The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. We focus on the final chapters of Dan Dennett's Consciousness Explained, where he confronts various views, figures, and thought experiments that contend that he's failed to explain the essence of consciousness: the "what it's like" element of any conscious experience that is distinct from a mere judgment or processing of information. One could imagine a being that organizationally matches Dennett's multiple drafts model, acts just like an intelligent person, and yet lacks consciousness. Dennett denies this. Sponsors: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health. The post Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

We wrap up Mary's first year with the podcast, and changes are afoot for our upcoming season, but why? Let's explore to the point of physical discomfort! We act out an odd annual employee review, a dramatic pitch for a new play, and the navel-gazing club. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyimprov. The post PvI#124: Navel Evaluation (Our Season 5 Finale) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Consciousness Explained (Ch. 5, 12). We talk about appearance vs. judgment and whether Dennett's denial of this distinction makes sense or just holds for very short time-scales, as in the phi-phenomenon experiment. Does the rejection of appearances and rejection of the concept of qualia undermine the very thing Dennett is trying to describe? Sponsor: Get your free trial at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 399: Dan Dennett’s Model of Mind (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

It's been 2019 since our last Spider-Man episode, so what's with the new film (Brand New Day), and the Spider-Verse, and Nicholas Cage being Spider Noir? Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al discuss in this, our SEASON FINALE! Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. The post PMP#229: What’s Spider-Man Up To? first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Daniel C. Dennett's Consciousness Explained (Ch. 1, 5), featuring guest Mark, Seth, Dylan, and guest Chris Heath. What is the mind? Dennett puts forth his "multiple drafts" model against the centralization that he characterizes as the "Cartesian Theater." Dennett claims that there is no central place in the brain, or (more controversally) no central processing center in experience, that receives data from the senses and then initiates action (and memory, and other post-experiential processing). How counter-intutitive is this, exactly? Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 399: Dan Dennett’s Model of Mind (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Consciousness Explained (Ch. 5, 12). We talk about appearance vs. judgment and whether Dennett's denial of this distinction makes sense or just holds for very short time-scales, as in the phi-phenomenon experiment. Does the rejection of appearances and rejection of the concept of qualia undermine the very thing Dennett is trying to describe? The post Ep. 398: Donald Davidson on Mind vs. Body (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Future co-host philosophy Jenny joins past co-host improviser Bill along with the usual Mark and Mary for some tag-team mud swimming, hot takes about The Odyssey, and discussion and play about Bill's return to school, Maslow's hierarchy, gamified syllabi, some math stuff, and academic dishonesty. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyimprov. The post PvI#123: Brain Spritzing w/ Bill Arnett and Jenny Hansen first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

A poem about a map opens North and South, the first collection of the great twentieth century poet Elizabeth Bishop, and since, maps have been associated with her poetic vision—at once telescoping and binocular—and with the polarities and preoccupations of her work. The map’s privileged, sweeping, bird’s eye view of the earth is also hand-held, man-made, intimate. Depending on its level of minuteness or obsession, it can contain the tiniest details as well as, let’s say, the whole enchilada. And though it purports to be scientific and objective, it is representational and therefore subjective, particular, imaginative, and personal. For several episodes, Wes & Erin will be reading a selection of some of Bishop’s most anthologized poems, starting with “The Moose” as expressions of, among other things, her map-like imagination. The post (sub)TEXT: A Map-Like Imagination in the Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop (“The Moose”) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

