NEM#90: Sam Phillips Brings Intuition Out of Dreams
Sam has released sixteen albums of catchy, textured pop music since 1983. We discuss "I Want to Be You" and "Tears in the Ground" from World on Sticks (2018), "How to Dream" from Fan Dance (2001), and conclude by listening to "When I’m Alone" from Push Any Button (2013). Intro: "Baby I Can’t Please You" from Martinis and Bikinis (1994). For more, visit samphillips.com (https://samphillips.com/)...
1hr 1m Jan 25, 2019
1hr 1m
Episode 207: Herder on Art Appreciation (Part Two)
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 “On the Influence of the Belles Lettres on the Higher Sciences” (1781), “Does Painting or Music Have a Greater Effect? A Divine Colloquy” (1785), and and some of Critical Forests: Fourth Grove (written 1769). With guest rock god John "Jughead" Pie...
1hr 25m Jan 21, 2019
1hr 25m
Episode 207: Herder on Art Appreciation (Part One)
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 Belles Lettres on the Higher Sciences” (1781), “Does Painting or Music Have a Greater Effect? A Divine Colloquy” (1785), and some of Critical Forests: Fourth Grove (written 1769). With guest rock god John "Jughead" Pierson. What is aesthetic taste,...
57m Jan 14, 2019
57m
PREVIEW-Ep 206 Lucretius's Epicurean Physics (Part Three)
http://partiallyexaminedlife.com
14m Jan 13, 2019
14m
Episode 206: Lucretius's Epicurean Physics (Part Two)
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 supposed to come out of the interaction of atoms, including mind and its processes of knowledge and illusion, including the illusion of love. One conclusion: life after death is not possible. Can the properties of the atoms themselves be explaine...
1hr 13m Jan 07, 2019
1hr 13m
NEM#89: Dusty Wright's Metaphysical Americana
After starting in the '80s with the Trolls and the Bastards of Execution, Dusty has released six albums as a solo artist since 1997. We discuss a new, unreleased song "Pardon My Love," then "Man in the Mirror" from Gliding Toward Oblivion (2018) and "High Flyin' Bird" by GIANTfingers from around 2003. We conclude by listening to "(Art at) the Speed of Life" by the Dusty Diamonds from 1994. Intr...
1hr 9m Jan 06, 2019
1hr 9m
Episode 206: Lucretius's Epicurean Physics (Part One)
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? Lucretius presents a system that is surprisingly modern, and raises philosophical issues that are still on point today: What are the basic building blocks of the universe? How could these give rise to minds? What ethical views does a mechanistic world-vie...
58m Dec 31, 2018
58m
PREVIEW-Ep 205 Durkheim et al on Suicide (Part Three)
Mark and Wes discuss Durkheim's Suicide (1897), getting into more of the details of his account and exploring comparative modes of explanation: Are there really "sociological facts" distinct from mere generalizations about psychological facts? Get the full discussion as a PEL Citizen (https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2018/12/20/ep205-follow-up-durkheim-citizen/) or $5 Patreon supporter (https:...
20m Dec 31, 2018
20m
Episode 205: Suicide with Dr. Drew (Durkheim et al) (Part Two)
http://partiallyexaminedlife.com
55m Dec 22, 2018
55m
NEM#88: Lincoln Barr's Off-Center Vulnerability
Lincoln established the Seattle-based singer/songwriter vehicle Red Jacket Mine in 2003, made three albums and an EP with them, and in 2017 released his first solo album, the jazzy, live-in-studio Trembling Frames. We examine "Desperate Tormentors" and hear "How To Escape" and a bit of "Memory Up and Die" from that album, and discuss Red Jacket Mine: "Apricot Moon" from Lovers Lookout (2009) an...
1hr 5m Dec 19, 2018
1hr 5m
Suicide with Dr. Drew (Durkheim et al) (Part One)
We are rejoined by Drew Pinsky to discuss philosophical and psychological readings by Seneca, Arthur Schopenhauer, Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, Albert Camus, plus two 2017 survey papers on predictors of suicide. Is suicide ever morally permissible? If it's a symptom of mental illness rather than a chosen behavior, is it even appropriate to morally evaluate it? Check the PEL Store (https://par...
