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
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.
Dec 17, 2011 • 33min
PREMIUM-Episode 48: Merleau-Ponty on Perception and Knowledge
Discussing Maurice Merleau-Ponty's "Primacy of Perception" (1946) and The World of Perception (1948).
Dec 1, 2011 • 31min
PREMIUM-Episode 47: Sartre on Consciousness and the Self
Discussing Jean-Paul Sartre's The Transcendence of the Ego (written in 1934).
Nov 17, 2011 • 30min
PREMIUM-Episode 46: Plato on Ethics & Religion
Discussing Plato's "Euthyphro." With guest Matt Evans.
Oct 29, 2011 • 33min
PREMIUM-Episode 45: Moral Sense Theory: Hume and Smith
Discussing parts of David Hume's Treatise of Human Nature (1740) and Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). With guest Getty Lustila.
Oct 11, 2011 • 32min
PREMIUM-Episode 44: New Atheist Critiques of Religion
Discussing selections from Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel C. Dennett.