We discuss the various films Steven Spielberg has released about alien encounters: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982), War of the Worlds (2005), and our inciting film, Disclosure Day. Featuring Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al. How is the new film as "mature Spielberg"? Is it as fun as the older films? Is it too heavy handed? Do the older films hold up? Would YOU go with the aliens? Are we as a society too jaded at this point for the Spielberg magic to fully work? Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. Sponsor: Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp. The post PMP#228: Spielberg’s Alien Fetish first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On "Mental Events" (1970) and "Actions, Reasons, and Causes" (1963), w/ guest Chris Heath. When we talk about mental events (e.g. desires) causing physical occurrences (an action to obtain what is desired), are we giving a causal picture in the scientific sense, which would rule out free will? Or are reason-giving and causality just different language games? Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. Learn about Mark's fall philosophy of mind class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. The post Ep. 398: Donald Davidson on Mind vs. Body (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Dan was Ben Vaughn's sound-man and released his first solo album of Americana rock in 2004. We discuss "Busted" from his eighth album (produced by Vaughn), the just Dan-and-his guitar effort Dispatches from the Desert, then "Beaumont" from Cast-Iron Songs and Torch Ballads (2023), "Favorite Color" from Rosetta, Please (A Love Story) (2006). End song: "Lookin’ for a Fight" also from the new album. Intro: "Always" from Man from Out of State (2004). More at danmontgomery.bandcamp.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. The post NEM#258: Dan Montgomery: Direct Communication first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get the full Citizen Edition of this episode now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. We now have a free-form discussion in light of what was raised in part one about the Federalist Papers and Frederick Douglass' Fourth of July Speech: What should we do about the problems identified? Is the system broken beyond repair? Was it built with fatal flaws in it? Is it just working as normal, and the pendulum will inevitably swing away from madness as the system reasserts itself? We then open it up for a Q&A, which gets us talking about property vs. liberty, the power of corporations, the moral basis of our government, and our outlook on the future. Learn about Mark's fall philosophy of mind class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. The post Ep. 397: Federalist Papers LIVE (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Enrollment is now open for our new online class. Read more about it at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class, or go ahead and sign up via partiallyexaminedlife.com/enrollment. The post Announcement: Mark’s “Key Ideas in the Philosophy of Mind” Fall 2026 Class first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

AmirAli is a philosophy researcher in Iran who tries to make Islamic philosophy speak to and with the West. We hear about doing philosophy in the "Islamic Republic of Iran," life during wartime, the relationship between play and philosophy, Islamic philosophy in Arabic vs. Persian, Amanah ("sacred trust"), philosophy as empathy, plus the Dream Police and fun with imperialism. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyimprov. Sponsor: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code IMPROV at oneskin.co/IMPROV. The post PvI#122: Hello from Iran w/ AmirAli Maleki first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

We discuss the already over-discussed Christopher Nolan adaptation of Homer's classic poem. Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al discuss their cinema-going experiences, Ludwig Göransson's soundtrack, choices re. the book-to-film transition, the various performances, the Emily Wilson connection, and more. Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. Sponsor: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code PMP at oneskin.co/PMP. The post Pretty Much Pop #227: The Odyssey: Epic Film first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get the full Citizen Edition of this episode now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. To celebrate our nation's 250th birthday, we gathered in front of a lovely audience near Madison WI to discuss Federalist Papers 70, 78, 39, 54, 10 by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison from 1787-1788, Anti-Federalist Papers 78-80 (aka Brutus 11 and 15), and Frederick Douglass' Fourth of July Speech (1852). Is the American experiment working out as planned? We talk about the Founders' arguments regarding the unitary executive, the independence of the judiciary, factionalism, the 3/5 compromise for representing slaves, and finally, whether slavery corrupted the whole thing. Sponsors: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health. Learn about Mark's fall class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. The post Ep. 397: Federalist Papers LIVE (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

As a cinematic monster, the mummy seems less an embodiment of revenge against colonial forces than a figure invented by colonialism itself. On the one hand, the mummy represents mystery, romance, magic, and the East. His wrappings suggest to the imagination that he’s not just dead, but wounded—ripped from a lost time and a broken narrative. Conveniently for the colonizer’s psyche, the mummy actually longs for someone to violate his tomb and wake him—not least so that his curse can lay systematic waste to its victims. And that brings us to the other hand: the mummy as a scientific and historical artifact, an ancient puzzle which requires anthropological, archeological, and linguistic knowledge to solve. The very apparatus of the mummy’s tomb—his body locked in box upon box, his organs apportioned to canopic jars, hieroglyphic inscriptions on every surface—suggest the complexity of the undertaking. What might these two strands of the mummy’s DNA—in Shakespearean terms, part-Antony, part-Cleopatra—reveal about the relationship between colonizer and colonized, and about our own desires, fears, and guilt? Wes & Erin discuss the 1999 film, “The Mummy.” The post (sub)TEXT: Curses and Colonizers in “The Mummy” (1999) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

