The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Partially Examined Life Not School Digest #4: Sartre, Heidegger, Zizek, Marx, and Theater

01 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Excerpts from discussions on Sartre's Nausea, Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology," Slavoj Zizek's Year of Dreaming Dangerously, Marx and ...

Episode 88: G.E.M. Anscombe: Should We Use Moral Language?

18 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

On Elizabeth Anscombe's "Modern Moral Philosophy" (1958), Intention sections 22-27 (1957), and "War and Murder" (1961). With guest Philosophy Bro.

Precognition of Ep. 88: G.E.M. Anscombe

18 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Guest Philosophy Bro introduces Elizabeth Anscombe's "Modern Moral Philosophy," and Intention sections 22-27.

Sartre's "No Exit" Read with Lucy Lawless & Jaime Murray

02 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In support of our ep. #87 discussing Sartre, the PEL Players present our 2nd annual dramatic reading of a work of philosophical theater.

Episode 87: Sartre on Freedom and Self-Deception

01 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

On Jean-Paul Sartre's "Existentialism is a Humanism" (1946), "Bad Faith" (pt. 1, ch. 2 of Being & Nothingness, 1943), and his play No Exit (1944).

Precognition of Ep. 87: Sartre

30 Dec 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Linsenmayer lays out some themes from Jean-Paul Sartre's "Existentialism is a Humanism" and the "Bad Faith" chapter (Part 1, Ch. 2) of Being & No...

Episode 86: Thomas Kuhn on Scientific Progress

24 Dec 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, published mostly in 1962.

Precognition of Ep. 86: Thomas Kuhn

23 Dec 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Dylan Casey lays out Thomas Kuhn's thesis in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

Episode 85: Rawls on Social Justice

07 Dec 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On John Rawls's A Theory of Justice (1971), most of ch. 1-4.

Precognition of Ep. 85: John Rawls

06 Dec 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Seth Paskin summarizes the John Rawls's A Theory of Justice.

PREMIUM-Episode 84: Nietzsche's "Gay Science"

11 Nov 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Episode 83 Follow-Up: Q&A with Frithjof Bergmann

01 Nov 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 wo...

Episode 83: New Work with Guest Frithjof Bergmann

11 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

alking with Frithjof Bergmann, Prof. Emeritus from U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor about his book New Work, New Culture (2004, English release coming soon).

Precognition of Ep. 83: New Work

10 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

An introduction to and summary of Frithjof Bergmann's New Work, New Culture, read by Mark Linsenmayer.

PREMIUM-Episode 82: Karl Popper on Science

24 Sep 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On Popper's Conjectures and Refutations (1963), the first three essays. What is science, and how is it different than pseudo-science? From philosophy?...

Precognition of Ep. 82: Popper

23 Sep 2013

Contributed by Lukas

A summary of the first three essays in Karl Popper's collection Conjectures and Refutations, read by Dylan Casey.

PREMIUM-Episode 81: Jung on the Psyche and Dreams

29 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On Carl Jung's "Approaching the Unconscious" from Man and His Symbols, written in 1961. What's the structure of the mind? Jung followed Freud in posit...

Precognition of Ep. 81: Jung

28 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

An introduction to Carl Jung's Man and His Symbols, read by Wes Alwan.

Partially Examined Life Not School Digest #3: Work, Blood Meridian, Mind, and Heidegger

23 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Excerpts of discussions about Frithjof Bergmann's New Work, New Culture, Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian, Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied...

PREMIUM-Episode 80: Heidegger on our Existential Situation

08 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On Martin Heidegger's "Letter on Humanism" (1949). What's our place in the world? What is it, really, to be human? Heidegger thought that being human ...

Precognition of Ep. 80: Heidegger

07 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

A short summary of Heidegger's "Essay on Humanism," read by Seth Paskin.

PREMIUM-PEL Ep 79: Heraclitus on Understanding the World

15 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Eva Brann discusses her book The Logos of Heraclitus (2011). What is the world like, and how can we understand it? Heraclitus thinks that the answer t...

