Philosophy vs. Improv

Bill gets really real, with his unlogical emotions. When we feel things, do we know why? Is there a why? Image found in a serious academic paper to reflect the seriousness (the snapped bra strap is merely implied). Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Bill gets to have the power of live and death, with a bit of moral luck. Is he enthused? Image found on twitter by a kid told to draw a fruit salad. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma! Sponsor: Learn about St. John’s college at sjc.edu/improv.

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. Image by Ava from this site. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

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. The relevant PEL episode to find out about Kant on lying is #10. Image cribbed from this article. Just look at that goddamned liar in the middle of the picture His deceit is captured perfectly! Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

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. We’ve now passed the point where the post-game discussion is just included with the episode here. If you want to hear our reflections on the episodes going forward and our recommendations for other things you might imbibe, sign up to be a supporter either at patreon.com/philosophyimprov, or if you’re an Apple Podcasts, you can click right on the “subscribe” button on our page there to get a free trial of access to supporter versions (i.e. ad free episodes, lots of bonus audio) of all three of Mark’s non-PEL podcasts (PvI plus Nakedly Examined Music and Pretty Much Pop). The amalgam of these is captured by Apple’s Mark Lintertainment channel. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Image found on Twitter. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

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. To hear more about meritocracy, try the Partially Examined Life’s recent interview with the great Michael Sandel. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Image by Alice Fothergill, swiped from this article. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff including the post-game portion of this discussion.

We try to be boring. Bill tries to make a discovery amidst the canards. Mark tries to be a good meta-dupe. But is our success in these attempts guaranteed by the deal you have already made with us by listening to this? It is not. With our first celebrity guest, the final judge is unveiled! In the post-game, we talk Conan O’Brien (sound effects) and talk shows in general, plus Joe Pera Talks With You. Why has Mark not yet read Bill’s book? Learn improv from Bill through chicagoimprovstudio.com. Get philosophy tutoring from Mark or listen to his reading group podcast at partiallyexaminedlife.com. For a Partially Examined Life introduction to the social contract, listen ep. 3 on Thomas Hobbes, then ep. 37 on John Locke. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Image by Kuan Jian Jing, Jessica. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Two micro scenes and a mystery number of interruptions reveal our underlying definitions. How will we overcome the lag between our words and become like-minded? How many beats in an heirloom beet if an heirloom hair-looms beets? Many lessons are learned that are not THE lesson, necessitating some difficult multi-tasking. In the post-game, Bill starts something we can’t finish about libertarianism, watermelon is revealed, and we have recommendations: Brad Neely’s Harry Potter videos, Shelly Kagan’s Yale course on Death. For more on definitions, you may be amused by the PEL episodes on Ayn Rand and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Now, both of those have been only available for $5 donors on the PEL Citizen site, but I’ve made the Ayn Rand one available for Philosophy Improv supporters at any level. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Image by Maggie via Aaron Zenz. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Is death something to be feared? What’s next? What are the DETAILS? Do not adjust your listening device or call an ambulance. That sound you hear is not ground hum nor tinnitus but is the sound of improvisation. Warning: We talk about suicide a bit. If you’re feeling depressed, don’t call the lava demon hotline, as it is a scam. We make a few references in this one that might be clarified by some clips if you’re confused: It’s sad when Hulk has to leave. Watch Richard Pryor on Norm and Kirk Douglas post-stroke accepting an Oscar. Brush up on Chris Farley’s Matt Foley lest you end up in a van down by the river. In the Post-Game, Bill recommends James Burke’s The Day the Universe Changed. Mark recommends Nathan for You; though I couldn’t find the pet cemetery episode online, the Ghost Realtor segment is fantastic. For more on this argument about death Mark refers to, listen to the Partially Examined Life episodes on Epicurus and also Plato’s Phaedo. Learn improv from Bill through chicagoimprovstudio.com. Get philosophy tutoring from Mark or listen to his reading group podcast at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Bill starts us with a scene: Behold the Doctor’s Office, where anything can happen, and often DOES. Is this whole thing a bad idea? Do you think you’re BETTER than this idea? Do you? If you need to tell yourself that, that’s OK. In the post-game, we talk a little about Stoicism (listen to PEL about it, ego issues, and ephemeral art. Our recommendations include: Bobby Huff time-corrects Van Halen and Philosophize This! Learn improv from Bill through chicagoimprovstudio.com. Get philosophy tutoring from Mark or listen to his reading group podcast at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!