With his roots in folk, Josh released three rock albums in the '90s before his big hit "Camera One," from Useful Music (2001), which is getting a Silver Anniversary rework/reissue. (The intro music for this episode is the new version.) He has released seven more albums since then. We discuss "Goodbye Berlin" from GpYr (2025), "History of I Do" from Figure Drawing (2023), "Juniper" from Boxing Nostalgic (1997), and conclude by listening to "High, Low & Wide" from the self-titled album by his folk unit, Among the Oak & Ash (2008). More at joshjoplingroup.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. The post NEM#257: Josh Joplin Doesn’t Look Back… Until Now first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on "Questions Concerning Certain Faculties Claimed for Man" and "Some Consequences of Four Incapacities." We talk about inference, the self, introspection, willing, the limits on what kinds of terms can have meaning, and more. Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. Learn about Mark's Key Ideas in the Philosophy of Mind class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. The post Ep. 396: Peirce on Knowledge (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get previous and future installments of this podcast. On "Realistic Monism: Why Physicalism Entails Panpsychism" (2008). Strawson argues that physicalism should not just be taken as matter in motion. Instead, the physical is a broader category that includes not just chairs and molecules, but also "my experience of red." Yet he's not trying to say that experiences are just brain states; they clearly include qualia (what it's like to experience red). And he's also not just trying to solve the problem by redefining "physical" to include "mental" (though he is doing that). Instead, he's claiming that we have no warrant to claim that the properties of the physical are exhausted by what third-person science can investigate, and that we can't solve the mind-body problem unless we posit that (at least some) physical objects have a mental aspect. Sounds like Spinoza to us! The post Closereads: Galen Strawson on Panpsychism (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

In light of Toy Story 5, the gang (Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al) consider the Pixar franchise that started in 1995. We consider the premise whereby your toys are loyal slaves that come to life whenever unobserved, the critique of screen-play in the new film, the use of nostalgia in the films, the repetition and/or escalation throughout the series, the horror-adjacency of living dolls, the emotional manipulation, and whether enough is enough. Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. Sponsors: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code PMP at oneskin.co/PMP. Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp. The post PMP#226: Toy Story Played Out first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

