Aristotle on Friendship and Happiness (Part One)
On the final books 8–10 of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. What does friendship have to do with ethics? Aristotle thinks that friends are necessary for the good life (i.e., eudaimonia or happiness, which is the goal of ethics), and that the only true friends, as opposed to those who merely entertain us or are useful to us, are virtuous people. They're the only ones who won't outlive their use...
55m Oct 03, 2016
55m
Aristotle on Wisdom and Incontinence (Part Two)
Continuing on the Nichomachean Ethics (ca. 350 BCE), books 6–7. We're still talking about the various intellectual virtues for the first half here, including the ever-popular nous, translated sometimes as "rational intuition" (which you might call we discussed from a very different perspective in our episodes on Aristotle's De Anima. We finally then get to akrasia, i.e., weakness of the will ...
1hr 16m Sep 26, 2016
1hr 16m
NEM Ep 24: Tyler Hislop (Sacrifice): Copious Rhymes
Tyler (editor of this podcast!) can rap endlessly, and has filled up ten albums with his machine-gun musings on life and politics. A great intro to indie hip-hop for the ignorant (like me)! Songs: “Negative Space,” “Long Way Down,” and “Ciphers” (feat Grimm) from Long Way Down (2015), and “Kids of the Earth” from Quest for Meaning (2008). Hear more at soundcloud.com/sacrifice. Hear more Nakedly...
1hr 33m Sep 26, 2016
1hr 33m
Aristotle on Wisdom and Incontinence (Part One)
On the Nichomachean Ethics (ca. 350 BCE), books 6–7. Is intelligence just one thing? Aristotle picks out a number of distinct faculties, some of which are relevant to ethics, and he uses these to explain Plato's puzzle of how someone can clearly see what the good for him is, and yet fail to pursue it due to weakness of the will. This episode continues our discussion from way back in ep. 5, an...
52m Sep 19, 2016
52m
NEM Ep 23: Sean Beeson's Two-Minute Hi-Tech Symphonies
Sean writes music for video games. He uses five computers, with massively realistic orchestra sounds, and he performs every part with a breath controller for expression. We discuss “Beyond the Desert” (from Empires Apart), “Mega Adventure Time” (from Adventure Time: Magic Man’s Head Game for Gear VR), and “Celestial Light” (from Stellar Wanderer). We conclude by listening to a non-video-game tu...
1hr 24m Sep 18, 2016
1hr 24m
Emmanuel Levinas on Overcoming Solitude (Part Two)
Concluding Levinas's Time and the Other (1948), in which we talk about the present being freedom, before there's even a will! This sort of helps to justify the counterintuitive existentialist insistence that we are responsible for the current state of our life even if it didn't result from our choices. We also get another formulation of selfhood: Identity is when we depart from ourselves (i.e.,...
1hr 29m Sep 12, 2016
1hr 29m
Emmanuel Levinas on Overcoming Solitude (Part One)
More Levinas, working this time through Time and the Other(1948). What is it for a person to exist? What individuates one person from another, making us into selves instead of just part of the causal net of events? Why would someone possibly think that these are real, non-obvious questions that need to be addressed? Levinas gives us a phenomenological progression from the ""there is,"" terrify...
1hr 1m Sep 05, 2016
1hr 1m
Emmanuel Levinas: Why Be Ethical? (Part Two)
Continuing on "Ethics as First Philosophy" (1984) and other essays. We try to complete Levinas's story on how revealing the flawed, aggressive character of our culture and personal attitudes can lead us to recognition of the ethical demand of the Other. Why, look, there's a Face right there, which, whatever actual expression might be on it, betrays first and foremost vulnerability: we recogniz...
1hr 9m Aug 29, 2016
1hr 9m
Emmanuel Levinas: Why Be Ethical? (Part One)
On "Ethics as First Philosophy" (1984). More existentialist ethics, with a Jewish twist this time! Seth rejoins Mark and Wes to discuss this difficult essay, with a bit of "Time and the Other" (1948) and "There Is: Existence Without Existents" (1946) thrown in, too. Levinas thinks that the whole train of Western thought with the advance of science and all has left us too aggressive, too self-...
1hr 2m Aug 22, 2016
1hr 2m
PREVIEW: Great Discourses on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
We are again publicizing our partnership here with Great Discourses, who are offering fall courses that include Ashvaghosha’s Life of the Buddha, Hegel and Dostoyevsky on Freedom and Happiness, Principles of Roman Stoicism, The Trial and Death of Socrates, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and more! Register at greatdiscourses.com, and use the code PELIFE for 15% off. Or become a PEL Citizen, join t...
