Richard Rorty on Politics for the Left (Part One)
On Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in 20th Century America (1998). What makes for efficacious progressive politics? Rorty has been cited much recently as predicting the rise of Trump. In this book, he gives us a history of the political left, and draws a dividing line between old-time reformist leftist intellectuals like Upton Sinclair who worked for real change and post-'60s cultural c...
57m Jan 30, 2017
57m
Philosophy and Politics Free-Form Discussion (Part Two)
Continuing our liberal bubble-bursting exercise, the core foursome address more directly the question of how philosophy is supposed to shape one's political views and actions. Is there a non-partisan way of describing ""the public good"" that we can use as a touchstone to communicate with and maybe convince political opponents? What's a philosophically responsible way to use political rhetoric ...
1hr 4m Jan 23, 2017
1hr 4m
NEM Ep 35: Daniel Ash (Love & Rockets): Going Against Your Own Grain
The singer/guitarist shifted gears many times through Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets (which shifted from acoustic to electric to electronica), and has since put out five distinctive solo albums. We discuss, from the collection Freedom I Love (2017), the title track and “Indie Boys”; and then “Christian Says” from Stripped (2014). End song: “Flame On” from the Hog Fever soundtrack (201...
1hr 12m Jan 21, 2017
1hr 12m
Philosophy and Politics Free-Form Discussion (Part One)
How does studying philosophy help you to make sense of the political landscape? Wes, Mark, Dylan, and Seth play pundit and reflect on political rhetoric, elitism, and much more. There is no text for this episode! Freedom!#philosophy #politics #rhetoric #trump #inequality #justiceGo to the blog: https://www.partiallyexaminedlife.com/2017/01/16/ep156-1-philosophy-politics/
57m Jan 16, 2017
57m
NEM Ep 34: Todd Long: Don't Have to Say "Frontman"
Todd held down the beat and wrote some songs for Grand Rapids, MI’s Molly in the ’90s through 2003, then wrote more songs and sang a bit for Dutch Henry for about ten years, then pushed forward to sing and write all the songs for his projects The Star Darts and now Cartorson. Featuring Cartorson’s “The Last Time” and “Hearts on the Highway” from the new Richfield Skyline EP, “Say It” from Shoot...
59m Jan 14, 2017
59m
Richard Rorty Against Epistemology (Part Two)
Continuing on Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Ch. 3–4. Rorty claims that Kantians improperly read Kantian concerns (the connection between the senses and reason) back into the ancients. He thought that Sellars's "epistemological behaviorism" was right on, and despite what you may have heard does not give a bad rep to animals and babies. Plus, psychological nominalism! Woo hoo! End song: ...
1hr 5m Jan 09, 2017
1hr 5m
NEM Ep 33: Asif Illyas Colors It Old School (i.e. 80s)
Asif led Canadian band MIR from 1998 to 2008, and has since recorded with real instruments for commercials and films, and released a one-man-band Police-influenced album Synesthesia in 2013. We discuss the title track and “Electrical” from that album, also MIR’s “A Day in Your Life” from 7 Directions (2004). We conclude by listening to “The Chosen One” from MIR’s A Soldier’s Carol Christmas EP ...
1hr 22m Jan 07, 2017
1hr 22m
Richard Rorty Against Epistemology (Part One)
On Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (1979), Part II: "Mirroring" (Ch. 3–4). Is a "theory of knowledge" possible? Rorty says that while of course psychology has interesting things to say, any specifically philosophical effort is doomed. Why? Because there is no fixed point outside of the "knowledge language game" that provides an ultimate grounding. Rorty draws on Sellars (ep. 154) to say t...
55m Jan 02, 2017
55m
Wilfrid Sellars on the Myth of the Given (Part Two)
Continuing on "Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind." We consider a couple of Sellars's thought experiments, both of which are supposed to show that what we might think are primitive mental terms like "appearance" are really derivative and secondary relative to statements about the external world. With guest Lawrence "Dusty" Dallman. End song: "Senses on Fire" by Mercury Rev. Check out the in...