PREMIUM-Episode 78: Ayn Rand on Living Rationally

01 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On Rand's Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (1967) and "The Objectivist Ethics" (1961). First Rand grounds everyday human knowledge, largely by...

PREMIUM-Episode 77: Santayana on the Appreciation of Beauty

09 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On George Santayana's The Sense of Beauty (1896). What are we saying when we call something "beautiful?" Are we pointing out an objective quality that...

PREMIUM-Episode 76: Deleuze on What Philosophy Is

14 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's What Is Philosophy? (1991). How is philosophy different from science and art? What's the relationship between ...

PREMIUM-Episode 75: Lacan & Derrida Criticize Poe's "The Purloined Letter"

19 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On Jacques Lacan's "Seminar on 'The Purloined Letter'" (1956), Jacques Derrida's "The Purveyor of Truth" (1975), and other essays in the collection Th...

PREMIUM-Episode 74: Jacques Lacan's Psychology

04 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On Bruce Fink's The Lacanian Subject (1996) and Lacan's "The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experien...

PREMIUM-Episode 73: Why Do Philosophy? (And What Is It?)

23 Mar 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Mark, Seth, Wes, and Dylan share what drove them into philosophy and keeps them there. How is philosophy different than (or similar to) science? Than ...

PREMIUM-Episode 72: Terrorism with Jonathan R. White

09 Mar 2013

Contributed by Lukas

We're joined by an international terrorism expert to discuss how to define terrorism and whether it can ever be ethical. With readings by Donald Black...

PREMIUM-Episode 71: Martin Buber's "I and Thou"

15 Feb 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On Buber's 1923 book about the fundamental human position: As children, and historically, we start fully absorbed in relation with another person (lik...

PREMIUM-Episode 70: Marx on the Human Condition

30 Jan 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On Karl Marx's The German Ideology, Part I, an early, unpublished work from 1846. What is human nature? What drives history? How can we improve our si...

Partially Examined Life Not School Digest Jan 2013

23 Jan 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Excerpts of discussions about Deleuze & Guattari's A Thousand Plateaus,  an article on emergence called "More Is Different" by Nobel Prize Winning ph...

PREMIUM-Episode 69: Plato on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy

13 Jan 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On Plato's Dialogue, "Gorgias" (380 BCE or so). Why philosophize? Isn't it better to know how to persuade people in practical matters, like a successf...

Not Episode 69: PEL Players Full Cast Audiobook of Plato's "Gorgias" (part 1)

12 Jan 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Three podcasters and two listeners join to read Plato's fabulous dialogue.

PREMIUM-Episode 68: David Chalmers Interview on the Scrutability of the World

22 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On David Chalmers's book Constructing the World (2012). How are all the various truths about the world related to each other? David Chalmers, famous f...

Not School Digest Nov-Dec 2012: A Bonus Quasisode

16 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Excerpts of discussions about David Chalmers's The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory, Thomas Nagel's Mind and Cosmos, and Paul Auster'...

PREMIUM-Episode 67: Carnap on Logic and Science

07 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On Rudolph Carnap's The Logical Structure of the World (1928). What can we know? Carnap thinks that all the various spheres of knowledge are logically...

PREMIUM-Episode 66: Quine on Linguistic Meaning and Science

21 Nov 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On W.V.O. Quine's "On What There Is" (1948) and "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" (1951). What kind of metaphysics is compatible with science? Quine sees sci...

Celebrating Two Million Downloads: A Highlights Minisode

08 Nov 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Our highlight reel in thanks to all you listeners who have brought us to the milestone of approximately two million downloads.

PREMIUM-Episode 65: The Federalist Papers

27 Oct 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On Alexander Hamilton/James Madison's Federalist Papers (1, 10-12, 14-17, 39, 47-51), published as newspaper editorials 1787-8, plus Letters III and I...

