• Log In

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

A Philosophy Podcast and Philosophy Blog

Subscribe on Android Spotify Google Podcasts audible patreon
  • Home
  • Podcast
    • PEL Network Episodes
    • Publicly Available PEL Episodes
    • Paywalled and Ad-Free Episodes
    • PEL Episodes by Topic
    • Nightcap
    • Philosophy vs. Improv
    • Pretty Much Pop
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • (sub)Text
    • Phi Fic Podcast
    • Combat & Classics
    • Constellary Tales
  • Blog
  • About
    • PEL FAQ
    • Meet PEL
    • About Pretty Much Pop
    • Philosophy vs. Improv
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • Meet Phi Fic
    • Listener Feedback
    • Links
  • Join
    • Become a Citizen
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Log In
  • Donate
  • Store
    • Episodes
    • Swag
    • Everything Else
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account
  • Contact
  • Mailing List

And now for something completely serious

March 23, 2015 by Alan Cook 2 Comments

Humor seems to be the Flavor of the Month here at PEL. We've had a couple of excellent posts about comedy recently (here and here), and another one is coming very soon. But in the midst of this, we shouldn't entirely lose sight of the inherent seriousness of philosophy; with that goal, I want to call attention in this post to a neglected classic, one of the foundational texts of Pre-Pythonic philosophy:

In addition to its inherent philosophical interest, this documentary evidence should resolve once and for all the tedious scholarly debate as to whether the Pythonic dialogues are records of conversations that actually took place. (I hardly need to remind our readers that all doubts about the adequacy of the label "pre-Pythonic" for this school of philosophers are put to rest here.)

Close attention to this dialogue will, I believe, yield rich philosophical fruit, not least in richening our understanding both of some of the dialogues of classical Pythonism and of certain strands in the contemporary neo-Pythonic revival.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Filed Under: General Announcements, Things to Watch Tagged With: Alan Bennett, Beyond the Fringe, comedy, humor, Jonathan Miller, Monty Python, Oxbridge philosophy, philosophical blog

Comments

  1. David Buchanan says

    March 24, 2015 at 11:32 am

    It was surprisingly sweet to see two versions of the same Oxbridge Philosophy skit. The combination made John Cleese’s talent as a comic performer glaringly obvious. I had already seen him do that bit and was already a huge fan, but that combo knocked me out. Thanks for that.

    The other two dialogues made it pretty clear that the Oxbridge skit is a parody of analytic philosophy in particular. And it will henceforth make me giggle inappropriately each time I encounter an analytic philosopher. 😉

    Reply
  2. Chris Hall says

    May 18, 2022 at 7:35 am

    I can testify that the Pythons were indeed indebted to this, and also the work of Peter Cook, and other writers. It seems to me that you can’t really attribute this source, as the defining source of Pythons’ output. That being said, I would direct you to this source video: where it is made certain that they were all writing independently before joining forces, be it with kids’ shows, such as ” Don’t adjust your set” and also to earlier influences.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnpY46lOTX4&ab_channel=LiveTalksLA

    The Pythons – as they were, coming from a mix of Cambridge and Oxford, ultimately culminating in the footlights; were indeed versed (at least some of them) in philosophical thought, Aristotelian or otherwise, and required no further “push” than that they acquired from each other.
    Recall, that Miller, is almost a prototype for Graham Chapman, a foil if you will, for Cleese, but in terms of philosophy, I think that they found – then expounded their own feet, quite famously with the church.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

PEL Live Show 2023

Brothers K Live Show

Citizenship has its Benefits

Become a PEL Citizen
Become a PEL Citizen, and get access to all paywalled episodes, early and ad-free, including exclusive Part 2's for episodes starting September 2020; our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more causally; a community of fellow learners, and more.

Rate and Review

Nightcap

Listen to Nightcap
On Nightcap, listen to the guys respond to listener email and chat more casually about their lives, the making of the show, current events and politics, and anything else that happens to come up.

Subscribe to Email Updates

Select list(s):

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Support PEL

Buy stuff through Amazon and send a few shekels our way at no extra cost to you.

Tweets by PartiallyExLife

Recent Comments

  • Seth Paskin on PEL Eulogies Nightcap Late March 2023
  • John Heath on PEL Eulogies Nightcap Late March 2023
  • Randy Strader on Ep. 309: Wittgenstein On Certainty (Part Two)
  • Wes Alwan on PEL Nightcap February 2023
  • Kunal on Why Don’t We Like Idealism?

About The Partially Examined Life

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

Become a PEL Citizen!

As a PEL Citizen, you’ll have access to a private social community of philosophers, thinkers, and other partial examiners where you can join or initiate discussion groups dedicated to particular readings, participate in lively forums, arrange online meet-ups for impromptu seminars, and more. PEL Citizens also have free access to podcast transcripts, guided readings, episode guides, PEL music, and other citizen-exclusive material. Click here to join.

Blog Post Categories

  • (sub)Text
  • Aftershow
  • Announcements
  • Audiobook
  • Book Excerpts
  • Citizen Content
  • Citizen Document
  • Citizen News
  • Close Reading
  • Combat and Classics
  • Constellary Tales
  • Exclude from Newsletter
  • Featured Ad-Free
  • Featured Article
  • General Announcements
  • Interview
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Misc. Philosophical Musings
  • Nakedly Examined Music Podcast
  • Nakedly Self-Examined Music
  • NEM Bonus
  • Not School Recording
  • Not School Report
  • Other (i.e. Lesser) Podcasts
  • PEL Music
  • PEL Nightcap
  • PEL's Notes
  • Personal Philosophies
  • Phi Fic Podcast
  • Philosophy vs. Improv
  • Podcast Episode (Citizen)
  • Podcast Episodes
  • Pretty Much Pop
  • Reviewage
  • Song Self-Exam
  • Supporter Exclusive
  • Things to Watch
  • Vintage Episode (Citizen)
  • Web Detritus

Follow:

Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Apple Podcasts

Copyright © 2009 - 2023 · The Partially Examined Life, LLC. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy ·Â Terms of Use ·Â Copyright Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in