48m Dec 17, 2018
48m
The Bhagavad Gita's Hindu Theology (Part Two)
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 be Krishna while Krishna is also the an element of virtue we're supposed to pursue? How does this compare with Stoicism? Plus, behold Krishna unveiled and be freaked out! Listen to part one (https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2018/12/03/ep204-1-bh...
1hr 1m Dec 10, 2018
1hr 1m
NEM#87: Chris Cacavas Fronts His Depression
Chris rose to fame on keys for Arizona's country punks Green on Red from '81-'87 and has since then been fronted 12 albums while doing session keyboard work. We discuss "Pale Blonde Hell" by Chris Cacavas and Junkyard Love from Pale Blonde Hell (1994), "Do Me No Favors" from Anonymous (1997), and "Don't Think Twice" from Bumbling Home from the Star (2002). We listen to "I Won't Feel Well" from ...
1hr 23m Dec 08, 2018
1hr 23m
The Bhagavad Gita's Hindu Theology (Part One)
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 translation/commentary. What is it to live wisely? What grounds duty? Listen as the supreme God Krishna convinces archer hero Arjuna that it's OK for him to kill his relatives because, you know, reincarnation and determinism and caste-related duties. Lo...
59m Dec 03, 2018
59m
Kristeva vs. Lovecraft on Horror and Abjection (Part Two)
Concluding on Julia Kristeva's Powers of Horror (1980) and focusing here on H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928). Does Lovecraft's presentation of nameless terror capture (or improve upon) what Kristeva means by "abjection"? For the full Cthulhu experience, listen to the Phi Fic discussion of the story. If you're really hardcore, we recommend you listen to the H.P. Lovecraft Literary ...
1hr 10m Nov 26, 2018
1hr 10m
Kristeva vs. Lovecraft on Horror and Abjection (Part One)
More on Julia Kristeva's Powers of Horror (1980) plus H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928). What is the object of fear? In our last episode, we outlined Kristeva's view that it's ultimately the disintegration of self. Our purpose in this further episode (featuring Mark, Seth, and Dylan, who couldn't attend last time) was to clarify her account of how self-integrity is accomplished and...
55m Nov 19, 2018
55m
The Other by Mark Lint Feat Lucy Lawless
Support this project at patreon.com/marklint!https://patreon.com/marklint
2m Nov 18, 2018
2m
PREVIEW-Ep 202 Follow-Up: Close Reading of Kristeva's "Approaching Abjection"
Mark takes a very close look at pages 1–4 of the first chapter of On Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980) as a supplement to episode 202. Get the full, 55-minute experience as a PEL Citizen, or get it by supporting us on Patreon for a mere $1!
17m Nov 18, 2018
17m
NEM#86: Seth Swirsky Provides Instant Pleasure
Seth Swirsky was a highly successful staff songwriter for over 20 years and has put out three solo albums and three albums as The Red Button since 2004. He's a huge Beatles fan and has released a Beatles documentary Beatles Stories and has multiple books about psychology and baseball. We discuss his heavily covered and sound-tracked tune "Love Is a Beautiful Thing"; you'll hear the version by A...
1hr 10m Nov 18, 2018
1hr 10m
Julia Kristeva on Disgust, Fear and the Self (Part Two)
Continuing on Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, ch. 1 and 2. We try to get clearer on Kristeva's talk of "object," the relationship between language and abjection, how Kristeva is advancing on Freud, how to be a mom that allows a kid to separate in a healthy way, and how abjection plays into religion and writing. Don't miss Mark's Close Reading of the beginning of this text that allows...
1hr 19m Nov 12, 2018
1hr 19m
Julia Kristeva on Disgust, Fear and the Self (Part One)
"On Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980), chapters 1 and 2. What is horror? Kristeva's book is about a process she calls "abjection" where we violently reject things like corpses, bodily wastes and other fluids, and the Lovecraftian unnameable that lurks at the edge of our awareness, hideously inhuman and indifferent to our suffering. The book is also all about the self, suggesting ...
50m Nov 05, 2018
50m
PREVIEW-Ep 201 Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations" (Part Three)
Mark and Seth get further into the specifics of Marcus's metaphysics and how this is supposed to relate to behavior. Can his directives really come solely "from reason" as he claims? How does this interact with the behaviors that we pursue "by nature," i.e., without conscious deliberation required? Seth is concerned with how individualistic the philosophy is. Mark is concerned that if you disca...
