion at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
Feb 24, 2012 • 26min
PREMIUM-Episode 51: Semiotics and Structuralism (Saussure, et al)
On Ferdinand de Saussure's Course in General Linguistics (1916) (Part I and Part II, Ch. 4), Claude Levi-Strauss's "The Structural Study of Myth" (1955), and Jacques Derrida's "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences" (1966). What is language? What is the relation between language and reality? With guest C. Derick Varn. Get the full discussion at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
Feb 3, 2012 • 32min
PREMIUM-Episode 50: Pirsig’s “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”
On Robert M. Pirsig's philosophical, autobiographical novel from 1974. What's the relationship between science and values? Pirsig thinks that modern rationality, by insisting on the fundamental distinction between objects (matter) and subjects (people), labels value judgments as irrational. Society therefore largely ignores aesthetic considerations in the buildings and machines that litter our landscape. With guest David Buchanan. Get the full discussion at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
Jan 11, 2012 • 33min
PREMIUM-Episode 49: Foucault on Power and Punishment
Discussing Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish (1975), parts 1, 2 and section 3 of part 3. With guest Katie McIntyre.
