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The Partially Examined Life Blog

Ep. 325: Paul Grice on Meaning and Conversation (Part Two)

September 25, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive part three. Listen to a preview.. Continuing from part one on "Meaning" (1957), "Utterer’s Meaning and Intentions" (1969), and "Logic and Conversation" (1975) with guest Steve Gimbell. We tie Grice's initial project about meaning into this apparently new project in "Logic and Conversation": What  Continue Reading …

Pretty Much Pop #158: “Oppenheimer” and Other Christopher Nolan Films

September 24, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Christopher Nolan has directed ten films starting with 1998's The Following and his first major film, 2000's Memento. We consider his work up to the present through Insomnia (the only one of these he didn't write), The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Tenet, and Dunkirk (and yes, the Batman films, but we've already talked about Batman). We talk about his typical heroes,  Continue Reading …

VIDEO of Philosophy vs. Improv Team Play (#61)

September 21, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

To kick of the new season, we're recording and releasing video. Check out the video for our most recent release.  Continue Reading …

Ep. 325: Paul Grice on Meaning and Conversation (Part One)

September 18, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On "Meaning" (1957), "Utterer’s Meaning and Intentions" (1969), and "Logic and Conversation" (1975), featuring Mark, Seth, Dylan, and guest prof. Steve Gimbell of Gettysburg College. Sponsors: Get a $1/month shopify.com/pel. Check out Drilled, a true-crime podcast about climate  Continue Reading …

REISSUE-NEM#41: Glenn Mercer (Feelies): Produce Yourself

September 16, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Glenn has put out albums with the Feelies since 1980, filling in gaps with other bands (e.g., The Willies in the early '80s, Wake Ooloo in the '90s) and a couple of solo albums. His albums have a unique sound, due to his insistence that production is part of the composing process. On this interview conducted in 2017, we discuss two songs from the 2017 Feelies album In  Continue Reading …

PvI#61: TEAM PLAY CIRCUS with Adal Rifai and Jenny Hansen

September 16, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

It's our season three premiere, and the elephants are in the room! It's St. Lawrence University philosophy prof Jenny (a frequent PEL guest) in the ring with UIC Theater instructor/Podcaster with Hey Riddle Riddle and Hello From the Magic Tavern Adal, along with Mark and Bill, of course. And the Bullshot is flying! Who will be hit? Who will master the rings? Who will shoot from  Continue Reading …

Ep. 324: Plato’s “Cratylus” on Language (Part Two)

September 11, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive part three. Listen to a preview.. Continuing from part one on Plato's mid-period dialogue about language. Is attaching a word to a thing, i.e. naming it, like other activities such as carpentry or sewing that can go wrong? Can we put the "form" of a thing into letters and syllabus of its name?  Continue Reading …

Pretty Much Pop #157: The Function of a Pop Culture Podcast

September 6, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

What is media criticism, and is that what we're doing? For our Season 3 finale (i.e. the end  of PMP's 4th year of operation), your now officially official hosts Mark Linsenmayer, Lawrence Ware, Sarahlyn Bruck, and Al Baker turn their gazes fully toward their collective navel to think about what purposes are served by discussions about pop culture and how we can do it  Continue Reading …

(SUB)TEXT: Home as Identity in “The Odyssey” (Part One of Three)

September 4, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

He was famously a man of many ways, whether we interpret these as abilities or norms; designs or deceptions; reasons or identities. Yet despite such resources, he was also famously stuck, making a 10-year odyssey of his attempt to return home from a 10-year war. What keeps the man of master plans from homecoming and domestic bliss? In the first of a three part discussion of  Continue Reading …

Ep. 324: Plato’s “Cratylus” on Language (Part One)

September 4, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including a supporter-exclusive part three to this discussion coming out next week. On Plato's mid-period dialogue from around 388 BCE. How do words relate to the things they represent? Featuring Mark, Wes, and Dylan. Sponsors: Visit GreenChef.com/60pel (code 60pel) for 60% off and free  Continue Reading …

