• Log In

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

A Philosophy Podcast and Philosophy Blog

Subscribe on Android Spotify audible patreon
  • Home
  • Podcast
    • PEL Network Episodes
    • Publicly Available PEL Episodes
    • Paywalled and Ad-Free Episodes
    • PEL Episodes by Topic
    • Nightcap
    • (sub)Text
    • Pretty Much Pop
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • Phi Fic Podcast
    • Combat & Classics
    • Constellary Tales
  • Blog
  • About
    • PEL FAQ
    • Meet PEL
    • About Pretty Much Pop
    • 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

Ep. 261: Derek Parfit on Personal Identity (Part Two for Supporters)

January 18, 2021 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Continuing on Reasons and Persons, ch. 10-13. Start with part one.

We get into more of Parfit’s examples, including his responses to Bernard Williams’ physicalist argument. Plus, split brains, In short, the concept of personal identity breaks down when applied to tricky cases, and and so we should be reductionists about personal identity: We get rid of that concept and just talk about the facts about physical and psychological continuity instead.

Ep. 261: Derek Parfit on Personal Identity (Part One for Supporters)

January 18, 2021 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

On Reasons and Persons (1984), ch. 10-13. What makes a person persist over time?

After using various sci-fi examples to test the Lockean (personhood=psychological continuity), physicalist (same brain=same person), and Cartesian (same soul=same person) theories, Parfit concludes that the whole notion is incoherent and isn’t actually what we care about when wondering “will I die?”

NEM#139: Don Rauf’s Life In A Blender

January 15, 2021 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Don started the NY-based Life in a Blender in the late 80s and has put out ten albums of tunes with off-kilter lyrics and increasingly elaborate arrangements. We discuss “The Ocean is a Black and Rolling Tongue” (and listen at the end to “Soul Deliverer”) from Satsuma (2020), “Falmouth” from We Already Have Birds That Sing (2014), and “Chicken Dance” from Two Legs Bad (1997). Intro: “Mounds of Flesh” from Welcome to the Jelly Days (1988). For more see lifeinablender.net.

Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Like our Facebook page. Support us on Patreon.

Sponsors: Get three months free Internet privacy protection at ExpressVPN.com/NEM. Get 15% off MasterClass at masterclass.com/EXAMINED. Get a month’s free trial of guided meditations at headspace.com/NEM.

Pretty Much Pop #76: Wonder Women (84 and Others) w/ Vi Burlew

January 15, 2021 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Returning heroine Vi (now a grad student in comics history) joins Erica, Mark, and Brian to put the new film in context, bringing in the weird ideas of WW’s creator as shown in the 2017 biopic Professor Marston and the Wonder Women. Do the new film’s themes actually make sense? We talk political ideals, truth, love, feminist utopias, ’70s TV, and more.

For more, visit prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Sponsor: For a free audiobook and 30 days free, visit Audible.com/pretty or text pretty to 500-500.

PREVIEW-Ep. 260: Locke on Moral Psychology

January 11, 2021 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

One last take on John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689), covering Book II, ch. 21 and 28.

What makes a moral claim true? Do we have free will? What makes us choose the good, or not? In this coda to our long treatment of Locke’s opus, we bring together all he has to say about morality, which is strangely modern yet also just strange.

Subscribe to get the full episode.

Ep. 260: Locke on Moral Psychology (Supporters Only)

January 11, 2021 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

One last take on John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689), covering Book II, ch. 21 and 28.

What makes a moral claim true? Do we have free will? What makes us choose the good, or not? In this coda to our long treatment of Locke’s opus, we bring together all he has to say about morality, which is strangely modern yet also just strange.

Pretty Much Pop #75: Our Great British Baking Show w/ Stephen Carlile

January 6, 2021 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

What explains the immense quarantine-time popularity of this quaint reality cooking show? What do we get out of watching talented amateurs bake things? Stephen, famous for playing Scar in The Lion King on Broadway, joins Erica, Brian, and Mark to consdier the format, context, and appeal of the show.

For more, visit prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Ep. 259: Locke Clarifies Misleading Complex Ideas (Part Two)

January 4, 2021 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

More on Book II (ch. 22-33) of John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding. 

