The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
A Philosophy Podcast and Philosophy Blog
Mark, Erica, and Brian consider the HBO mini-series, plus “based on a true story” and why do we enjoy witnessing suffering?
For more, visit prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode, and more episodes in advance, at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.
This podcast is part of the Partially Examined Life podcast network and is curated by openculture.com.
On Ned Block’s “Troubles with Functionalism” (1978) and David Chalmers’s “Absent Qualia, Fading Qualia, Dancing Qualia” (1995).
If mental states are functional states, there couldn’t be zombies. Yet Block claims that there could be zombies: for example, a functional duplicate of you whose components are actually citizens of China obeying algorithmic rules. Even if the resulting system acts like you, it obviously isn’t conscious. Chalmers argues that you’d then need to explain the experiences of a creature half way between you and the zombie, but you can’t, so Block’s argument doesn’t work and functionalism is left standing. What do you think? Do you hate weird thought experiments like these?
Don’t wait for part two! Get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL!
Sponsor: Visit the St. John’s College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi.
Subscribe to Mark’s new podcast at prettymuchpop.com.
On Ned Block’s “Troubles with Functionalism” (1978) and David Chalmers’s “Absent Qualia, Fading Qualia, Dancing Qualia” (1995).
If mental states are functional states, there couldn’t be zombies. Yet Block claims that there could be zombies: for example, a functional duplicate of you whose components are actually citizens of China obeying algorithmic rules. Even if the resulting system acts like you, it obviously isn’t conscious.
Chalmers argues that you’d then need to explain the experiences of a creature half way between you and the zombie, but you can’t, so Block’s argument doesn’t work and functionalism is left standing. What do you think? Do you hate weird thought experiments like these?
End song: “Machine” by Helen Money as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #101.
Is media trying to brainwash us into being ALL THE SAME? Are the excesses of the mob scaring us into conformity? Mark, Erica, and Brian muse on cultural homogenization and are joined by comedian Dr. Yakov Smirnoff to talk about growing up in a repressive society and the shadow of political correctness over comedy.
For more about this podcast, see prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode, and more episodes in advance, at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.
This podcast is curated by openculture.com.
Alison was studying classical music when she joined Jason Narducy in 1994 in a duet that grew into two Verbow albums. She’s since recorded four solo cello albums and been a guest musician on over 100 albums, playing with Bob Mould, Superchunk, Anthrax, Broken Social Scene, etc.
We discuss “Become Zero” and “Vanished Star” from Become Zero (2016), then “Beautiful Friends” from Arriving Angels (2013), and listen to “For My Father” by Jarboe/Helen Money (2015). Intro: “New History” by Verbow from White Out (2000); closing music from “Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing” from In Tune (2009). For more, see helenmoney.com.
Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Like our Facebook page. Support us on Patreon.
What counts as binge watching? Why do we do it? Is it bad for us? Mark, Erica, and Brian think about what we get out of binge watching, whether it’s bad for us, what kind of shows taste better in bulk than others, and much more.
For more about this podcast, see prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode,and more episodes in advance, at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.
Check out our friends at BroadwayRadio.com. This podcast is curated by openculture.com and The Partially Examined Life Podcast Network.
Continuing on functionalism with David M. Armstrong’s “The Causal Theory of the Mind” (1981).
We delve into this version of functionalism that is supposed to clear the way for the scientific identification of mental states with brain states. Mental states are defined by their causal relations with other states and with behavior, and the content of a mental state is exhausted by its intentional object, e.g., the content of a perception is the thing you’re perceiving that (normally) causes the perception. So what about things like colors and sounds that aren’t really out in the world? Can functionalism explain how these seem to us?
Listen to part one first or get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!
End song: “Pain Makes You Beautiful” by Jeff Heiskell’s JudyBats, as featured on Nakedly Examined Music #5.
Sponsors: Visit thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL and BroadwayRadio.com.
Subscribe to Mark’s new podcast at prettymuchpop.com.
The debut episode of a new podcast hosted by Mark Linsenmayer, Erica Spyres, and Brian Hirt covering films, TV, novels, games, music, comedy, theater, and more.
What is pop culture? Does it make sense to distinguish it from high culture, or can something be both?
For more, visit prettymuchpop.com, or support us to hear episodes in advance and get bonus content for every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. Follow the new podcast on Facebook.
On Hilary Putnam’s “The Nature of Mental States” (1973).
What is the mind? Functionalist theories identify the mental not with the brain exactly, but with something the brain does. So some other creature without a brain (maybe a computer) might be able to do that same thing if it could duplicate the structure of what our brains do. Is this a satisfying account of the mind?
Don’t wait for part 2! Get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL!
Sponsors: Visit omnifocus.com for a free trial of a great to-do list manager. Visit the St. John’s College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi. Check out our new culture/entertainment podcast, Pretty Much Pop, at prettymuchpop.com.
On Hilary Putnam’s “The Nature of Mental States” (1973) and David M. Armstrong’s “The Causal Theory of the Mind” (1981).
What is the mind? Functionalist theories identify the mental not with the brain exactly, but with something the brain does. So some other creature without a brain (maybe a computer) might be able to do that same thing if it could duplicate the structure of what our brains do. Is this a satisfying account of the mind?
End song: “Pain Makes You Beautiful” by Jeff Heiskell’s JudyBats, as featured on Nakedly Examined Music #5.