14m Nov 05, 2018
14m
Episode 201: Marcus Aurelius's Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Part Two)
More on The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (ca. 180 CE) plus Ryan's The Daily Stoic (2016). We talk Stoicism as "pre-mourning," love of fate, the divine plan, political ethics, ethical models, and overwriting your brain with the Stoic operating system. Hear part 1 first, or get the full, unbroken Citizen Edition, as well as the follow-up discussion. Please support PEL! End song: "Any Way the Wi...
1hr Oct 29, 2018
1hr
NEM#85: John Etheridge (Soft Machine) is For Everything!
John is an amazing guitarist who started in the late-'60s British blues boom, had his first compositions set to tape with Darryl Way's Wolf in the early '70s, then joined the latter line-ups of jazz-prog legends Soft Machine (replacing Alan Holdsworth) in the late '70s. He's collaborated with luminaries like violinist Stéphane Grappelli, guitar great John Williams, and Andy Summers from The Pol...
1hr 12m Oct 29, 2018
1hr 12m
Episode 201: Marcus Aurelius's Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Part One)
On The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (ca. 180 C.E.) plus Ryan's The Daily Stoic (2016). What does Stoicism look like in practice, in both ancient and modern contexts? You might think that eschewing the shallow, out-of-our-control trappings of fame and wealth in favor of personal cultivation would make one unambitious, but Ryan uses Marcus as a prime example of how to be a Stoic while trying to...
59m Oct 22, 2018
59m
Episode 200: Kant/Mendelssohn/Foucault on Enlightenment (Part Two)
Continuing on "What Is Enlightenment" by Immanuel Kant (1784), "On Enlightening the Mind" by Moses Mendelssohn (1784), and "What Is Enlightenment" by Michael Foucault (1984). We finish up Kant (the courage to know!) and lay out the Mendelssohn (cultivation vs. enlightenment) and Foucault (ironically heroize the present!). Will this conversation enlighten you? Who knows? Listen to part one first...
1hr 8m Oct 15, 2018
1hr 8m
Episode 200: Kant/Mendelssohn/Foucault on Enlightenment (Part One)
On "What Is Enlightenment" by Immanuel Kant (1784), "On Enlightening the Mind" by Moses Mendelssohn (1784), and "What Is Enlightenment" by Michael Foucault (1984). At the end of the historical period known as The Enlightenment, a Berlin newspaper asked what exactly that is, and Kant and Mendelssohn responded. Both were concerned with whether too much enlightenment among the public can cause soc...
47m Oct 08, 2018
47m
Bonus: (sub)Text#4: Freud's "Mourning and Melancholia" (Part One)
Wes Alwan is joined by Tracy Morgan and Louis Scuderi to discuss Freud's classic 1917 essay. Note: Part two will NOT be appearing on this feed. Become a PEL Citizen to get the full discussion. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to learn how. Listen to more (sub)Text.
36m Oct 08, 2018
36m
Episode 199: Elizabeth Anderson on Equality (Part Three: Discussion)
Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan continue to discuss “What Is the Point of Equality?” (1999) and how it lays foundations for Private Government (2017). What is democratic equality, and can a Rawlsian/liberal/neutral-with-regard-to-defining-the-good state consistently advocate for this ideal? Our interview starts in Part One. You can get all three parts together, and more with a PEL Citizenship or $5 ...
1hr 6m Oct 01, 2018
1hr 6m
NEM#83: Rat Scabies's Damned Drumming
Christopher Millar played for about two decades with first-generation British punk band The Damned starting in 1976, and has now released his debut solo album, P.H.D. (Prison, Hospital, Debt). We discuss "Dazy Bones" and "Rat's Opus" from that 2018 album, then look back to The Damned's "History of the World (Part One)" from The Black Album (1980), then end by listening to Rat's cover of the Kra...
55m Oct 01, 2018
55m
Guest Elizabeth Anderson on Private Government (Part Two)
Continuing on Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (2017) and “What Is the Point of Equality?” (1999). Should the amount of respect that a worker gets be proportional to his or her market value? Our guest tells us more about how all citizens have the right to have their interests considered and what this means for how the relationship between employers and employees might change. W...