19m Aug 19, 2016
19m
NEM Ep 22: Jon Langford (Mekons): Natural Art
Jon has been a key member of art collective The Mekons since 1977, injecting country/folk/reggae/etc. influences into a seminal punk band to create an inimitable melange that has put out 19 albums, plus he puts out solo albums and is involved with many side projects including the country-punk Waco Brothers. We discuss “Lil’ Ray O’ Light” from his solo album Here Be Monsters (2014) and two Mekon...
1hr 9m Aug 15, 2016
1hr 9m
Martha Nussbaum on Anger (Part Three - Discussion)
Post-interview discussion of more aspects of Martha Nussbaum's Anger and Forgiveness. Is Nussbaum right in saying that payback should not play any part in our justice apparatus? We try to lay out what changes in policy she's pushing for and discuss her self-improvement regimen of limited Stoicism. Wes thinks contra Martha (but with Aristotle) that ALL anger involves "down-ranking," but that th...
58m Aug 15, 2016
58m
Guest Martha Nussbaum on Anger (Part Two)
More interview on Anger and Forgiveness, now covering social justice, the legitimate role (if any) of anger and forgiveness in enacting justice and bringing about social change, and more on when Stoicism is legitimate and when it runs contra to ineliminable and/or authentically valuable human sentiments.#philosophy #nussbaum #anger #forgiveness #justice #retributionGo to the blog: http://www.pa...
50m Aug 08, 2016
50m
NEM Ep 21: Trey Gunn and the Discipline of Tap Guitar
Trey is master of a many-stringed type of guitar that you play by tapping with both hands at the same time. His mentor was Robert Fripp, with whom he played in the seminal progressive rock band King Crimson. He has also released over a dozen exploratory solo albums. Learn more at treygunn.com. We talked about “Kuma” from his solo album The Third Star (1996), “Level Five” from King Crimson’s The...
1hr 8m Aug 08, 2016
1hr 8m
Guest Martha Nussbaum on Anger (Part One)
On Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice (2016). What role should we allow anger to play in our public life? Should systems of punishment be strictly impartial, or should they be retributive, i.e., expressive of public anger? Nussbaum thinks that anger necessarily involves the desire for payback, and that this is nearly always unhelpful. We should instead use anger (or rather, ...
50m Aug 01, 2016
50m
Phi Fic - Frankenstein (PEL Crossover Special)
PEL welcomes a new podcast to our fledgling network: Phi Fic, which grew out of our Not School Philosophical Fiction group, featuring Nathan Hanks (who you'll likely recognize from our Not School announcements, Mary Claire (who helps edit the PEL blog), Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Cezary Baraniecki. This time they discuss Mary Shelley's classic novel, and are joined by special guest, PE...
1hr 56m Jul 25, 2016
1hr 56m
Plato’s “Sophist” on Lies, Categorizaton, and Non-Being (Part Two)
Continuing to discuss the views of Plato's Eleatic Stranger on sophistry, with a right turn into hardcore metaphysics with an exploration of falsity and its metaphysical correlate, non-being. The "Eleatic" in "Eleatic Stranger" is supposed to connote Parmenides, a Presocratic philosopher who famously claimed that all existence is really One, with no real change. This means that all the variati...
1hr Jul 18, 2016
1hr
Plato’s “Sophist” on Lies, Categorization, and Non-Being (Part One)
On the later Platonic dialogue. What is a sophist? These were guys in Ancient Greece who taught young people the tools of philosophy and rhetoric. They claimed to teach virtue. In Sophist, "the Eleatic Stranger" (i.e. not Socrates) tries to figure out what a sophist really is, using a new "method of division." This Plato era provides a nice transition to the category man Aristotle, and the whol...
52m Jul 11, 2016
52m
NEM Ep 19: Chad Clark (Beauty Pill): Smart Went Electro-Soundscapey
Chad’s 2015 album Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are has received heaps of nice reviews, with its carefully crafted, groove-oriented soundscapes and cinematic lyrics. We discuss “Afrikaner Barista” and “Steven & Tiwonge,” and then go back to Beauty Pill’s first release with “The Idiot Heart” from the Cigarette Girl from the Future EP (2001). We close by listening to “The Prize,” a cover o...
1hr 20m Jul 06, 2016
1hr 20m
Plato’s “Phaedrus” on Love and Speechmaking (Part Two)
Continuing on Plato's dialogue (from around 370 BC), diving into Socrates's myth-laden speech on the nature of love: The soul is like a charioteer with a good horse and a bad horse, and the bad horse is the crazy, love-struck, lust-filled one, and pulls us toward the beloved until the good horse and charioteer restrain it. Love essentially gives the soul a chance to exercise self-control, to be...