PREMIUM-Episode 64: Celebrity, with guest Lucy Lawless

07 Oct 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On Fame: What the Classics Tell Us About Our Cult of Celebrity by Tom Payne (2010). What's the deal with our f'ed up relationship with celebrities? Pa...

PREMIUM-Episode 63: Existentialist Heroes in Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men"

21 Sep 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On philosophical issues in McCarthy's 2005 novel about guys running around with drug money and shooting each other, and about fiction as a form for ex...

PREMIUM-Episode 62: Voltaire's Novel "Candide"

05 Sep 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On Candide: or, Optimism, the novel by Voltaire (1759). Is life good? Popular Enlightenment philosopher Leibniz argued that it's good by definition. G...

PREMIUM-Episode 61: Nietzsche on Truth and Skepticism

15 Aug 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On Friedrich Nietzsche's "On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense" (1873). What is truth? This essay, written early in Nietzsche's career, is taken by m...

PREMIUM-Episode 60: Aristotle: What's the Best Form of Government?

23 Jul 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On Aristotle's Politics (350 BCE), books 1 (ch 1-2), 3, 4 (ch 1-3), 5 (ch 1-2), 6 (ch 1-6), and 7 (ch. 1-3, 13-15). Aristotle provides both a taxonomy...

PREMIUM-Episode 59: Alasdair MacIntyre on Moral Justifications

05 Jul 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory (1981), mostly ch. 3-7 and 14-17. What justifies ethical claims? MacIntyre claims that n...

PREMIUM-Episode 58: What Grounds Ethical Claims? (Moore, Stevenson, MacIntyre)

20 Jun 2012

Contributed by Lukas

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 Aft...

PREMIUM-Episode 57: Henri Bergson on Humor

31 May 2012

Contributed by Lukas

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 corr...

PREMIUM-Episode 56: More Wittgenstein on Language

15 May 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing discussion of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, Part I, sections 1-33 and 191-360. With guest Philosophy Bro. On "family ...

PREMIUM-Episode 55: Wittgenstein on Language

02 May 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, Part I, sections 1-33 and 191-360 (written around 1946). What is linguistic meaning? Wittgenste...

PREMIUM-Episode 54: More Buddhism and Naturalism

06 Apr 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing our discussion of Owen Flanagan's The Bodhisattva's Brain: Buddhism Naturalized (2011). Are the basic tenets of Buddhism compatible with a ...

PREMIUM-Episode 53: Buddhism and Naturalism with Guest Owen Flanagan

26 Mar 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing The Bodhisattva's Brain: Buddhism Naturalized (2011) with Owen Flanagan. What philosophical insights can we modern folks with our science a...

PREMIUM-Episode 52: Philosophy and Race (DuBois, Martin Luther King, Cornel West)

17 Mar 2012

Contributed by Lukas

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...

PREMIUM-Episode 51: Semiotics and Structuralism (Saussure, et al)

24 Feb 2012

Contributed by Lukas

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" (195...

PREMIUM-Episode 50: Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"

03 Feb 2012

Contributed by Lukas

On Robert M. Pirsig's philosophical, autobiographical novel from 1974. What's the relationship between science and values? Pirsig thinks that modern r...

PREMIUM-Episode 49: Foucault on Power and Punishment

11 Jan 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish (1975), parts 1, 2 and section 3 of part 3. With guest Katie McIntyre.

PREMIUM-Episode 48: Merleau-Ponty on Perception and Knowledge

17 Dec 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Maurice Merleau-Ponty's "Primacy of Perception" (1946) and The World of Perception (1948).

PREMIUM-Episode 47: Sartre on Consciousness and the Self

01 Dec 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Jean-Paul Sartre's The Transcendence of the Ego (written in 1934).

PREMIUM-Episode 46: Plato on Ethics & Religion

17 Nov 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Plato's "Euthyphro." With guest Matt Evans.

PREMIUM-Episode 45: Moral Sense Theory: Hume and Smith

29 Oct 2011

Contributed by Lukas

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.