1hr 3m Sep 24, 2018
1hr 3m
Guest Elizabeth Anderson on Private Government (Part One)
The U. of Michigan prof joins us to discuss Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don't Talk about It) (2017) and “What Is the Point of Equality?” (1999). What is government? Liz points to the historical use of the term to refer to not just the state, but any organized power relations, including the relation between a firm and its employees. What is it for something to b...
55m Sep 17, 2018
55m
NEM#82: Byron Isaacs Emerges From Bassland
Byron is an in-demand session/touring bassist whose main band since 2004 has been NYC's Ollabelle. We talk about "Losing You" and "Gypsy Wind" from his debut solo album, Disappearing Man (2018), plus "Gone Today” by Ollabelle from Riverside Battle Songs (2007), and finish with"Horizontal Man" by Lost Leaders from their 2014 eponymous album. Intro: “Heaven’s Pearls” by Levon Helm from Electric D...
1hr 8m Sep 14, 2018
1hr 8m
PREVIEW-Ep 198 Plato's "Parmenides" (Part Three)
http://partiallyexaminedlife.com
12m Sep 13, 2018
12m
Plato's Forms in the "Parmenides" (Part Two)
We get down to the specific questions considered in this perplexing Platonic dialogue: Are there Forms for all adjectives? Does the Form of a property itself have that property? (Is the Form Large itself large?) How do Forms connect with particulars? How can we mortals have any connection to heavenly Forms anyway? Why even think there are Forms outside of particulars? Listen to part one first ...
1hr 14m Sep 10, 2018
1hr 14m
Plato's Forms in the "Parmenides" (Part One)
On the most peculiar Platonic dialogue, from ca. 350 BCE. Are properties real things in the world, or just in the mind? Plato famously thought that for a property like "large," there's a Form that causes all the large things to be large, and which enables us to recognize those things as large. These Forms are not material things, and hence aren't the objects of ordinary sensation. In other dia...
47m Sep 03, 2018
47m
Bonus: (sub)Text #3: Spielberg's "AI: Artificial Intelligence": What Is It to Be Human? (Part One)
Wes discusses the film with philosophy professor David Kyle Johnson. What is there to fear in artificial intelligence? How does this shed light on what it means to be fully human? Note: Part two will NOT be appearing on this feed. Become a PEL Citizen to get the full discussion. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to learn how.
34m Sep 02, 2018
34m
NEM#81: Lindsay Murray Is Gretchen's Wheel
Lindsay has released four albums and an EP of depressed alternative rock under the band name Gretchen's Wheel since 2015, providing a modern model of accessible yet professional DIY recording. We focus on Black Box Theory, covering "Untethered," "Tatyana," and "Plans," plus "Save the Day" from Sad Scientist (2017). Intro: “Total Loss” from Fragile State (2015). For more, visit gretchenswheel.co...
1hr 8m Aug 31, 2018
1hr 8m
Parmenides on What There Is (Part Two)
Continuing with guest Peter Adamson with ""On Nature"" (475 BCE). We finally get to the great ""fragment 8,"" which describes why Being must be singular and eternal, given that the notion of Non-Being is nonsense. So does it make any sense to talk of this eternal, uniform Being as a finite sphere? Would this absolute unity of Being make it impossible for us to even be individuals engaging in t...
53m Aug 27, 2018
53m
Parmenides on What There Is (Part One)
On the fragments referred to as ""On Nature"" from ca. 475 BCE, featuring guest Peter Adamson from the History of Philosophy without Any Gaps podcast. One of the most influential Presocratic philosophers, Parmenides gives ""the Way of Truth,"" which is that there is only Being, and talking of Non-Being is nonsense. And guess what? Any talk of difference implies non-being, so that's right out t...
1hr Aug 20, 2018
1hr
Bonus: (sub)Text #2: Is There Such a Thing as a War Story? Time and Trauma in Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" (Part One)
Episode 2 of Wes's new podcasting endeavor, featuring Mary from the Phi Fic podcast, who's also the managing editor of the PEL blog. Note: Part two will NOT be appearing on this feed. Become a PEL Citizen to get the full discussion. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to learn how.