On relations, then personal identity, with more on substances (spiritual and material), the various ways in which ideas can go wrong, and how mental association can entrench irrationality that disrupts clear thinking.

Listen to part one first, or get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition, which will also get you the end-of-year PEL Nightcap that you’ll hear a preview for here. Please support PEL!

Sponsors: Visit HelixSleep.com/PEL for $200 off a mattress and two free pillows. Get $35 off meal delivery at SunBasket.com/PEL, code PEL. Visit TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/PEL for 14 days of free access. Start a new monthly donation and have your first matched up to $250 at givewell.org/PEL (select podcast and Partially Examined Life).

PEL Nightcap Early January 2021

January 4, 2021 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

An extra-long Nightcap looking forward to PEL coverage in 2021, with some political dialogue on the state of the country and what we might want to do about it. Plus, we respond to listener emails: Will doing philosophy put a crimp in your science career (or other prep for your legit day job)?

NEM-Pretty Much Pop Crossover: Story Songs w/ Rod Picott

January 1, 2021 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Recycling a great music discussion featuring a past NEM guest from Mark’s other entertainment podcast for the New Year!

Plenty of songs try to tell stories, but do the pop song format and narrative really mix? Rod Picott joins Pretty Much Pop to talk about classics by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, formative nightmares like “Leader of the Pack” and “The Pina Colada Song, borderline cases like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and more. How does this form relate to theater, videos, and commercials?

Subscribe directly to Pretty Much Pop at prettymuchpop.com. Get bonus discussion at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Like our Facebook page. Support NEM on Patreon.

Pretty Much Pop #74: Micro Comedy w/ Tiffany Topol

December 29, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

What has the Internet done to comedy? Tiffany, purveyor of social media bits and song parodies, joins Erica, Mark, and Brian to think about new ways of making and consuming comedy over TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media. Maybe given current events we should describe the goal as something other than “going viral”?

For more, visit prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Sponsors: Get 10% off a month’s counseling at BetterHelp.com/Pretty

Ep. 259: Locke Clarifies Misleading Complex Ideas (Part One)

December 28, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

On Book II (ch. 22-33) of John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689).

Simple ideas get complex quickly when you put them into words, and can give rise to various philosophical problems that are either easily cleared up when you figure out how the complex idea is built out of simple ideas, or if they can’t be so broken down, then we really don’t know what we’re talking about and should just shut up.

Don’t wait for part two, get the ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL!

Sponsors: Visit uber.com/pel for a $50 voucher credit. Learn about St. John’s college at sjc.edu/PEL. Have your donations matched up to $250 at givewell.org/PEL (select podcast and Partially Examined Life).

Ep. 259: Locke Clarifies Misleading Complex Ideas (Citizen Edition)

December 27, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

On Book II (ch. 22-33) of John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689).

Simple ideas get complex quickly when you put them into words, and can give rise to various philosophical problems that are either easily cleared up when you figure out how the complex idea is built out of simple ideas, or if they can’t be so broken down, then we really don’t know what we’re talking about and should just shut up. We take on relations, cause and effect, personal identity, and more.

Mark Lint’s PEL Network Holiday Party 2020: Merry Chatting and Songs

December 24, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Join the office party, where Mark holds mini conversations on philosophy, art, and life with all PEL and PMP co-hosts, plus Ken Stringfellow, Jenny Hansen, and the members of Mark Lint’s Dry Folk, whose 12 tunes are presented in succession with nary a partridge in sight. Will these 12 spirits turn you (or Mark) from errant ways? BYOB!

Mark Lint’s PEL Network Holiday Party 2020: Merry Chatting and Songs

December 24, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Join the office party, where Mark holds mini conversations on philosophy, art, and life with all PEL and PMP co-hosts, plus Ken Stringfellow, Jenny Hansen, and the members of Mark Lint’s Dry Folk, whose 12 tunes are presented in succession with nary a partridge in sight. Will these 12 spirits turn you (or Mark) from errant ways? BYOB!

Pretty Much Pop #73: Beloved Bad Films w/ Manos’ Jackey Neyman Jones

December 22, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

What makes a film transcendently bad? A cult classic, as opposed to merely unwatchable? Child Jackey appeared in 1966’s Manos: The Hands of Fate, and she joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss growing up in community theater, being reintroduced to her family movie by MST3K, and the over-confident auteur. 

