• 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
Phi Fic LogoPhi Fic means Philosophical Fiction. Each episode, we have a candid dicussion on a heady work of of fiction, full of SPOILERS. Join host Nathan Hanks and readers Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Mary Claire, plus the occasional guest.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Refer your friends to us at PhiFicPodcast.com!

Originating from The Partially Examined Life’s Not School and its Philosophical Fiction group. Sign up for a small recurring donation for access to many more discussions!

Phi Fic #9 “The Grand Inquisitor” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

January 23, 2017 by Nathan Hanks 1 Comment

http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/phifipodcast/Phi_Fic_9_The_Grand_Inquisitor.mp3

Podcast (phi-fi-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:13:01 — 67.0MB)

Within The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky penned a passage, considered one of the best known in modern literature: "The Grand Inquisitor." The character Ivan uses this tale to question the existence of God to his younger brother Alyosha, a monk. In the older brother's story, Christ returns to earth during the Inquisition, is arrested and sentenced to death by burning, and then is confronted by the Grand Inquisitor in his cell.

Oh, we shall persuade them that they will only become free when they renounce their freedom to us and submit to us.

Join us as we try to deconstruct this struggle between religion and faith as it explodes in this clash between the Inquisitor and Christ. Mary doesn't believe that the Inquisitor ever planned to burn Christ but can't resist the opportunity to criticize his treatment of humanity, Laura bemoans living in a world of such destruction with a theoretical God of mercy. Cezary and Daniel discuss the existential ramifications of the radical freedom the Inquisitor slams Christ for granting to humanity, highlighted by Nathan echoing the Inquisitor that Christ abandoned us and didn't return for 15 centuries—that humanity needs “earth bread," not “cloud bread."

We also discuss John Gielgud’s riveting 1975 performance as the Grand Inquisitor, which we highly recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om6HcUUa8DI

 The full text is also available online:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8578/8578-h/8578-h.htm  

Although if you've never read The Brothers Karamazov, we highly recommend reading the entire book.

Thanks to Christopher Nolen for the music.

Disclaimer: This is one of the first discussions we had, so please excuse the wonky sound quality here and there. But it's an important episode about freedom, faith, and the church. So, please partake and enjoy! And Happy New Year to everyone!

If you have thoughts, recommendations, or questions that you want to send our way, please do via phificpodcast@gmail.com.
Hear more Phi Fic.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Filed Under: Phi Fic Podcast Tagged With: dostoevsky, fiction, fyodor

Comments

  1. Michael Murray says

    January 29, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    Really great discussion guys! I’ve always been perplexed by the kiss by both Jesus and then imitated by Alyosha, not really sure any solution was reached on that question. It was impressive how you managed to discuss this without falling into the trap of utilizing examples from the rest of the novel to support any portion of your arguments. I’ve often seen the Grand Inquisitor sold as a standalone piece and referenced as such, your analysis helped justify its existence as a standalone poem/thought regardless of whether or not its contents fuel the greater narrative of the Brother’s K.

    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

  • Bibliophile on Pretty Much Pop #143: Pinocchio the Unfilmable (Yet Frequently Filmed)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 302: Erasmus Praises Foolishness (Part Two)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 308: Moore’s Proof of Mind-Independent Reality (Part Two for Supporters)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Citizen Edition)
  • MartinK on Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Citizen Edition)

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 · Terms of Use · Copyright Policy

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