1hr 19m Jul 04, 2016
1hr 19m
NEM Ep 18: Jill Sobule Takes America Back
Jill is a big personality, rivaling Elvis Costello in the creation of acerbic, stylistically varied singer-songwriter material, and shes been putting out tuneful, story-laden albums since 1990. Visit jillsobule.com. We discuss “Jetpack” from Underdog Victorious (2004) and get to meet her frequent co-writer Robin Eaton, “Empty Glass” (co-written with Elise Thoron) from The California Years (2009...
1hr 5m Jun 29, 2016
1hr 5m
Plato's Phaedrus on Love and Speechmaking
Socrates hangs out in the country flirting with his buddy Phaedrus. And what is this "Platonic" love you've all heard about? Well, you use the enticement of desire not to rush toward fulfillment, but to get all excited about talking philosophy. Phaedrus starts off reading a speech by renowned orator Lysias (actually Plato's invention parodying the style of this real guy) about love: Love is a ...
1hr 1m Jun 27, 2016
1hr 1m
PEL Extra: The Great Discourses on Plato (Excerpt)
Mark and Adam Rose discuss PEL's new partnership to offer seminar courses led by professional educators. What's it like? Listen to this clip of Adam's seminar discussing Plato's use of poetry vs. Socrates's disavowal of poetry. What gives? All PEL listeners get 15% off courses at greatdiscourses.com when using the checkout code PELIFE. Become a PEL Citizen for a bigger discount, and to listen...
21m Jun 25, 2016
21m
De Beauvoir’s Existentialism: Moral and Political Dilemmas (Part Two)
Simone de Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947). We continue discussing Part III of the book, turning explicitly to political dilemmas: Embracing our freedom means willing the freedom of others, but what if the other person is (according to Beauvoir's formula) failing at freedom by oppressing you or someone else? Stopping the oppression typically at some level requires violence, which mean...
1hr 5m Jun 20, 2016
1hr 5m
De Beauvoir’s Existentialism: Moral and Political Dilemmas (Part One)
More on Simone de Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947), this time on part III. In ep. 140, we described de B's picture of our "ambiguous" existential situation and how proper recognition of our freedom means willing the freedom of others, but what does that actually mean for how we're supposed to act? De Beauvoir is well known as a feminist and political leftist, and is concerned here wit...
54m Jun 13, 2016
54m
De Beauvoir on the Ambiguous Human Condition (Part Two)
Continuing on Simone de Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity(1947), parts I and II. We discuss all the various ways to fail to wholly will your own freedom, i.e., will it all the way to where you will the freedom of others. The first step is admitting that human consciousness is an ontological negative, i.e., it doesn't have static being in the way a rock or tree or even an instinct-driven squir...
1hr 17m Jun 06, 2016
1hr 17m
NEM Ep 17: Carrie Akre's Different Ways of Fronting
Carrie fronted Seattle grunge favorite Hammerbox in the early ’90s, then moved to the more poppy guitar rock band Goodness for the latter part of the decade, and released three solo albums in the ’00s. The overall movement is from harsh exuberance to quiet reflectivity, and Carrie’s role evolved with her starting off as new newbie to rock bands singing over already-composed music and ending up ...
1hr 15m Jun 04, 2016
1hr 15m
De Beauvoir on the Ambiguous Human Condition (Part One)
On Simone De Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947), parts I and II. We return to existentialism! Instead of describing our predicament as "absurd," de Beauvoir prefers "ambiguous": We are a biological organism in the world, yet we're also free consciousness transcending the given situation. Truly coming to terms with this freedom means not only understanding that you transcend any label of...
1hr 2m May 30, 2016
1hr 2m
PEL News and Previews: Plato’s “Crito” and the Hegel’s Logic Aftershow
Brian Wilson's Not School Intro Readings in Philosophy Group discussed Plato on why you should obey the state and other musings from a condemned Socrates; you can be part of the group's next discussion on Sun. 6/4 5pm EDT. Purdue's Chris Yeomans was our guest Hegel scholar as we reflected back on eps 134/135, joining Mark and Danny Lobell with PEL listeners to discuss Hegel's theology, metaphy...