We also touch on Birdemic, Catwoman, The Happening, and Battleship, as well as films about the making of bad films: The Disaster Artist, Best Worst Movie, Ed Wood, and Dolemite Is My Name. 

For more, visit prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Sponsors: Get 10% off a month’s counseling at BetterHelp.com/Pretty. Visit ExpressVPN.com/pretty to get three months free.

REISSUE-PEL Ep 37: Locke on Political Power (w/ New Intro)

December 21, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

A 2011 episode on John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government (1690), with a fresh introduction connecting it to the present.

What makes political power legitimate? Like Hobbes, Locke thought that things are less than ideal without a society to keep people from killing us, so we implicitly sign a social contract giving power to the state. But on Locke’s view, nature’s not as bad, so the state is given less power. But how much less? And what does Locke think about tea partying, kids, women, acorns, foreign travelers, and calling dibs? Featuring guest Sabrina Weiss.

Hear the full, new reconsideration of this episode by Mark, Wes, and Dylan on the latest Nightcap available via partiallyexaminedlife.com/support.

End song: “Lock Them Away,” by Mark Lint (2003).

Sponsors: Save $35 off meal delivery at SunBasket.com/PEL, code PEL. Have your donations matched up to $250 at givewell.org/PEL (select podcast and Partially Examined Life). Learn about St. John’s college at sjc.edu/PEL.

Happy Holidays! Have you heard our 2020 Holiday Party yet?

NEM#138: Markus Reuter: Composer or Tap Guitar Hero?

December 18, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Markus began composing as a teen, “found his tribe” in getting connected to King Crimson’s Robert Fripp in the early 90s, and has put out 40+ solo and collaborative albums of experimental music since 2000, including work in Stick Men with Crimson’s Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto.

We discuss “Swoonage” from Truce (2020), “Boon” by Marcus Reuter and the Matangi Quartet from String Quartet No. 1 ‘Heartland’ (2019), and “11-11” by Tuner (Pat Mastelotto and Markus Reuter) from POLE (2007), and end by listening to “The Cult of Bibbiboo” by centrozoon from The Divine Beast (2001). Intro: “Condition IV” from Falling for Ascension (2017). More at .

Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Like our Facebook page. Support us on Patreon.

Sponsors: Get three months free Internet privacy protection at ExpressVPN.com/NEM. Buy one MasterClass annual membership and get one free to gift at masterclass.com/EXAMINED. Get a month’s free trial of guided meditations at headspace.com/NEM.

Pretty Much Pop #72: Comic Book Supremacy w/ Fred Van Lente

December 16, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Fred writes for Marvel and his own Evil Twin Comics, in both non-fiction (e.g. Comic Book History of Animation, Action Philosophers) and stories (e.g. Marvel Zombies, Cowboys vs. Aliens). He even wrote a play about Jack Kirby.

He joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss playing in the Marvel sandbox, the role of humor, comic-to-movie transitions, and more. Learn more at fredvanlente.com.

For more, visit prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Sponsor: Get 10% off a month’s counseling at BetterHelp.com/Pretty.

PEL Nightcap Mid December 2020: New Intro to ep. 37 Locke on Political Power (Citizens Only)

December 14, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

We try something new for a Nightcap: a new intro to an old episode, in this case ep. 37 on Locke’s political philosophy. Our hope was to connect this to the current series on epistemology, but we ended up more applying it to modern disputes in political theory, which was also fun. Check it out and then re-listen to the old episode!

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 88
  • Next Page »

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

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

  • Mark Linsenmayer on PEL Nightcap Late February 2021
  • a.b. keck on PEL Nightcap Late February 2021
  • Jason Engelund on Ep. 262: Nietzsche on Self-Denial (Part Two for Supporters)
  • Evan Hadkins on PEL Nightcap Late February 2021
  • Albi Bilali on PEL Nightcap Late February 2021

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
  • 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
  • Podcast Episode (Citizen)
  • Podcast Episodes
  • Pretty Much Pop
  • Reviewage
  • Song Self-Exam
  • Things to Watch
  • Vintage Episode (Citizen)
  • Web Detritus

Follow:

Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Apple Podcasts

Copyright © 2009 - 2021 · The Partially Examined Life, LLC. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Copyright Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in