The LA-based clown, multimedia performance artist, and doll stylist (see maddiemutations.com; she also goes by the name Maddie Forrest) joins Mary and Mark to talk about her Doll Court show, clown types and the role of the fool, failing on stage, cities as women, silly villains, and more. Will Carol overcome her anxiety to go into the big meeting? Will Continue Reading … The post PvI#121: Meat Suit Dolls w/ Maddie Mutations first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On 1868 essays by Charles Sanders Peirce: "Questions Concerning Certain Faculties Claimed for Man" and "Some Consequences of Four Incapacities." Do we know when knowledge is intuitive? Is there any such thing as intuitive knowledge? Do we directly experience the self or anything introspective, or do we just infer facts about ourselves from external perspectives? Peirce provides counter-intuitive responses to all these questions. Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 396: Peirce on Knowledge (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Bruce started as guitarist for the '90s for Vulgar Unicorn and started Pineapple Thief as a solo project in 1999, though it quickly became a full band. He's released 16 studio albums with Pineapple Thief and four solo albums. More at brucesoord.com and pineapplethief.com. We discuss "Pillars" from Ghosts in the Park (his 2026 solo album) and some Pineapple Thief tracks: the title track from It Leads to This (2024), "Clapham" from 10 Stories Down (2005), remixed for 3000 Days (2008), plus to conclude "Alone at Sea" from Magnolia (2014). Intro: "Private Paradise" by from Abducted at Birth (1999, originally called Abducting the Unicorn). Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic, which will get you access to a bonus episode with Bruce from 2018. The post NEM#256: Bruce Soord (Pineapple Thief): Heartbreaking Prog by Ear first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Mere Christianity (1952). We discuss his take on the problem of evil, how happiness is impossible without Christ, our potential to evolve from bios (biological nature) vs. zoe (spiritual nature), sexual morality, pride, and more. Sponsors: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health. The post Ep. 395: C.S. Lewis Argues for Christianity (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Your wise and authoritative hosts explore forms of respectful address, what counts as good philosophy, the holodeck full-contact Fantasy Island experience, status in economic transactions, Trek not War, default improv scenarios, fear of playfulness, philosophy or improv as education vs. doing philosophy or improv, and more. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support. The post PvI#120: Mark and Mary in the Struggle Club first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Survivor has remained a top-rated show since its debut in 2000, and some of us (Sarahlyn and our guest Wes Alwan) have stuck with it throughout, Mark just watched when it came out and had to catch up, and some of us (Lawrence and Al) had not previously been on board at all. We talk through the evolution of the show, from torture exhibitionism to now lore-drenched soap-operatic beach games. Is this show designed to be watched in the background? What makes for a good player? What criteria to the jury members use to vote for a winner? What is the target audience for the show? Are the games well designed? How does the show deal with racism? Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. The post Pretty Much Pop #225: Survivor the Constant (with Wes!) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get previous and future installments of this podcast. On Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, sec. 551-559, which are sections assigned for but not actually covered on PEL #394. We get more info on how The Enlightenment supposedly mischaracterizes faith, but also how faith sees The Enlightenment and what Hegel considers to be good points coming out of The Enlightenment's critique. The post Closereads: Hegel on Faith vs. The Enlightenment, aka PEL ep. 394 (Part Three) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Mere Christianity (1952), where Lewis presents the moral argument for the existence of God and present Christianity as uniquely solving the human conundrum that our moral phenomenology presents, i.e. that the moral law is real in us yet we can never fulfill it. Once you're on board with that reasoning, faith is a matter of sticking to your realization even though Christianity's moral rules are extremely stringent. Don't miss the PEL Live show in Madison, WI on Saturday afternoon, July 11. See partiallyexaminedlife.com/live for details. Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 395: C.S. Lewis Argues for Christianity (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. We conclude our treatment for the moment of the Spirit section of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, sec. 527-73. Hegel's diagnosis: The Enlightenment and faith only seem to be in conflict because they are two sides of "pure consciousness," i.e. thought as a retreat from the actual world. So yes, if you see faith as mere belief, as a thought about some unprovable matter of fact, that is not going to stand critical scrutiny. Hegel's conception of faith will instead be an involved, behavioral, social engagement with the world. Don't miss the PEL Live show in Madison, WI on Saturday afternoon, July 11. See partiallyexaminedlife.com/live for details. Sponsors: Don't get caught running yesterday';s security on today's web: visit nordlayer.com/browser. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 394: Hegel on Faith vs. The Enlightenment (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Who is Godot? Whether God, objet a, or an abstraction from any object that is supposed to resolve dramatic suspense, it is clear that Vladimir and Estragon imagine him to be an agent of salvation (even if they can’t remember exactly what it is that needs saving). Perhaps the name is meant to satirize any states of expectancy—aspirational, libidinal, political, or religious—insofar they seem to be a means to a kind of spiritual completion that is impossible. Except, arguably, in the imagination, including its refinements in the products of the arts. If Samuel Beckett is too cool to provide us with ordinary entertainment and edification, does he mean to bore us, berate us, or do nothing at all? Erin & Wes pass time by discussing “Waiting for Godot,” and whether frustrating expectations is sometimes better than either violating or gratifying them. The post (sub)TEXT: Existence and Expectancy in “Waiting for Godot” first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Mark and Al share their mutual interest in fantasy novels. Is "high fantasy" fundamentally different than what enjoyed as kids? Did Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and HBO's Game of Thrones show us that these big books are adaptable, or were they exceptions? We're anticipating the upcoming Mistborn/Cosmere adaptations, as we're both into Brandon Sanderson. We also talk about The Wheel of Time, Rings of Power, Earthsea, Shannara, Joe Abercrombie, Robin Hobb, Stephen R. Donaldson, Patrick Rothfuss, Tad Williams, and of course Harry Potter. Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. Sponsor: Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp. The post Pretty Much Pop #224: Fantasy Novels Galore first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), sec. 527-73, i.e. "Faith and Pure Insight" and "The Struggle of Enlightenment with Superstition." Picking up where we left off in this book, an intangible part of us ("pure consciousness") escapes the attempts of culture to define us. This spiritual part has two sides: pure insight, which is the destructive critical faculty popularized by The Enlightenment which sees through all hypocricy and unwarranted belief; and faith, which Enlightenment either dismisses as superstition or chases into a little corner isolated from the real, empirical world. Eventually, the tension between these leads to a conception of faith that Hegel finds more congenial: Awareness of God is just a function of self-consciousness itself, though we don't typically recognize this. Don't miss the PEL Live show in Madison, WI on Saturday afternoon, July 11. See partiallyexaminedlife.com/live for details. Sponsors: Don’t get caught running yesterday’s security on today’s web: visit nordlayer.com/browser. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 394: Hegel on Faith vs. The Enlightenment (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

