The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Ep. 245: Fashion (Derrida, Foucault) w/ Shahidha Bari (Part One)

08 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Jacques Derrida's "The Animal That Therefore I Am" (1999), Michel Foucault's "The Ethics of the Concern of the Self As A Practice of Freedom" (1984...

Ep. 244: Camus on Strategies for Facing Plague (Part Two)

01 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Albert Camus's 1947 novel, covering the old functionary Grand, the criminal (or just paranoid?) Cottard, and more of our narrators Dr. R...

Ep. 244: Camus on Strategies for Facing Plague (Part One)

25 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Albert Camus' existentialist novel The Plague. How shall we face adversity? Camus gives us colorful characters that embody various approaches. Yes,...

Ep. 243: Aristotle's "Poetics" on Art and Tragedy (Part Two)

18 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on the Poetics from around 335 BCE, on the structure of plot (every element must be essential!), the moral status of the heroes, Homeric po...

Ep. 243: Aristotle's "Poetics" on Art and Tragedy (Part One)

11 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

These notes from 335 BCE are still used in screenwriting classes. Aristotle presents a formula for what will move us, derived from Sophocles's tragedi...

PEL Presents PMP#42: Star Trek Lives Long and Prospers (Intermittently)

06 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In light of Star Trek: Picard, Brian, Erica, Mark, and Drew Jackson discuss our most philosophical sci-fi franchise. What makes a Trek story? How do y...

Ep. 242: Stanley Cavell on Tragedy via King Lear (Part Two)

04 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Cavell's essay "The Avoidance of Love: A Reading of King Lear" (1969), shifting away from Lear in particular to a more general discussio...

Ep. 242: Stanley Cavell on Tragedy via King Lear (Part One)

27 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Cavell's essay "The Avoidance of Love: A Reading of King Lear" (1969). Can money buy you love? What is tragedy? With guest Erin O'Luanaigh. Don't w...

Ep. 241: Political Philosophy and the Pandemic

20 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How should we think politically about the current global crisis? Do extreme circumstances reveal truths of political philosophy or do they reinforce w...

Ep. 240: David Lewis on Possible Worlds and Language Games (Part Two)

13 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On "Scorekeeping in a Language Game" (1979) and "Truth in Fiction" (1978). Lewis's account of possible worlds can be applied to conversation: As we sp...

Ep. 240: David Lewis on Possible Worlds and Language Games (Part One)

06 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Ch. 4 of Lewis's book Counterfactuals (1973) and the essays "Scorekeeping in a Language Game" (1979) and "Truth in Fiction" (1978). What makes a se...

Ep. 239: Montesquieu Invents Political Science (Part Two)

30 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on The Spirit of the Laws (1748) by Charles Louis de Secondat, aka Baron de Montesquieu. Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth talk more about the "mo...

Ep. 239: Montesquieu Invents Political Science (Part One)

23 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On The Spirit of the Laws (1748) by Charles Louis de Secondat, aka Baron de Montesquieu. What keeps a society functioning? Montesquieu, though of cour...

Ep. 238: Lingering Questions

16 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth summarize thoughts about our recent series on social construction, gender and sex, and Judith Butler's notion of "grievable...

Ep. 237: Walter Benjamin Analyzes Violence (Part Two)

09 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Benjamin's "Critique of Violence" (1921). Mark, Wes, and Seth keep trying to figure out this difficult essay. Is Benjamin really advocat...

Ep. 237: Walter Benjamin Analyzes Violence (Part One)

02 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On "Critique of Violence" (1921). What is violence? Benjamin gives us a taxonomy: law-creating, law-preserving, mythological, and divine. Then he deco...

Ep. 236: Judith Butler Interview: "The Force of Nonviolence"

24 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-Political Bind (2020). What is it to be nonviolent in political activity? Most ethics allow for self-defense, b...

PEL Presents: PMP#32: Judging "The Good Place"

19 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Mark, Erica, and Brian discuss Michael Schur's NBC TV show. Is it good? Does it actually teach moral philosophy? We talk sit-com tropes, TV finales, t...

Ep. 235: Judith Butler's "Gender Trouble" (Part Three)

17 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Concluding "Gender Trouble" (1990), with just Mark, Wes, and Seth going carefully through pt I, sec v: "Identity, Set, and the Metaphysics of Substanc...