Mark, Seth, Dylan, and Wes reflect on the changing state of podcasting and public philosophy over the last decade, how our goals and interests have changed since we started we started. Why don’t colleges pay their faculty to educate the public through regular, broadcasted conversations like ours? If you think we’re snarky, take a look at actual philosophy faculty! Should we continue to do more literature, poetry, and other topics that are not strictly philosophy? Also, the stalled state of the PEL book. Thanks so much to each and every Partially Examined Life listener for making it worth our time to do this!
End song: “High Rollin’ Cult” by Mark Lint with Erica Spyres, celebrating a new attempt to capture the fun of the beginning of PEL: Pretty Much Pop, which you get to hear a teaser of. Listen now to the latest episodes in advance of the masses, including our interview with Yakov Smirnoff, at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.
Sponsor: Visit thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL for a free trial of The Great Courses Plus Video Learning Service.
Mark, Seth, Dylan, and Wes reflect on the changing state of podcasting and public philosophy over the last decade, how our goals and interests have changed since we started we started. Why don’t colleges pay their faculty to educate the public through regular, broadcasted conversations like ours? If you think we’re snarky, take a look at actual philosophy faculty! Should we continue to do more topics that are not strictly philosophy? Also, the stalled state of the PEL book.
End song: “High Rollin’ Cult” by Mark Lint with Erica Spyres, celebrating Pretty Much Pop. Listen now to the latest episodes, including our interview with Yakov Smirnoff, at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.
What counts as binge watching? Why do we do it? Is it bad for us? Mark, Erica, and Brian, the hosts of this still-not-formally launched new entertainment podcast for the PEL Network, think about what we get out of binge watching, whether it’s bad for us, what kind of shows taste better in bulk than others, and much more.
This presentation includes a bit of the bonus content that you’d hear, along with PMP #3 with Yakov Smirnoff, were you to sign up RIGHT NOW at episode 1, and if you go pledge a little support on patreon.com/prettymuchpop. One and all can hear the first episode free there and also at prettymuchpop.com.
On Ned Block’s “The Harder Problem of Consciousness” (2002) and David Papineau’s “Could There Be a Science of Consciousness?” (2003).
What would give us sufficient reason to believe that a non-human was conscious? Block thinks this is a harder problem that we might suspect. We can’t know for sure exactly what consciousness in us is, so we can’t know for sure what such a being might require (a brain? certain patterns of behavior?) for them to be enough like us that we could safely apply our own experience of our own conscious states to them. Papineau diagnoses this as a fundamental vagueness in the concepts we use to describe our conscious states.
This conversation continues from ep. 218, with guest Gregory Miller from the Panpsycast still with us.
End song: “Mindreader” by Phil Judd as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #98.
Sponsor: Visit the St. John’s College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi. Please support PEL and get this and every other episode ad free.
On Ned Block’s “The Harder Problem of Consciousness” (2002) and David Papineau’s “Could There Be a Science of Consciousness?” (2003).
What would give us sufficient reason to believe that a non-human was conscious? Block thinks this is a harder problem that we might suspect. We can’t know for sure exactly what consciousness in us is, so we can’t know for sure what such a being might require (a brain? certain patterns of behavior?) for them to be enough like us that we could safely apply our own experience of our own conscious states to them. Papineau diagnoses this as a fundamental vagueness in the concepts we use to describe our conscious states.
This conversation continues from ep. 218, with guest Gregory Miller from the Panpsycast still with us.
End song: “Mindreader” by Phil Judd as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #98.
Continuing on “Consciousness and Its Place in Nature” by David Chalmers (2003).
We finish Chalmers’s account of the types of physicialism, then move on to dualism (including epiphenomenalism), and finally dally with panpsychism, the specialty of our guest, Gregory Miller from the Panpsycast.
Listen to part 1 first or listen to the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!
End song: “Georgia Hard” by Robbie Fulks, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #36.
Sponsor: Visit the St. John’s College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi.
Dan fronted Arizona cow-punk band Green on Red from 1979 to 1992, releasing seven albums and three EPs, and has since released four solo albums and some collaborations, growing increasingly literary, with two of his recent albums accompanied by novels.
We discuss two tracks from The Unfortunate Demise of Marlowe Billings (2018): “A Killer Now” and “Sky Harbor,” plus “La Passionaria” from Can o’ Worms (1995). We conclude by listening to “Who Knows” by The Slummers from Love of the Amateur (2010). Intro/outro: “Sixteen Ways” by Green on Red from Gas, Food, Lodging (1985). More at marlowebillings.com.
Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Like our Facebook page. Support us on Patreon.
On “Consciousness and Its Place in Nature” by David Chalmers (2003), with special guest Gregory Miller from the Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast.
Can we explain human experience using the terms of brain physiology? Chalmers thinks not, and lays out the arguments against this and the range of positions philosophers have taken in response to these objections.
Continues on part two, or get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL!
Sponsor: Visit thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL for a free trial of The Great Courses Plus Video Learning Service.
On “Consciousness and Its Place in Nature” by David Chalmers (2003), with special guest Gregory Miller from the Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast.
Can we explain human experience using the terms of brain physiology? Chalmers thinks not, and lays out the arguments against this and the range of positions philosophers have taken in response to these objections.
End song: “Georgia Hard” by Robbie Fulks, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #36.
What is pop culture? Does it make sense to distinguish it from high culture, or can something be both?
Hear in advance of the actual release the new pop culture podcast hosted by Mark, Erica Spyres, and Brian Hirt.
Get involved from the start at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. This episode is available there FREE for one and all, and there’s already bonus content up there for PMP supporters.