PREMIUM-Episode 44: New Atheist Critiques of Religion

11 Oct 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing selections from Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel C. Dennett.

PREMIUM-Episode 43: Arguments for the Existence of God

15 Sep 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing the arguments by Descartes, St. Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, William Paley, Kant, and others, as analyzed in J.L. Mackie's The Miracle of Theism...

PREMIUM-Episode 42: Feminists on Human Nature and Moral Psychology

05 Sep 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Charlotte Perkins Gilman's utopian novel Herland (1915) and psychologist Carol Gilligan's In a Different Voice (1983). With guest Azzurra C...

PREMIUM-Episode 41: Pat Churchland on the Neurobiology of Morality (Plus Hume's Ethics)

19 Jul 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Patricia Churchland on her new book Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us About Morality. We also discussed David Hume's ethics as foundational to he...

PREMIUM-Episode 40: Plato's Republic: What Is Justice?

11 Jul 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing The Republic by Plato, primarily books 1 and 2.

PREMIUM-Episode 39: Schleiermacher Defends Religion

10 Jun 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Friedrich Schleiermacher's "On Religion; Speeches to its Cultured Despisers" (1799, with notes added 1821), first and second speeches. With...

PREMIUM-Episode 38: Bertrand Russell on Math and Logic

25 May 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Russell's Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy (1919), ch. 1-3 and 13-18. With guest Josh Pelton.

PREMIUM-Episode 37: Locke on Political Power

06 May 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing John Locke's Second Treatise on Government (1690). With guest Sabrina Weiss.

PREMIUM-Episode 36: More Hegel on Self-Consciousness

11 Apr 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Part 2 of our discussion of G.F.W. Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit," covering sections 178-230 within section B, "Self-Consciousness."

PREMIUM-Episode 35: Hegel on Self-Consciousness

02 Apr 2011

Contributed by Lukas

On G.F.W. Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), Part B (aka Ch. 4), "Self-Consciousness," plus recapping the three chapters before that (Part A. "Co...

PREMIUM-Episode 34: Frege on the Logic of Language

13 Mar 2011

Contributed by Lukas

On Gottlob Frege's "Sense and Reference," "Concept and Object" (both from 1892) and "The Thought" (1918). With guest Matt Teichman.

PREMIUM-Episode 33: Montaigne: What Is the Purpose of Philosophy?

18 Feb 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Michel de Montaigne's Essays: "That to Philosophize is to Learn to Die," "Of Experience," "Of Cannibals," "Of the Education of Children," a...

PREMIUM-Episode 32: Heidegger: What is "Being?"

08 Feb 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Martin Heidegger's Being and Time (1927), mostly the intro and ch. 1 and 2 of Part 1.

PREMIUM-Episode 31: Husserl's Phenomenology

10 Jan 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Edmund Husserl's Cartesian Meditations (1931).

PREMIUM-Episode 30: Schopenhauer on Explanations and Knowledge

19 Dec 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Arthur Schopenhauer's On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, published in 1847 (as an expansion of his doctoral thesis...

PREMIUM-Episode 29: Kierkegaard on the Self

21 Nov 2010

Contributed by Lukas

On Soren Kierkegaard's "The Sickness Unto Death" (1849). With guest Daniel Horne.

PREMIUM-Episode 28: Nelson Goodman on Art as Epistemology

01 Nov 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Goodman's Ways of Worldmaking (1978). With guest painter Jay Bailey.

PREMIUM-Episode 27: Nagarjuna on Buddhist "Emptiness"

10 Oct 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Primarily discussing "Reasoning: The Sixty Stanzas" and "Emptiness: The Seventy Stanzas," by the 2nd century Indian Buddhist Nagarjuna. With guest Eri...

PREMIUM-Episode 26: Freud on the Human Condition

25 Sep 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Freud's Civilization and its Discontents (1930). Get the full episode at partiallyexaminedlife.com. For Wes Alwan's summary of this book, g...