What would PvI be with zero masculine energy? This episode features your usual co-host Mary Hynes and our frequent guest Jennifer Hansen (philosopher at St. Lawrence University). They chat about being hot in a hostile world, interacting with AI, fighting with parrots, and they act out scenes involving the f*cks store and the actress who is too perfect. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support. The post PvI#119: Ms. Philosophy vs. Improv w/ Mary and Jenny first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Concluding our treatment of Ch. 2 of Hegel's Faith and Knowledge (1802). Hegel wants to connect various ideas in Kant: The idea of an "intuitive, achetypal intellect" which we have to refer to in explaining biology, the synthesizing imagination that makes experience possible, and the unknown agency that makes things-in-themselves suitable for processing by our knowledge faculties and vice versa. For Hegel, these things all point to Reason as both the way we know God and the activity of God Himself: Hegelian Reason is the bringing together of seemingly opposite things, and so underlying our minds must be some greater kind of mind that brings together mind and world to create experience. Sponsors: Don't get caught running yesterday’s security on today's web: visit nordlayer.com/browser. Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 393: Kant vs. Hegel (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

In light of The Mandalorian and Grogu (and the Disney+ Darth Maul cartoon), we (Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al) check back in with Star Wars. Is it now "just another franchise"? Does the movie meet expectations? What's the right volume of Star Wars media? Are the cartoons good? What variety of creators and genres is there room for? Should anyone bother with the books and comics? Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. The post Pretty Much Pop #223: What Is Star Wars Now? first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Ch. 2 of Hegel's Faith and Knowledge (1802) , plus some of the material being critiqued from Kant's Critique of Judgment (1790), chiefly sec. 76 and 77. Kant's third critique is not just about beauty but about apprehending nature, and he claims that as humans, we can only understand natural objects by seeing them as purposive (i.e. teleologically): An organism has a healthy state that it is designed to aim at. While Kant can't use the classical Design argument to thus argue that we know that God exists qua designer, he argues that as a practical matter, we must regard such a designer as present. Hegel argues that this is one of many points where Kant should stop dithering and just admit that his project involves Reason actually knowing theological facts. The post Ep. 393: Kant vs. Hegel (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Mark and Mary are joined by Andrea, an Italian teacher with a broad performing background who's written a book of philosophical, poetic aphorisms called Think Town: self-help reflections and directives about fear, ego, happiness, etc. There's a long history of aphorisms in philosophy, and philosophy invented the self-help genre, but how does philosophy work given the lack of argumentation? We explore the monster under the bed, AI agents, making philosophy personally applicable, being receptive, DOT ego secretions, and more. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support. The post PvI#118: Aphoristically w/ Andrea Roccella first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Faith and Knowledge (1802), Ch. 1 and 2. We start off by discussing how beauty might give us a window into things-in-themselves according to the Romantics, who were in part following Kant's lead. Also, what version of the ontological argument for the existence of God does Hegel believe? We try to figure out what Hegel is praising in Kant's positing of synthetic a priori claims, and yet how he thinks Kant didn't understand the implications of this view. Sponsors: Don't get caught running yesterday’s security on today's web: visit nordlayer.com/browser. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 392: Early Hegel Elevates Reason (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

In light of the new, well-acted and well-shot BBC/Netflix adaptation, we discuss William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies and its previous (1963, 1991) adaptations. Featuring Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al. What do we think of the updates made for this retelling? Its pacing? Its repeated close-up shots of kids' silent faces? Is this per usual obviously inferior to the novel, or does it actually present deeper characters and a more visceral presentation of their degradation? Sponsor: Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp. Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. The post Pretty Much Pop #222: Lordlings of the Flies first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Faith and Knowledge (1802), Ch. 1 and 2. Famously, Kant critiqued Reason to effectively forbid theology and metaphysics, and a young G.W.F. Hegel was not happy about that. He argues against the reduction of Reason to merely applying to the realm of experience, which makes religion merely a subjective, insubstantial matter. Hegel thought he could do better. Sponsors: Don't get caught running yesterday’s security on today's web: visit nordlayer.com/browser. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 392: Early Hegel Elevates Reason (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get previous and future installments of this podcast. We read part of The Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944), specifically the parts about Homer's epic as an allegory for the merely apparent triumph of modernism (capitalism, instrumental reason) over myth (savagery, magical thinking). The post Closereads: Horkheimer & Adorno on The Odyssey (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