39m May 27, 2016
39m
Nakedly Examined Music #15 w/ Craig Wedren (PEL Crossover Special)
Hey, PEL Listeners, go subscribe to Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com or on iTunes! Craig led Shudder to Think from 1986 to 1998 and has since had a solo career and done soundtrack work. Shudder to Think was a band that started as part of Washington DC's "hardcore" scene, but challenged musical conventions to try to achieve U2-level success with Captain-Beefheart-level weirdne...
1hr 38m May 26, 2016
1hr 38m
PEL Special: Nakedly Examined Music #15 with Craig Wedren
www.nakedlyexaminedmusic.com
1hr 38m May 26, 2016
1hr 38m
NEM Ep 16: Narada Michael Walden Funks the Moment
Narada started as a fusion drummer in the ’70s (with Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jeff Beck, etc.) then released numerous solo albums and produced and wrote for artists like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, and many more. He believes in working fast: creating a mood and getting the most out of it. We discuss “Freedom” (written by Richie Havens) from Evolution (2015), “I Shoulda Loved Ya...
1hr 1m May 26, 2016
1hr 1m
REISSUE-Ep. 42: Feminists on Human Nature and Moral Psychology
Discussing Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s utopian novel Herland (1915) and psychologist Carol Gilligan's In a Different Voice (1983). How does human nature, and specifically moral psychology, vary by sex? Charlotte Perkins Gilman claims that when philosophers have described human nature as violent and selfish, they have in mind solely male nature. Females, left to themselves in an isolated society,...
1hr 53m May 23, 2016
1hr 53m
bell hooks on Racism & Sexism (Part Two)
Continuing on Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism(1981) and Black Looks: Race and Representation (1992, Intro, Ch. 3, 11), with guest Myisha Cherry. We talk about black feminist "essentialism" (i.e., a single narrative of oppression) and how that relates to bell hooks's project of media critique. Every person's journey is individual, yet she thinks there are right ways and wrong ways to ...
1hr 11m May 16, 2016
1hr 11m
bell hooks on Racism & Sexism (Part One)
On Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism (1981) and Black Looks: Race and Representation (1992, Intro, Ch. 3, 11). How do these pernicious forces interact? bell hooks (aka Gloria Watkins) describes black women as having been excluded both from mainstream historical feminism (which was led by white women who didn't want to alienate Southern whites) and black civil rights struggles (which we...
51m May 09, 2016
51m
Searle Interview on Perception (Part Two)
Mark, Wes, and Dylan discuss the interview with John in part one on Seeing Things as They Are: A Theory of Perception (2015) and try to sketch out the view and its potential problems in a little more detail. The two main issues are first, Searle claims that his theory is much better than historical alternatives because this "presentation" of the world is not an intermediary: we are directly pe...
53m May 02, 2016
53m
NEM Ep 14: Jonathan Donahue (Mercury Rev): Mountain Man of Subtlety
After serving a stint with the Flaming Lips, Jonathan has been putting out albums with Mercury Rev since 1991. Over time, their music has shifted from noisy alternative rock to symphonic, soundtrack pop songs… still psychedelic, but now with an unapologetically Disneyesque influence, with the magic of nature swirling out through harp glissandos and french horns, all standing behind a simple, st...
1hr 41m May 01, 2016
1hr 41m
http://www.partiallyexaminedlife.com/2016/04/25/ep138-1-john-searle/
We interview John about Seeing Things as They Are: A Theory of Perception (2015). What is perception? Searle says that it's not a matter of seeing a representation which is then somehow related to things in the real world. We see the actual objects, with no mediation. But then how can there be illusions? Well, we see things under an aspect: a presentation of the thing. And that presentation pr...
1hr 8m Apr 25, 2016
1hr 8m
Bourdieu on the Tastes of Social Classes (Part Two)
Continuing on Pierre Bourdieu's Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (1979) with guest rock star Tim Quirk (from Too Much Joy). We continue talking about Bourdieu's conclusions regarding his survey of musical tastes: People use their tastes to distinguish themselves, to assert their social superiority. Bourdieu thinks the Kantian, upper-class, art-for-art's-sake paradigm of ...
1hr 14m Apr 18, 2016
1hr 14m
NEM Ep 12: John Philip Shenale on String Arrangement, Composing, Producing
Phil is the long-time string arranger for Tori Amos and has done a heap more production, arrangement, and keyboard work. He has a very deliberate production style, carefully crafting a very natural-sounding theatrical background using both cutting-edge and very old tools. We talk about “Cross the Channel” from the Brik & Shenale EP (2012), Phil’s arrangement and production of “Stars that Speak”...
