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The Invisible Man and Existentialism

October 1, 2012 by Law Ware Twitter: @law_ware 5 Comments

Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is a great American novel. Ellison’s ability to make the reader feel the racism of the time is unsettling. The painful experience of living in a country that views you with disdain—that sees you as a problem—permeates the text. It is also a deeply philosophical novel. Consider the following outline of the novel written by Ellison to his  Continue Reading …

Dave Chappelle

June 14, 2012 by Law Ware Twitter: @law_ware 9 Comments

Black Americas have historically used comedy to cope with the sad realities of racism. Living in what Cornel West called “a perpetual state of emergency” has heightened Black American’s sensitivity to sometimes-subtle social truths. The best of the Black-American comedians cast a fresh light on every day social interactions in sometimes painful but often hilarious ways. Dave  Continue Reading …

John Searle on Ludwig Wittgenstein

May 7, 2012 by Law Ware Twitter: @law_ware 10 Comments

I enjoy listening to philosophers I respect talk about the life and thought of other philosophers. Below is a discussion between the popularizer of philosophy Bryan Magee and the great John Searle. Watch on YouTube. Magee is an under-appreciated philosopher. His books The Philosophy of Schopenhauerand Confessions of a Philosopherhave always impressed me with their lucidity  Continue Reading …

Philosophy of Race through Comedy

April 10, 2012 by Law Ware Twitter: @law_ware 8 Comments

[Editor's Note: This post is a follow-up on some of the discussion near the end of ep. 52.] I have often found that great comedy can be deeply philosophical. Wittgenstein once said that one could write a substantial work of philosophy consisting only of jokes. This is certainly true when it comes to philosophy of race. The following are some of the things I show in class to  Continue Reading …

More Things to Read Regarding Race and Philosophy

March 22, 2012 by Law Ware Twitter: @law_ware 7 Comments

Political philosophy through the prism of Black-American thinkers: Tommie Shelby is a distinguished professor of philosophy at Harvard university. In this text, he examines the political thought of black thinkers to arrive at a philosophical articulation of black solidarity. This is a great text to examine if one is interested in understanding black philosophical thinking about  Continue Reading …

Things to Read: Philosophy of Race and the Social Contract

March 21, 2012 by Law Ware Twitter: @law_ware 3 Comments

In this text, Charles W. Mills argues that social contract theory has racist underpinnings. While his argument is not completely persuasive, this is an intriguing take on the theory. -Law  Continue Reading …

Things to Read: Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare

March 19, 2012 by Law Ware Twitter: @law_ware 3 Comments

In this text, James Cone (the father of Black Liberation Theology) examines the life and the ideas of Malcolm X and MLK. In doing so, he also explicates the difference between the Black Nationalist and Black Integrationist movements. Well worth reading. -Law  Continue Reading …

On What Matters–A Recommendation

March 9, 2012 by Law Ware Twitter: @law_ware 5 Comments

[Editor's Note: Lawrence Ware is the guest on our episode on philosophy and race, and we're happy to have him come blog for us.] Derek Parfit is one of the most important ethicists of our time. I’m sure that his Reasons and Personswill soon challenge Kripke’s Naming and Necessityin the number of philosophy dissertations it has influenced. It appears that the best was yet  Continue Reading …

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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

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