41m Aug 20, 2018
41m
NEM#80: Rod Picott: Literary Workin' Man
Nashville singer/songwriter/fiction-writer Rod laid sheet rock for years before releasing his first album in 2001; he has now released ten albums of vivid Americana. We focus on his new double album Out Past the Wires, discussing "Take Home Pay" and "Date of Grace" (with intro/outro from "Be My Bonnie"), then look back to "Rust Belt Fields" from Welding Burns (2011) and finally listen to “You'r...
1hr 4m Aug 19, 2018
1hr 4m
Guest Simon Blackburn on Truth (Part Two)
Continuing with Simon on his book On Truth (2018). We move to part two of the book, where we get down to the procedures used to obtain truth in art, ethics, and science. Simon is well known for his meta-ethics, which is descended from C.L. Stevenson's emotivism. Just as he said in part one that he agreed largely with Strawson's view that to say a sentence is true is to advocate for it, the sam...
1hr 7m Aug 13, 2018
1hr 7m
Guest Simon Blackburn on Truth (Part One)
The Cambridge/etc. prof best known for his neo-Humean meta-ethics joins Mark, Wes, and Dylan to discuss his book On Truth (2018). What is truth? A pragmatist like William James wants to define truth in terms of the procedures we actually undergo to confirm a claim. Simon instead buys into a performative/deflationist view of truth. The notion can't be defined in general, but we can describe how...
53m Aug 06, 2018
53m
NEM#79: Prateek Kuhad's Bi-Lingual Love Songs
Prateek was named artist of the year for 2016 by MTV India and has been releasing tasteful, lyrics-focused songs about relationships in English and Hindi since 2011. We focus on his 2015 album Tokens and Charms: "Go," "Oh Love," and "Flames," plus the 2017 single "Tum Jab Pas," and the title track from his brand new EP cold/mess. Intro/Outro: "Raat Raazi" (2013). For more, visit prateekkuhad.co...
1hr 15m Aug 05, 2018
1hr 15m
Truth-The Austin/Strawson Debate (Part Two)
Continuing on "Truth" by J.L. Austin and "Truth" by P.F. Strawson, both from 1950. We proceed to the Strawson article, which critiques the notion of a "fact" as explaining why a sentence might be true. A "fact" is not a thing in the world! So what do we add when we change "The cat is on the mat" to "'The cat is on the mat' is true"? Addendum: We discovered after posting this episode that Aust...
1hr 1m Jul 30, 2018
1hr 1m
Truth-The Austin/Strawson Debate (Part One)
On two articles in the "ordinary language" tradition of philosophy called "Truth" from 1950 by J.L. Austin and P.F. Strawson. You may remember John Langshaw Austin as the performatives guy, but it's actually Peter Frederick Strawson (whom we covered in the context of free will) who (shortly before either of these papers) came up with what has become known as the performative theory of truth. ...
1hr 1m Jul 23, 2018
1hr 1m
Bonus Discussion: Wes Interprets Shakespeare's "Tempest" (Part One)
Wes Alwan and Bill Youmans discuss the 1611 play about revenge, forgiveness, and authorship. Or maybe it's about exploitation, or how we react to changes in status, or perhaps how a liberal education can give you magical powers! Note: Part two will NOT be appearing on this feed. Become a PEL Citizen to get the full discussion. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to learn how.
34m Jul 21, 2018
34m
NEM#78: Tara Lynch's Unflinchingly Honest Metal Debut
Tara has long been building her heavy metal guitar skills, but has only recently gone public, building a huge social media following and now releasing Evil Enough, an album featuring musicians who've played with Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc. We discuss "Antidote" and "Banished from My Kingdom," and close with "Unbreakable." Opening music: "Gui-Tara Rises." Hear more at ta...
1hr 1m Jul 21, 2018
1hr 1m
Alfred Tarski on Truth (Part Two)
Continuing on Tarski's “The Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundations of Semantics,” (1944), Hartry Field's “Tarski's Theory of Truth” (1972), and Donald Davidson's “The Folly of Trying to Define Truth” (1977). What was Tarski really doing? What are the implications of his project? Does it even make sense to define "truth," and what should a definition look like? Listen to part one fir...
1hr 12m Jul 16, 2018
1hr 12m