Ep. 235: Judith Butler's "Gender Trouble" (Part Two)

10 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

More Gender Trouble (1990) with Jennifer Hansen. We get into the metaphysics of substance (is gender an attribute that a person has, or is there a bet...

Ep. 235: Judith Butler's "Gender Trouble" (Part One)

03 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990). Is gender socially constructed, and if so, how? Butler describes gender not as an e...

PEL Presents PMP#29: Martin Scorsese the Auteur w/ Colin Marshall

29 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We consider The Irishman in the context of Scorsese's body of work and the styles and themes that his films tend to exhibit. Writer/podcaster Colin Ma...

Ep. 234: Beauvoir on Romance in "The Second Sex" (Part Two)

27 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Concluding Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1949): "The Woman in Love" and "Myths" with guest Jennifer Hansen. We continue on the ailments of wome...

Ep. 234: Beauvoir on Romance in "The Second Sex" (Part One)

20 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Simone De Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1949): "The Woman in Love" and "Myths" with guest Jennifer Hansen. What is love under patriarchy? We all want ...

PEL Presents PMP#27: For the Love of Star Wars

15 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Mark, Erica, and Brian talk about the unique place these films have in the brains of people of a certain age, how we grappled with the prequels, and w...

Ep. 233: Plato's "Protagoras" on Virtue (Part Two)

13 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on the dialogue, where Socrates argues that Protagoras doesn't actually know what virtue is, because he thinks that the various virtues (es...

PEL Presents PMP#26: We Watch "Watchmen" w/ David Pizarro (Very Bad Wizards)

08 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Covering Alan Moore's 1986 graphic novel, the new HBO series and the 2009 film. Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by David, psych prof at Cornell and ...

Ep. 233: Plato's "Protagoras" on Virtue (Part One)

06 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On the Platonic dialogue written around 380 BCE about an encounter between Socrates and one of the leading Sophists of his day. What is virtue ("the p...

Ep. 232: Simone De Beauvoir's "The Second Sex" (Part Two)

29 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1949) with guest Jennifer Hansen. How does one become a Subject and how do women traditionally get shu...

Ep. 232: Simone De Beauvoir's "The Second Sex" (Part One)

23 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Simone De Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1949): the intro, conclusion, "Woman's Situation and Character" and parts of "Lived Experience," with guest Je...

Ep. 231: Descartes's "Discourse" on Wisdom and Certainty (Part Two)

16 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Descartes's Discourse on Method, looking closely at part 4 (his proto-Meditations) and his "provisional" Stoic ethics. Listen to part on...

Ep. 231: Descartes's "Discourse" on Wisdom and Certainty (Part One)

09 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On René Descartes's Discourse on Method (1637), an overview of his work that distills his method, outlines his famous Meditations, presents a provisi...

Ep. 230: Bruno Latour on Science, Culture, and Modernity (Part Two)

02 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Latour's We Have Never Been Modern (1993) with guest Lynda Olman. Latour rejects the idea of objective truth totally apart from perceive...

Ep. 230: Bruno Latour on Science, Culture, and Modernity (Part One)

25 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Latour's We Have Never Been Modern (1993) with guest Lynda Olman. What's the "modern" ideology of science, and is there something we should critiqu...

Ep. 229: Descartes's Rules for Thinking (Part Three)

18 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Concluding René Descartes's Rules for Direction of the Mind (1628). We finish rule 12 through the end, talking about simples, the faculties of intuit...

Ep. 229: Descartes's Rules for Thinking (Part Two)

11 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on René Descartes's Rules for Direction of the Mind (1628), covering rules 7 through the first part of the lengthy rule 12. We try to figu...

Ep. 229: Descartes's Rules for Thinking (Part One)

04 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On René Descartes's Rules for Direction of the Mind (1628). Is there a careful way to approach problems that will ensure that you'll always be right?...

PEL Presents PMP#17: Comedy as Philosophy w/ Daniel Lobell

29 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Are stand-up comedians the Modern Day Philosophers? This is the premise of Daniel's podcast, but really, only some comedians express original claims; ...

Ep. 228: Social Construction of Race (Appiah, Mills) (Part Two)

28 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Kwame Anthony Appiah's "Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections" (1994), Charles Mills's "But What Are You Really?, The Metap...

Ep. 228: Social Construction of Race (Appiah, Mills) (Part One)

21 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Kwame Anthony Appiah's "Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections" (1994), Charles Mills' "But What Are You Really?, The Metaphysics of Ra...

