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Ep. 247: Aristotle on Rhetoric and Emotions (Part Two)

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Continuing on the Rhetoric (ca. 335 BCE) book 1, ch. 1-6 and book 2, ch. 1-5, 18-24.

We finish up with enthymemes (rhetorical arguments), maxims, and signs. We then move to emotions, where we chiefly talk about anger: Is it always a matter of status injury, or is frustration equally (or more) foundational?

Begin with part one, or get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL!

End song: “Reason with the Beast” by Shriekback, whose leader Barry Andrews was interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #107.

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PMP#50: MJ’s Last Dance w/ Seth Paskin

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Brian, Erica, Mark, and Seth from The Partially Examined Life interrogate the 10-part ESPN documentary on Michael Jordan’s Bulls’ six championships.

Was it worth ten hours? Does its time-jumping structure work? Is it really hagiography, or is the vision of ultra-competitiveness repulsive? Why are sports amenable to creating cultural icons? Does the doc’s success mean many more?

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

Ep. 247: Aristotle on Rhetoric and Emotions (Part One)

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On the Rhetoric (ca. 335 BCE) book 1, ch. 1–6 and book 2, ch. 1–5, 18–24.

What role does persuasion play in philosophy? Aristotle (contra Plato) argues it can and should be used for good: in law courts, political debates, public speeches. He describes the arguments forms used in rhetoric (“enthymemes”) and analyzes the emotions that an audience might have so that speakers know what points are worth dwelling on and how to best argue them.

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Phi Fic #35 12 Stories by James Baldwin

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https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/phifipodcast/Repost_Phi_Fic_12_Stories_by_James_Baldwin.mp3Podcast (phi-fi-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:37:51 — 89.8MB) Join us with Mark Linsenmeyer in a previous discussion on two short stories by James Baldwin: “This Morning, This Evening, So Soon” and “Sonny’s Blues.” Both are included in the collection Going to meet the Man (1965). This is an unprecedented and critical time to listen to this remarkable man. For the first Continue Reading …

NEM#125: Victor DeLorenzo (ex Violent Femmes) Starts with Drums

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Victor started as a singer/songwriter, drummed with the Femmes for five albums in the ’80s, and has since recorded six solo releases and five more with nine thirteen, plus other collaborations, jazz jamming, and work in the theater.

We discuss “Invisible Shadows” from Tranceaphone (2020), “Carry Me” from Victor DeLorenzo (2013), “Arco, Pizzicato” by Nineteen Thirteen from The Dream (2016), and listen to “Audrey” from Pancake Day (1996). Intro/outro: “World Without Mercy” by Violent Femmes from The Blind Leading the Naked (1985). More at victordelorenzo.weebly.com.

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Pretty Much Pop #49: Conspiracy Theories as Pop w/ Al Baker

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Al works for Logically, a company that fights misinformation. He joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to try to discuss the appeal of conspiracy theories, whether their fandom is like other fandoms, the relation between pernicious and fun theories, and theories that end up true.

We touch on echo chambers, the role of irony and humor in spreading these theories, how both opponents and proponents claim to be skeptics, Dan Brown Novels, Tom Hanks, the Mel Gibson film Conspiracy Theory, and documentaries like Behind the Curve and The Family.

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

Ep. 246: Susan Sontag on Interpreting Art (Part Two)

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Continuing on Sontag’s essays “On Style” (1965) and “The Death of Tragedy” (1963).

Mark, Wes, Seth and Dylan keep talking about the appropriate distance to retain (or not) to a work of art, which is supposed to be relevant to moral action in the world. We also spell out how this is relevant to our recent episodes on tragedy.

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End song: “Mela” by Julie Slick, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #115.

Ep. 246: Susan Sontag on Interpreting Art (Part One)

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On Sontag’s essays “Against Interpretation” (1964), “On Style” (1965), and “The Death of Tragedy” (1963).

What is it to understand a work of art? Sontag objects to critics’ need to decode art into its “meaning” or “content,” divorcing it from how this content is embodied. She argues that the content vs. form distinction isn’t tenable; that the style of a work is an essential part of experiencing it. Sontag thinks we’re too analytical, too divorced from our instincts, and a direct encounter with art is essential to enliven us.

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NEM#124: Alev Lenz’s Tracts of Blood and Sisterhood

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Alev started in Germany with her metal band “Alev” in the early ’00s and has released three atmospheric, idea-filled solo albums since 2009 plus several soundtracks and collaborations.

We discuss “The Chair” (and at the end listen to “Cigarettes & Blow”) from 3 (2019), plus the title track from Two-Headed Girl (2016), “Flowers of Love” from Storytelling Piano Playing Fräulein (2009), and “In this Mouth” by Anoushka Shankar feat Alev Lenz from Love Letters (2020). Intro: “Fall Into Me” from the Black Mirror Soundtrack (2016). For more, visit alevlenz.com.

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PhiFic #34 The Canterbury Tales-Part One

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https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/phifipodcast/Canterbury_Part_1_A.mp3Podcast (phi-fi-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:14:44 — 85.5MB)It happened in that season that one day In Southwark, at The Tabard, as I lay Ready to go on pilgrimage and start For Canterbury, most devout at heart, At night there came into that hostelry Some nine and twenty in a company Of sundry folk happening then to Continue Reading …

Combat & Classics Ep. 39: The Wright Brothers with Shilo Brooks

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Jeff and Brian are joined by Shilo Brooks, Director of the Engineering Leadership Program at the University of Colorado – Boulder, to discuss the role of engineering in the liberal arts and his lovely essay on the Wright Brothers for Scientific American:

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/why-did-the-wright-brothers-succeed-when-others-failed/

Ep. 245: Fashion (Derrida, Foucault, Sontag) w/ Shahidha Bari (Part Two)

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We conclude with Foucault’s “The Ethics of the Concern of the Self as a Practice of Freedom” (1984) and add Susan Sontag’s “On Style” (1965). After our guest’s departure, we give some concluding remarks about her book Dressed: A Philosophy of Clothes (2020) and Derrida’s “The Animal That Therefore I Am” (1999).

Start with part one or get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition. Support PEL and be entered in a drawing to win a copy of Dressed.

End song: “Clothe Me in Ashes” by K.C. Clifford, interviewed for Nakedly Examined Music #121.

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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

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