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Ep. 257: Locke Against Innate Ideas (Part Two)

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Continuing on Book I of John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689).

We consider Locke’s arguments that since there are no universally agreed upon principles, therefore there are no beliefs that we’re all born with, or that we all (without the need for experience) immediately recognize as true as soon as we gain the use of reason or are otherwise equipped to understand them.

Start with part one. Hear the whole discussion with no ads and get access to our latest Nightcap: Join us at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support.

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Pretty Much Pop #69: Story Songs w/ Rod Picott

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Plenty of songs try to tell stories, but do the pop song format and narrative really mix? Songwriter and short story author Rod Picott joins Mark, Erica, and Brian 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?

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(sub)Text: Order and Innocence in Melville’s “Billy Budd”

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Bill Budd is a beautiful man. Not just good looking, but exquisitely good natured, something that costs him no effort and has required no instruction. And yet it is ultimately his beautiful soul and good nature that get Billy killed. Wes & Erin discuss Herman Melville’s final and unfinished work of fiction, and whether a good heart and good intentions are more important than obedience to authority and adherence to civilized norms.

Ep. 257: Locke Against Innate Ideas (Part One)

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On Book I of John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689).

How do we know things? Locke thought all knowledge comes from experience, and this might seem uncontroversial, but what are the alternatives? We consider the idea that there are some ideas we’re just born with and don’t need to learn. But what’s an “idea,” and how is it different from a principle? Clearly we have instincts (“knowhow”) but is that knowledge? We consider occurrent vs. dispositional nativism, the role of reason, and what Locke’s overall project is after.

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NEM#136: Mark Bingham: To and In New Orleans

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Mark got signed as a teen in 1966, left to play theatrical prog jazz in Indiana during college, had a spell in a “no wave” band in New York, and finally settled down in the ’80s as an in demand producer and collaborator in New Orleans, working with groups like R.E.M., Flat Duo Jets, and John Scofield. He’s only finished two solo albums but has a ton of archive recordings being released soon, and now plays guitar in a cajun band.

We discuss “Pissoffgod.com” from Psalms of Vengeance (2009), “Ash Wednesday and Lent” by Ed Sanders (music by Mark Bingham) from Poems for New Orleans (2007), “That’s Why” by Social Climbers from their self-titled album (1981), and then listen to “Blood Moon” by Michot’s Melody Makers from Cosmic Cajuns from Saturn (2020). Intro: “Flies R All Around Me” by Screaming Gypsy Bandits from Back to Doghead (1970).

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Pretty Much Pop #68: Raised by Wolves: Biblical Sci-Fi

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Brian, Erica, and Mark reflect on this weird sci-fi HBO Max series by Aaron Guzikowski and Ridley Scott. How much are we supposed to understand? Can we identify with any of the android and/or wild child and/or murdering characters? Is the imagery too heavy handed? How does it compare with Westworld, The Walking Dead, etc.? Warning: Spoilers ahoy! So watch it yourself or let us reveal its craziness to you.

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PREVIEW-Ep. 256: Kropotkin’s Anarchist Communism (Part Two)

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Mark, Wes, Dylan, Seth get into specific points and textual passages from Peter Kropotkin’s The Conquest of Bread (1892).

In this preview, we start by considering that Kropotkin is right that mutual aid is a natural tendency and so communism is very much feasible, why hasn’t it happened already? In the full discussion, we discuss K’s version of the “you didn’t build that” argument, plus guaranteed minimum income, identity and criminal justice in a stateless world, religion, and more.

Pretty Much Pop #67: Borat Pod Show! Very Nice! With Aaron David Gleason

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Mark, Erica, Brian, and musician/actor Aaron consider the comedy of Sacha Baron Cohen, especially Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, where his co-stars are unwitting dupes and embarrassment is served in large helpings.

We talk through the ethical and political issues, why Cohen’s targets act how they do, and what this is as humor. 

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Ep. 256: Kropotkin’s Anarchist Communism (Part One)

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On Peter Kropotkin’s The Conquest of Bread (1892).

If we want an egalitarian society, do we need the state to accomplish this? Kropotkin says no, that in fact the state inevitably serves the interests of the few, and that if we got rid of it, our natural tendencies to cooperate would allow us through voluntary organizations to keep everyone not only fed and clothed, but able to vigorously pursue callings like science and art.

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NEM#135: Peter Milton Walsh (The Apartments): No Assembly-Line Recording

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Peter started The Apartments in Australia in the late ’70s and has been its only consistent member. After releasing his first full album in 1985 and being featured on a John Hughes soundtrack, he released four lush, moody albums in the ’90s but then retired when family tragedy struck until the late ’00s; he’s had four releases since 2011.

We discuss “What’s Beauty to Do?” and “Where You Used to Be” from In And Out Of The Light (2020), then “Sunset Hotel” from Fete Foraine (1996), and finally listen to “Looking for Another Town” from No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal (2015). Intro: “Help” from the Return of the Hypnotist EP (1979). More at theapartments-music.com.

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Ep. 255: Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” (Part One)

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On the Chinese military treatise from around the 5th century BCE.

How does a philosopher wage war? The best kind of war can be won without fighting. The general qua Taoist sage never moves until circumstances are optimal. We talk virtue ethics and practical strategy; how well can Sunzi’s advice be applied to non-martial pursuits? With guest Brian Wilson.

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NEM#134: Laraaji’s Free Association Meditations

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Jazz multi-instrumentalist Edward Larry Gordon Jr. became Laraaji around the same time he started releasing meditative zither music in the late 70s and was then discovered by Brian Eno, who produced our intro, “The Dance No. 1” from  Ambient 3: Day of Radiance (1980). Laraaji has since had around 40 releases of largely improvised music.

We discuss “Hold on to the Vision” (and hear “Shenandoah”) from Sun Piano (2020), the single edit of “Introspection” from Bring On the Sun (2017), and “All of a Sudden,” a 1986 vocal tune released on Vision Songs, Vol. 1 (2017). More at laraaji.blogspot.com.

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Pretty Much Pop #64: The Last of Us: The Best Movies We Ever Played

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Is the Last of Us franchise actually a good video gaming, or just long cinematics that are only good by comparison to past video game cut scenes? It’s great, but not exactly “fun.”

Mark, Erica, Brian, and Drew Jackson talk about balancing narrative and gameplay, the message (“revenge is bad”), the shifting points of view (including playable flashbacks!), critical and fan reaction, representation, and more.

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

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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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