Ep. 227: What Is Social Construction? (Hacking, Berger) (Part Two)

14 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing Ian Hacking's The Social Construction of What (1999) and Peter Berger's "Religion and World Construction" (1967). We break down Hacking's t...

Ep. 227: What Is Social Construction? (Hacking, Berger) (Part One)

07 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Ian Hacking's The Social Construction of What (1999) and Peter Berger's "Religion and World Construction" (1967). Guest Coleman Hughes from Dilemma...

Ep. 226: Francis Bacon Invents Science (Part Two)

30 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Sir Francis Bacon's New Organon (1620). We cover more of Bacon's "idols" and how Bacon divides religion from science (and what this mean...

PEL Presents PMP#12: Once Upon a Tarantino Film w/ Wes Alwan

24 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Wes joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood in the context of Tarantino's other films. We conside...

Ep. 226: Francis Bacon Invents Science (Part One)

23 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Sir Francis Bacon's New Organon (1620). Bacon claims to have developed a new toolset that will open up nature to inquiry in a way that wasn't possi...

Ep. 225: Simone Weil on War and Oppression (Part Two)

16 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Simone Weil's essays "The Iliad, or the Poem of Force" (1939) and "Analysis of Oppression" (1934) with guest Corey Mohler. We talk about...

Ep. 225: Simone Weil on War and Oppression (Part One)

09 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Simone Weil's essays "The Iliad, or the Poem of Force" (1939) and "Analysis of Oppression" (1934). How do circumstances oppress and dehumanize us? ...

Ep. 224: Kierkegaard Critiques The Present Age (Part Two)

02 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on "The Present Age" (1846), plus Hubert Dreyfus's "Nihilism on the Information Highway: Anonymity vs. Commitment in the Present Age" (2004...

PEL Presents PMP#8: Spider-Man: Far From Home (and Elsewhere)

27 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Mark, Erica, and Brian discuss the function of super-hero films and how this new one fits in. Do we need "realism" in such stories? When does a premis...

Ep. 224: Kierkegaard Critiques The Present Age (Part One)

26 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Soren Kierkegaard's essay "The Present Age" (1846) and Hubert Dreyfus's "Nihilism on the Information Highway: Anonymity vs. Commitment in the Prese...

Ep. 223: Guest Ned Block on Consciousness (Part Two)

19 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk with Ned about a second Blockheads (2019) article, Michael Tyle's "Homunculi Heads and Silicon Chips: The Importance of History to Phenomenolo...

Ep. 223: Guest Ned Block on Consciousness (Part One)

12 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The climax and denouement of our summer philosophy of mind series: Ned Block visits to fill in the gaps about functionalism and attributing consciousn...

Ep. 222: Debating Functionalism (Block, Chalmers) (Part Two)

05 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Ned Block's "Troubles with Functionalism" (1978) and David Chalmers's "Absent Qualia, Fading Qualia, Dancing Qualia" (1995). What would ...

Ep. 222: Debating Functionalism (Block, Chalmers) (Part One)

29 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Ned Block's "Troubles with Functionalism" (1978) and David Chalmers's "Absent Qualia, Fading Qualia, Dancing Qualia" (1995). If mental states are f...

PEL Presents PMP#3: CONFORM w/ Yakov Smirnoff

23 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Is media trying to brainwash us into being ALL THE SAME? Are the excesses of the mob scaring us into conformity? Mark, Erica, and Brian muse on cultur...

Ep. 221: Functionalist Theories of Mind (Putnam, Armstrong) (Part Two)

22 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on functionalism with David M. Armstrong's "The Causal Theory of the Mind" (1981). Your four hosts start afresh the day after Part One on ...

Ep. 221: Functionalist Theories of Mind (Putnam, Armstrong) (Part One)

15 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Hilary Putnam's "The Nature of Mental States" (1973). What is the mind? Functionalist theories identify the mental with not with the brain exactly,...

PEL Presents PMP#1: Pop Culture vs. High Culture

09 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What is pop culture? Does it make sense to distinguish it from high culture, or can something be both? Welcome to this new pop culture podcast hosted ...

Ep. 220: 10-Year Retrospective of The Partially Examined Life

05 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Mark, Seth, Dylan, and Wes reflect on the changing state of podcasting and public philosophy over the last decade, how our goals and interests have ch...

Ep. 219: The Harder Problem of Consciousness (Block & Papineau)

01 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Ned Block's "The Harder Problem of Consciousness" (2002) and David Papineau's "Could There Be a Science of Consciousness?" (2003). What would give ...