We are REELING from our REDACTED episode, and so we talk about the lessons we learned from that and start thinking about what it is to be out of one's comfort zone: how do fear and ego issues interact? Is playfulness a lack of professionalism? Are both arrogance and humility products of fear? Plus, cutting-edge surgery reality shows, Schrödinger's hostile cat and Dr. Brenda's sentient food samples, Bishop Jim vs. Trudy the Innocent, and more! Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support. The post PvI#117: Mark and Mary in the Triboobal Aftermath first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a supporter-exclusive part three. Continuing on on The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, Ch. 1, 2, and 5 with guest John Ganz. We further discuss Habermas' characterizations of Hegel's take on modernity and eventually get to Adorno and Horkheimer, whose dismissals of modernity Habermas thinks go too far. Sponsors: Don’t get caught running yesterday’s security on today’s web: visit nordlayer.com/browser. Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 391: Habermas Defends Modernity (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. The post Pretty Much Pop #221: Streep Does Prada first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Jürgen Habermas’ The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity (1985), featuring guest John Ganz.  Habermas defines modernity as Enlightenment ideals, discusses what's wrong with them (subjectivity), how Hegel argues constructively that a social element needs to be added this this, and how many other critics (e.g. Adorno, Nietzsche, and Foucault) instead argue more destructively against Enlightenment values like Truth, liberty, and justice. Sponsors: Check out the Scribe Optimize Workflow AI platform at Scribe.how/PEL. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 391: Habermas Defends Modernity (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

It’s 1969, and as drug guru Danny tells us, “the greatest decade in the history of mankind is over.” There will, he says, be many refugees, and the film’s implication is that Withnail—who combines self-importance and lofty ambition with substance abuse and urban squalor—will not be one of them. Marwood, by contrast, has seen the writing on the wall, in the form of the salacious tabloid stories that, while they threaten to outcompete the world’s attention for the arts, ultimately can’t be used to excuse the pair’s failure to find work as actors. Countering this attentional collapse perhaps requires getting serious: leaving bohemian pretensions behind—and along with them, as Marwood finds out in their jaunt to the countryside—a backward-looking romanticism that can be used as a cover not just for artistic paralysis but upper class predations, both economic and sexual. Wes & Erin discuss the cult classic “Withnail and I,” and whether our capacity for sublimation suffers less from the crisis of modernity than from our attempts to transcend it. The post (sub)TEXT: The Romance of Self-Destruction in “Withnail and I” (1987) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Rameau's Nephew, getting further into Rameau's philosophy and practices and trying to figure out what this anti-hero can tell us about ethics, given that he displays the virtue of being candid about his own vices. We talk about "trade idioms" (unethical practices that we consider normal), education, and music. How does this reading relate to Hegel (who quotes it directly)? Sponsors: Don’t get caught running yesterday’s security on today’s web: visit nordlayer.com/browser. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. The post Ep. 390: Diderot Debates a Cynic (Part Two) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Every PvI recording is an experiment, and in this case, our guest (a bigwig acting coach in NYC whom I went to high school with) didn't feel great about the episode, so I offered to paywall it. Here you get to hear what you're missing, along with a little pitch about why you should support the show. To respond affirmatively to this pitch and hear (and see!) the whole episode, visit patreon.com/philosophyimprov. The post BONUS: Redacted Acting Coach first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.

Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get previous and future installments of this podcast. On Ch. 2 "The Honest Soul and the Disintegrated Consciousness" in Sincerity and Authenticity (1972). This chapter focuses on a reading of Diderot's Rameau's Nephew and what Hegel made of it in the Phenomenology. The post Closereads: Lionel Trilling on Sincerity (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.