55m Dec 26, 2016
55m
Wilfrid Sellars on the Myth of the Given (Part One)
On "Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind" (1956). Is knowledge based on a "foundation," as Descartes, Locke, et al. thought? Sellars says no. Sixteenth-century empiricists thought that we have some indubitable perceptions: Even though I may not be absolutely sure that there's a red object in front of me, I can be sure that there seems to be such an object. The "red appearance" seems to be som...
53m Dec 19, 2016
53m
NEM Ep 31: Michael Manring's Limitless Bass Guitar
Michael has played on 500+ recordings; he was the house bassist for the Windham Hill label in the ’80s and has put out seven solo albums. He expands what electric bass can do by using many tunings, even retuning on the fly using a custom-built system, using his bass as a percussion instrument, and sometimes playing multiple basses at once. We discuss “Excuse Me, Mr. Manring” from Soliloquy(2005...
1hr 13m Dec 18, 2016
1hr 13m
Richard Rorty: There Is No Mind-Body Problem (Part Two)
Continuing on Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Part I. Rorty relates the immateriality of mind to the ontology of universals: The gap between individual dogs and the concept "dogness" is really the only ontological gap we have, and conceiving the mind as the faculty that apprehends universals (i.e. "nous" in Aristotle) was the first step into this mistaken (according to Rorty) picture of a...
1hr 11m Dec 12, 2016
1hr 11m
Richard Rorty: There Is No Mind-Body Problem (Part One)
On Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (1979), Part I: "Our Glassy Essence" (mostly Ch. 1). "The mind" seems to be an unavoidable part of our basic conceptual vocabulary, but Rorty thinks not, and he wants to use the history of philosophy as a kind of therapy to show that many of our seemingly insoluble problems like the relation between mind and body are a result of philosophical mistakes by ...
52m Dec 05, 2016
52m
NEM Ep 30: Paul Wertico and David Cain: Improv Without a Net
Seven-time Grammy winning drummer Paul Wertico and his multi-talented cohort David Cain are two-thirds of Wertico, Cain and Gray, an improvisational, “impressionistic” jazz trio who have released five albums since 2013. We discuss six tracks from Short Cuts: 40 Improvisations (2016) and “Where Brush Meets Flow (Go Van Gogh)” from Sound Portraits (2013). Intro music: “Destroy the Box” from Organ...
1hr 23m Dec 04, 2016
1hr 23m
NEM Ep 29: Jason Seed's "Stringtet"
Jason fattens out his eclectic guitar pieces by writing string and horn parts, and The Jason Seed Stringtet includes members of the Chicago Symphony sawing away furiously. Hear more at jasonseedmusic.com. We’ll discuss “Ishtar,” a Bulgarian/Latin-inflected piece from In the Gallery (2013), “Any Night Now” a more traditional chamber jazz number from 2015, and “Mammoth” from the Jason Seed Exlier...
1hr 17m Nov 23, 2016
1hr 17m
Edmund Burke’s Conservatism (Part Two)
More on Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), where Burke advocates for the nobility as a stabilizing element in society: These folks are driven by honor, groomed from youth to lead, and estates themselves provide continuity and give people something to protect. But could anyone really defend this system who wasn't himself benefitting from it at the expense of others? Reform not revol...
1hr 7m Nov 14, 2016
1hr 7m
NEM Ep 28: Jill Freeman on Fairy Tales and Psychological Truth
Jill was part of a 3-woman vocal band in the ’80s called The Life is Grand Band, and then in 1995 released Songs About Sex & Depression, and only in 2015 unveiled her long-awaited study of the dark psychology of fairy tales, A Handmade Life. We focus on this most recent project, discussing “Letters from Murdertown” and “Eyes of Fire,” and playing at the end “Walking on Glass.” Our third discuss...