Ep. 218: The Hard Problem of Consciousness (Chalmers et al) (Part Two)

24 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature" by David Chalmers (2003). We finish Chalmers's account of the types of physicialism, then move o...

Ep. 218: The Hard Problem of Consciousness (Chalmers et al) (Part One)

17 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature" by David Chalmers (2003), with special guest Gregory Miller from the Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast. Can we ...

(sub)Text #1: Shakespeare's "The Tempest": Poesis as Revenge Forsaken

08 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

At last, the full, public release of this discussion between Wes Alwan and Bill Youmans covering Shakespeare's 1611 play about revenge, forgiveness, a...

Episode 217: Discussing Calderón's "Life Is a Dream"

03 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On the 1636 comedy by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, considering destiny (Christian vs. Ancient Greek), skepticism, meta-theater, and the ethic of honor...

Glimpse: Machiavellian Politics (for Partially Examined Life #14)

02 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Does politics have to be Machiavellian? Do you have to be ruthless to succeed? Given our treatment of Game of Thrones and Life Is a Dream, and the way...

PEL Audioplayers: "Life Is a Dream" by Pedro Calderón de la Barca

27 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Your hosts are joined by real actors to do an unrehearsed read of Calderón's 1636 comedy La Vida Es Sueño, using Stanley Appelbaum's 2002 translatio...

PREMIUM-Ep 216 Game of Thrones' Fantasy Politics (Part Two)

23 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Get teased re. Mark and Wes's post-finale, spoiler-filled continuation of the discussion of the show. How does its conclusion affect its overall polit...

Episode 216: Game of Thrones' Fantasy Politics

20 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing the TV show (2011-2019) based on the books by George R.R. Martin. What's the role of a mass-consumed fantasy series in today's society? Is ...

Episode 215: Brave New World: PEL Live 10th Anniversary Show

13 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Aldous Huxley's 1932 dystopian novel, recorded at Manhattan's Caveat on 4/6/19, with audience participation. If we harness the power of society to ...

Episode 214: More Nietzsche's Zarathustra (Part Two)

06 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Concluding Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885). What's the wise way to live? We start in earnest into part three, treating the "spirit...

Episode 214: More Nietzsche's Zarathustra (Part One)

29 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On the remainder of Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885). How can we keep our spirits up and avoid nihilism? We consider Nietzsche's "s...

Glimpse: Nietzsche's Last Man (for Partially Examined Life #213)

22 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Is technology making us complacent? Are we in danger of becoming Nietzsche's famed "last men" who are no longer capable of creativity and independent ...

Episode 213: Nietzsche's Zarathustra (Part Two)

22 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, books 1 and 2 (1883). We talk through Nietzsche's symbolism (tightrope walkers and gravedi...

PREMIUM-(sub)Text#6: Melanie Klein's "Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms"

21 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Wes Alwan is joined by Dr. Glenn Mobray to discuss this classic 1946 psychoanalytic text. This is a preview of a 63-minute discussion. You can listen ...

Episode 213: Nietzsche's Zarathustra (Part One)

15 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, books 1 and 2 (1883). What is wisdom? In this text whose style parodies the Bible, we get pithy advic...

Glimpse: Sartre on Literature (for Partially Examined Life #212)

11 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

  Should literature be political? Jean-Paul Sartre thought that all literature is political, because of what literature is. That's a very weird-sound...

Episode 212: Sartre on Literature (Part Two)

08 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on What is Literature? (1948). Sartre gives a phenomenology of reading and writing that makes reading into a creative act of completing the...

Episode 212: Sartre on Literature (Part One)

01 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Jean-Paul Sartre's What is Literature (1948), ch. 1 and 2. What's the purpose of literature? Why write prose as opposed to poetry? Sartre argues th...

Episode 211: Sartre on Racism and Authenticity (Part Three)

25 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Moving finally on to Jean-Paul Sartre's "Black Orpheus" (1948), where he introduces a book of black poetry by praising its revolutionary spirit as emb...

Episode 211: Sartre on Racism and Authenticity (Part Two)

18 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Jean-Paul Sartre's Anti-Semite and Jew: An Exploration of the Etiology of Hate (1946). Is there an "authentic" way to respond to persecu...

Episode 211: Sartre on Racism and Authenticity (Part One)

11 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Jean-Paul Sartre's Anti-Semite and Jew: An Exploration of the Etiology of Hate (1946) and "Black Orpheus" (1948). How can we best understand the ps...