Philosophy vs. Improv #60: Elu-Sedations w/ Matt Teichman

August 31, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Philosopher Matt, host of the Elucidations podcast and frequent PEL guest, finally gets in on Philosophy vs. Improv in this, our Season Two Finale. And many is he a de dicto. Or is he a de re? Slowly learn the difference as we make things personal through scenes of shit-talking and crime reporting. Follow @ElucidationsPod. The image is from a story about Hong  Continue Reading …

NEM#202: Richard Lloyd (Television): Guitar is Combustible

August 31, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Richard with Tom Verlaine were the groundbreaking NYC dual guitar monster that was Television from 1973-1978 plus reunions (totaling three albums), and Richard has fronted seven solo albums while also touring and recording as a guitarist with Matthew Sweet, John Doe, Rocket from the Tomb, and others.  We discuss "So Sad" from The Countdown (2018), "Glurp" from Radiant  Continue Reading …

Ep. 323: Acquiring Language: Tomasello vs. Chomsky (Part Two)

August 28, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive Nightcap discussion about cognitive science, evolutionary psychology, and more. Continuing from part one on Michael Tomasello's "Language Is Not an Instinct" (1995) and Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition (2003), as contrasted with Chomsky universal grammar (the  Continue Reading …

Pretty Much Pop #156: Black Mirror’s Tech Horrors

August 28, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk about Charlie Brooker’s British anthology TV series that began in 2011 and recently released its 6th season. How has this show evolved from satirical science fiction to something more often just horror studies that study human nature? We talk about our favorite episodes and what does and doesn't work. Does the show have to be so dark to  Continue Reading …

PvI#59: Yes, and Technological Dystopia w/ Anthony LeBlanc

August 21, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

How does new technology affect ethics? Anthony (who is on strike, but that doesn't apply to improv) is an improviser with a computer science degree who now coaches kid TV actors. We talk personal identity, transhumanism, genetic engineering, AI, organizational ethics, Black Mirror, Beastars, and transporter virginity. Listen to more transporter talk on The Partially Examined  Continue Reading …

NEM#201: Ivan Neville Gets Personal (but Still Funky)

August 21, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Ivan is the keyboardist/singer/multi-instrumentalist son of Aaron Neville and has played with the Neville Brothers, The Rolling Stones and Keith Richards' solo band, The Spin Doctors, Soul Asylum, and Robbie Robertson among others. He has released eight albums since 1988, half of these under the band name Dumpstaphunk (a collaboration that includes his cousin Ian  Continue Reading …

Ep. 323: Acquiring Language: Tomasello vs. Chomsky (Part One)

August 21, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Michael Tomasello's "Language Is Not an Instinct" (1995) and ch. 1, 2, 8 and 9 of Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition (2003), plus the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article Innateness and Language by Fiona Cowie (posted 2008, updated 2017). Featuring  Continue Reading …

Closereads: How to Hear and Watch Emerson’s Oversoul Parts Two, Three and Four (and Future Installments)

August 20, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Continuing from part one, we took three more sessions to get through the rest of the essay. You can hear these if you sign up to support Closereads via Patreon at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy. You can listen to audio previews of all the episodes there as well (here's part two). I'm not going to keep making posts like this on this site to tantalize you, but the plan is  Continue Reading …

Pretty Much Pop #155: Existentialist Barbie

August 14, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk about the most discussable movie of the summer made by the unlikely pairing of feminist indie director Greta Gerwig and Barbie's corporate overlords at Mattel. Does the film convey at least a legitimate teen version of feminist existentialism, whereby oppressed women question their identities? On this account (says Mark), even the Ken plot  Continue Reading …

Closereads on Emerson’s Oversoul: Audio and Video Podcast Premiere

August 14, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get this discussion ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Are we underlyingly all really a single, unified organism? Or do we just have a lot in common? We begin unraveling this puzzling claim by reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1841 essay "The Over-Soul." Read along with us. This is the public premiere of a new weekly series by the most verbose of your PEL  Continue Reading …

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