PREMIUM-Episode 25: Spinoza on Human Nature

10 Sep 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Spinoza's the Ethics, Books II through V.

PREMIUM-Episode 24: Spinoza on God and Metaphysics

24 Aug 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Spinoza's Ethics (1677), books 1 and 2.

PREMIUM-Episode 23: Rousseau: Human Nature vs. Culture

29 Jul 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Discourse in Inequality (1754) and book 1 of The Social Contract (1762).

PREMIUM-Episode 22: More James's Pragmatism: Is Faith Justified? What is Truth?

18 Jul 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing William James's "The Will to Believe".

PREMIUM-Episode 21: What Is the Mind? (Turing, et al)

28 Jun 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing articles by Alan Turing, Gilbert Ryle, Thomas Nagel, John Searle, and Dan Dennett. With guest Marco Wise.

PREMIUM-Episode 20: Pragmatism – Peirce and James

09 Jun 2010

Contributed by Lukas

On Pragmatism (1907) by William James and "The Fixation of Belief" (1877) and "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" (1878) by Charles Sanders Peirce.

PREMIUM-Episode 19: Kant: What Can We Know?

14 May 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Immanuel Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (1783). With guest Azzurra Crispino.

PREMIUM-Episode 18: Plato: What Is Knowledge?

21 Apr 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Plato's Theatetus and Meno.

PREMIUM-Episode 17: Hume's Empiricism: What Can We Know?

29 Mar 2010

Contributed by Lukas

On David Hume's An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748).

PREMIUM-Episode 16: Danto on Art

04 Mar 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing three essays by Arthur Danto from The Philosophical Disenfranchisement of Art (1986): the title essay, "The Appreciation and Interpretation...

Episode 15: Hegel on History

24 Feb 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing G.W.F Hegel's Introduction to the Philosophy of History (1837). Get this and every episode ad-free by becoming a PEL supporter at partiall...

Episode 14: Machiavelli on Politics

07 Feb 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince (1532) and Ch. 1-20 of The Discourse on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy. Get this and every episode ad-...

Episode 13: What Are the Metaphysical Implications of Quantum Physics?

03 Jan 2010

Contributed by Lukas

On Werner Heisenberg's Physics and Philosophy. Dylan Casey's first appearance (as a guest). Get this and every episode ad-free by becoming a PEL suppo...

Episode 12: Chuang Tzu's Taoism: What Is Wisdom?

06 Dec 2009

Contributed by Lukas

On the Chuang Tzu, Chapters 2, 3, 6, 18, and 19. With guest Erik Douglas. Get this and every episode ad-free by becoming a PEL supporter at partiallye...

Episode 11: Nietzsche's Immoralism: What Is Ethics, Anyway?

10 Nov 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing The Genealogy of Morals (mostly the first two essays) and Beyond Good and Evil Ch. 1 (The Prejudices of Philosophers), 5 (Natural History o...

Episode 10: Kantian Ethics: What Should We Do?

19 Oct 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Fundamental Principles (aka Groundwork) of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785).

Episode 9: Utilitarian Ethics: What Should We Do?

18 Sep 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Jeremy Bentham's An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation chapters 1-5, John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism, and Peter Sin...

Episode 8: Wittgenstein's Tractatus (and Carnap): What Can We Legitimately Talk About?

04 Sep 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing last ep's discussion of Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus with some Rudolph Carnap from his 1935 book Philosophy and Logical Sy...

Episode 7: Wittgenstein's Tractatus: What Is There and Can We Talk About It?

19 Aug 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing the beginning (through around 3.1) of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921). Get this and every episode ad-free by b...

Episode 6: Leibniz's Monadology: What Is There?

31 Jul 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Gottfried Wilhelm Liebniz's Monadology (1714). Get this and every episode ad-free by becoming a PEL supporter at partiallyexaminedlife.com...

Episode 5: Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics

16 Jul 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Books I and II. Get this and every episode ad-free by becoming a PEL supporter at partiallyexaminedlife.com...