PEL Presents Constellary Tales #6: Philip K. Dick's "Minority Report" w/ Mark Linsenmayer

11 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

PEL's Mark Linsenmayer joins hosts Ken Gerber and Brian Hirt to weigh in on the philosophical implications of precognitive crime fighting in Philip K....

Episode 210: Frantz Fanon's Black Existentialism (Part Two)

04 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Black Skin White Masks (1952), starting with the influential ch. 4 "The Fact of Blackness." Are the successive coping strategies to raci...

Episode 210: Frantz Fanon's Black Existentialism (Part One)

25 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Black Skin White Masks (1952). How does growing up in a racist society mess people up? Fanon's "clinical study" includes phenomenology, poetry, and...

Podchaser Interview of Mark Linsenmayer: Partially Examined Life and Nakedly Examined Music

23 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Morgan DeLisle, writer for the PodChaser "Behind the Streams Blog," interviewed Mark for a feature of our podcasts. Learn about the origins of PEL and...

Episode 209: Francis Fukuyama on Identity Politics (Part Two: Discussion)

18 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment (2018). Fukuyama recommends a "creedal national identity" as a solution ...

Episode 209: Guest Francis Fukuyama on Identity Politics (Part One)

11 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Talking to the author about Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment (2018). What motivates people? Frank points to thymos, the...

Episode 208: Epicurus on Seeking Pleasure (Part Two)

04 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

More on the ethics-related fragments of Epicurus and accounts by Martha Nussbaum and Tim O'Keefe. What would a purely therapeutic philosophy consist o...

Episode 208: Epicurus on Seeking Pleasure (Part One)

28 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On the extant fragments of Epicurus (341–270 BCE) dealing with ethics, including his "Letter to Menoceus," "The Principal Doctrines," and "The Vatic...

Episode 207: Herder on Art Appreciation (Part Two)

21 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing on Johann Gottfried von Herder's "The Causes of Sunken Taste among the Different Peoples in Whom It Once Blossomed" (1775), then moving to ...

Episode 207: Herder on Art Appreciation (Part One)

14 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On Johann Gottfried von Herder's "The Causes of Sunken Taste among the Different Peoples in Whom It Once Blossomed" (1775), "On the Influence of the B...

PREMIUM-Ep 206 Lucretius's Epicurean Physics (Part Three)

13 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Mark and Wes go into more textual detail re. Lucretius's take on atomism and the metaphysical and epistemological problems it entails. Start with Part...

Episode 206: Lucretius's Epicurean Physics (Part Two)

07 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

More on Lucretius's poem about Epicurean science: On the Nature of Things from the first century BCE. We talk more about how macroscopic phenomena are...

Episode 206: Lucretius's Epicurean Physics (Part One)

31 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

On Lucretius's poem about Epicurean science: On the Nature of Things a.k.a. De Rerum Natura from the 1st century BC. How does the world work? Lucretiu...

PREMIUM-Ep 205 Durkheim et al on Suicide (Part Three)

31 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Mark and Wes discuss Durkheim's Suicide (1897), getting into more of the details of his account and exploring comparative modes of explanation: Are th...

Episode 205: Suicide with Dr. Drew (Durkheim et al) (Part Two)

22 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

More on philosophical and psychological interpretations of and judgments about suicide with guest Drew Pinsky. Is suicide an epidemic or a choice? Cou...

Episode 205: Suicide with Dr. Drew (Durkheim et al) (Part One)

17 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We are rejoined by Drew Pinsky to discuss philosophical and psychological readings by Seneca, Arthur Schopenhauer, Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, Albe...

Episode 204: The Bhagavad Gita's Hindu Theology (Part Two)

10 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

More on this classic text by (perhaps) Vyasa, with guest Shaan Amin. Should we acquire good karma or behave "beyond good and evil"? How can everything...

Episode 204: The Bhagavad Gita's Hindu Theology (Part One)

03 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

On the classic Hindu text (ca. the 3rd century B.C.E.), part of the Indian Epic poem Mahabharata, attributed to Vyasa, using Keya Maitra's 2018 transl...

Episode 203: Kristeva vs. Lovecraft on Horror and Abjection (Part Two)

26 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Concluding on Julia Kristeva's Powers of Horror (1980) and focusing on H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928). Does Lovecraft's presentation o...