1hr 1m Nov 12, 2016
1hr 1m
Edmund Burke’s Conservatism (Part One)
On Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). Writing after the revolution but before the terror, Burke was alarmed at intellectual fads in England that paid homage to the principles driving what happened in France: the right of people to choose their own government, to elect their leaders, and depose those that violate citizens' rights. So, given that these principles have won the day, w...
55m Nov 07, 2016
55m
PEL Special: Bill Bruford on Nakedly Examined Music #25
NEM now features jazz, hip-hop, classical, folk, and more. Check out all the episodes at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com, where you can subscribe and follow on Facebook. Bill was the original drummer for Yes, a default member of King Crimson, and briefly played with Genesis and the late '70s supergroup U.K., but most of his output has been with his own jazz-inflected Earthworks and Bruford, as rock p...
1hr 18m Nov 06, 2016
1hr 18m
Peter Singer on Famine, Affluence, and Morality (Part Two: Discussion)
Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan discuss our interview with Peter Singer. Does Singer's asserting such a heavy moral burden on us successfully condemn us to changing our priorities and/or feeling perpetually guilty, or is there something wrong with the argument? Even if we admit the moral demand is legitimate, can we soften Singer's position by seeking to balance the obligation to help the poor with ...
1hr 23m Oct 31, 2016
1hr 23m
NEM Ep 27: Peter Knight (Steeleye Span): Free Fiddlin' in the Face of Death
Peter’s violin was a key part of Steeleye Span’s updating of traditional folk songs from 1971–2013. His original songs were among the group’s most heartfelt. We talk about being creative with traditional music, authenticity, and finally getting the hang of songwriting late in his career. We discuss “We Shall Wear Midnight” from Steeleye Span’s Wintersmith (2013 with Terry Pratchett), “Bows of L...
1hr 17m Oct 30, 2016
1hr 17m
Guest Peter Singer on Famine, Affluence, and Morality (Part One)
Mark and Wes interview perhaps the most influential living philosopher! Our focus is the newly reissued/repackaged 1971 essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality," which argues that just as we would regard is as unethical to fail to save a drowning child because you don't want to ruin your expensive shoes, so it's unethical to let someone die of preventable illness or hunger when an expensive-shoe...
54m Oct 24, 2016
54m
NEM Ep 26: Pat Doty: Tubas Unite!
This orchestral tubist and pop songwriter has composed fun new additions to the solo tuba repertoire and classically influenced piano-vocal songs. We discuss “Mendota” and “Love for My Own” and listen to “Disco Tubas” from Dare to Entertain (2015), and also discuss some of his “Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra.” More at patdoty.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music.
1hr 22m Oct 22, 2016
1hr 22m
Plato’s Crito: A Performance and Discussion
Broadway bigwigs Walter Bobbie and Bill Youmans perform Plato's dialogue in which Socrates awaits his execution after being convicted by an Athenian jury of corrupting the youth and dissing the gods. Given that the verdict was clearly unjust, should Socrates take up Crito's offer to help him escape the city? Socrates says no: given that he's lived his whole life benefitting by the laws of Athen...
1hr 24m Oct 17, 2016
1hr 24m
Aristotle on Friendship and Happiness (Part Two)
Concluding on Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, books 8-10. First, more on friendship: Should you share your sorrow with your friends, or is that just you being a burden? What makes it difficult to make new, real friends as an adult in modern society? Do you need to love yourself before you can be a good friend to others? How can you have a real friendship with someone far above your social sta...
1hr 12m Oct 10, 2016
1hr 12m
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 2m Sep 05, 2016
1hr 2m
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 3m Aug 22, 2016
1hr 3m
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 10m Aug 15, 2016
1hr 10m
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 9m Aug 08, 2016
1hr 9m
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 21m Jul 06, 2016
1hr 21m
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 20m Jul 04, 2016
1hr 20m
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 6m Jun 29, 2016
1hr 6m
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 6m Jun 20, 2016
1hr 6m
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