1hr 17m Apr 12, 2016
1hr 17m
Bourdieu on the Tastes of Social Classes (Part One)
On Pierre Bourdieu's Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (1979), introduction, chapter 1 through p. 63, conclusion, and postscript. How do our tastes in music, art, and everything else reflect our social position? This philosophically trained sociologist administered a few detailed questionnaires in 1960s France and used the resulting differences in what people in different...
57m Apr 11, 2016
57m
Adorno on the Culture Industry (Part Two)
Continuing on Theodor Adorno's "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception" (1944). We cover topics within art and entertainment like the role of style: You think you're being so original with your personal style, but Adorno sees you has having already been brainwashed into being a clone, so your "authentic" expression is anything but. Also, humor is not, as you might think, a way of...
1hr 18m Apr 04, 2016
1hr 18m
Adorno on the Culture Industry (Part One)
On Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception" from Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944), plus Adorno's essay "Culture Industry Reconsidered" (1963). How does the entertainment industry affect us? Adorno and Horkheimer (who co-authored the book, but it looks like Adorno mainly wrote the essay we read) are founding figures of the Frankfurt school, wh...
59m Mar 28, 2016
59m
NEM Ep 10: Nick Eede (Cutting Crew): Escape from the 80s
In 1986 Nick van Eede released a song (“I Just Died in Your Arms”) that will be played long after we are all dead. But he’s got a lot more going on than that, and on his new album (still under the moniker “Cutting Crew”) he’s recorded his best songs from the last decade without regard for continuity with the sound that made him famous. We discuss “Reach for the Sky” from The Scattering (1989), ...
1hr 15m Mar 25, 2016
1hr 15m
Hegel on the Logic of Basic Metaphysical Concepts (Part Two)
The last of our four releases on G.W.F. Hegel's The Encyclopaedia Logic (1817). Here we finish sections 78–99 (still with guest Amogh Sahu), giving Hegel's account of how Being supposedly leads, when you analyze the concept itself, to Nothingness, and then Becoming, Quality, and Quantity. And we also get Infinity in there, which is nice. So, how does this work? Well, Being, which is the only s...
1hr 8m Mar 21, 2016
1hr 8m
NEM Ep 9: Roderick Romero: Psychedelic Treehouse Poet
Roderick Wolgamott Romero founded and fronted the Seattle 90s space rock band Sky Cries Mary. So how does a poet get a band? Is a poet’s process different from a typical lyricist’s? We discuss “Gliding” from Taking the Stage Live: 1997–2005 (2011), “December Snow” from Roderick’s in-progress project One Point Moment Still (featuring Romanian techno duo We’d), and “Queen of Slug Theater” from Mo...
1hr 7m Mar 19, 2016
1hr 7m
Hegel on the Logic of Basic Metaphysical Concepts (Part One)
A whole second discussion on G.F.W. Hegel's The Encyclopaedia Logic (1817), hitting sections 78–99 on the dialectic and how it's supposed to generate basic metaphysical categories like Being, Becoming, Quality, and Quantity. We also talk about Understanding vs. Reason: Kant thought that we can't do metaphysics because we can only talk sensibly about abstractions (via the Understanding) from ou...
1hr Mar 14, 2016
1hr
NEM Ep 8: Tim Quirk Is the Philosopher-King of Beers
Tim describes himself as not a singer, but a writer with a band, and he shouted at the front of Too Much Joy in the late’ 80s–’90s and has since recorded as Wonderlick while working as a big dog in the digital music industry with Google, Rhapsody, and now Freeform. We discuss “King of Beers” from Cereal Killers (1991), “Donner Lake” from Wonderlick (2002), “Just Like a Man” from Mutiny (1992), ...
1hr 15m Mar 11, 2016
1hr 15m
Hegel on Thought and World aka Logic (Part Two)
HegelMore on G.F.W. Hegel's The Science of Logic (1812–1816), §1–§129 plus The Encyclopaedia Logic (1817) §1–§25. We continue trying to make sense of Hegel's method and purpose: How does he think that we can deduce something like Kant's categories (e.g. quantity, quality)? We can't start with the manifold of experience, which presupposes a subject-object distinction, which would be me having p...
1hr 10m Mar 07, 2016
1hr 10m
Hegel on Thought and World aka Logic (Part One)
On G.F.W. Hegel's The Science of Logic (1812–1816), §1–§129 (i.e., the two prefaces and the introduction), plus The Encyclopaedia Logic (1817) §1–§25, which is supposed to dumb it down more so we can understand what's going on. "Logic" for Hegel isn't about symbolic logic; it's about how thought interacts with the world. In short, our thoughts about fundamental metaphysical categories bear the...
55m Feb 29, 2016
55m