Thanks to JSully for pointing me--in the context of our discussions here of New Work--in the direction of the recent Slate article, "In the Name of Love," by Miya Tokumitsu. Tokumitsu here describes the Steve-Jobsian commandment to "do what you love" as elitism, in that only the elite can afford such a luxury, and valuing only work done through love devalues the work Continue Reading …
Please Stop Contributing to the Publish-or-Perish Landfill
<br /> Bernard Williams was the rare academic who was also a great writer. In his review of Williams' Essays and Reviews: 1959-2002, Paul Sagar lets academia have it: We can now see that Williams was not lazy: he spent an immense amount of time reading and thinking, and knew much beyond his own Continue Reading …
Apoplectic About Outsourcing Apps
When the Partially Examined Life discussion of human enhancement (Episode 91) turned to the topic of digital technology, the philosophical oxygen was sucked out of the room. Sure, folks conceded that philosopher of mind Andy Clark (not mentioned by name, but implicitly referenced) has interesting things to say about how technology upgrades our cognitive abilities and extends Continue Reading …
Philosophy Bro on Transhumanism
Our main man Philosophy Bro was way futurist compared to us, and covered transhumanism way back in 2011. Go check it out. I quote: So, broadly transhumanism is a movement that seeks to move past our human limitations by using technology. Think of all the cool shit we can do - we are already giving injured bros robotic limbs. And not shitty arms that just open and close like Continue Reading …
A Heap of David Brin Links
If you wanted to hear or read more from David, the place to start is his blog Contrary Brin. Here also is a collection of articles, nicely categorized, which in turn links to this collection of interviews. A couple of the topics he touched on with us include the "disputation arenas" and self-righteousness as an addiction. Continue Reading …
On Woody Allen and the Presumption of Innocence
Dear Reader: You do not know whether Woody Allen molested Dylan Farrow. You do not know this, because the only evidence you have are her accusations, his denials, and heaps of evidence that call Dylan Farrow's account into question. Further, you are aware of or ought to be made aware of the many cases of false accusations of molestation elicited from children by adults with Continue Reading …
The Wisdom of the ‘Ignorant Schoolmaster’
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” ― Benjamin Franklin “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” ― Socrates [From Sotiris Triantis] An intellectual adventure Joseph Jacotot (born in 1770) was a French teacher who discovered something remarkable in the education process. His intellectual adventure begun Continue Reading …
You Can’t Talk About Zen: A Discussion of Zen
[A post from Jason Durso] The popular understanding of Zen philosophy is that it is painfully frustrating, contrived and lies outside the realm of rational discourse. Rather than offering some sort of platform for discussion or some set of assertions which can be systematically analyzed and negotiated into a personal system of meaning the proponents of this view will often Continue Reading …
The Jung and the Restless
...I cannot outline the spiritual problems of modern man without giving emphasis to the yearning for rest that arises in a period of unrest... It is from need and distress that new forms of life take their rise, and not from mere wishes or from the requirements of our ideals." When Carl Jung's Modern Man in Search of a Soul was first published in 1933 he had already treated Continue Reading …
The Digitization of the Real
“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.” ― Napoleon Bonaparte [From Sotiris Triantis] In a previous article here on the PEL blog 'Don’t Act. Just Think’: A Short Comment on Slavoj Zizek’s Critique of Activism, I argued that thinking is not enough in order to effect radical change in collective problems such Continue Reading …
Bergmann as Philosopher (Before All that “New Work” Stuff)
We're barely more than a day away right now from our interview with Frithjof, which he says he's "thrilled" about, and I'm certainly looking forward to as well, though I can picture any number of things going less than ideally as I introduce these two known elements (Frithjof on the one hand and Seth/Wes/Dylan on the other) to each other. For me, this period of preparation has Continue Reading …
‘Don’t Act. Just Think’: A short comment on Slavoj Zizek’s critique of Activism
[From Sotiris Triantis] Slavoj Zizek - in a video titled ‘Don’t Act. Just Think’ - suggests that in the social and political realm we should not act but think. It's an odd, somewhat counter-revolutionary thesis. Historical change has always been brought about by collective action. A more useful model might be: ‘First Think, Then Act’. When Noam Chomsky was asked by Continue Reading …
Bertrand Russell’s “In Praise of Idleness” and Gary Gutting’s Modern Response
One of the resources raised in our Not School Bergmann discussion was Bertrand Russell's 1932 article "In Praise of Idleness," which you can read here. Here's his snarky definition of work: Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is Continue Reading …
How Examined is the “Examined” Life? Truly.
Editor's Note: Thanks for this submission from listener and long-time supporter Laura Davis, covering a story that we likely wouldn't have gotten around to writing about here ourselves. I expect most have you have seen this article or some other about the renown philosopher Colin McGinn and his recent resignation from the University of Miami. The story has been covered and Continue Reading …
Sean Carroll Interview @ 3:AM Magazine
3:AM magazine has a nice interview of the physicist Sean Carroll by Richard Marshall that's part of an ongoing series interviews, generally of philosophers, being done by the magazine. Carroll is an theoretical astrophysicist who has managed to avoid the pratfalls of physicists like Stephen Hawking who recently declared the death of philosophy. Carroll considers himself Continue Reading …
Chomsky vs. Zizek
Editor's Note: We feel the need to provide some coverage of one of the few big news stories in philosophy, which is the ongoing hostile exchange between two giants of the philosophical left, Noam Chomsky and Slavoj Žižek. Since none of us podcasters has read much by either fellow or has much patience for following this story, I've asked PEL Citizen Michael Burgess to fill in Continue Reading …
Interviewing Eva Brann
So Eva was a terrific guest and a great sport on the podcast and while Dylan had talked her up to the rest of us, I didn't realize what a towering figure she is. She has been teaching at St. John's for 57 !?!?! years, which is longer than most of us have been on this planet. She's the author of 15 books, not including translations, on subjects as diverse as Time, Plato and Continue Reading …
Impersonating Ayn Rand
Editor's Note: Thanks to Rachael Wolanski, who has for the last year helped us with editing episodes, for finding this and writing it up. Seth confirmed that it's hilarious. Mark's comments in his previous post on the unhelpfulness of caricaturizing Ayn Rand bring to mind the most recent episode of another of my favorite podcasts, the Dead Authors Podcast. Comedian Paul F. Continue Reading …
Is Experimental Philosophy Bad Science?
http://youtu.be/tt5Kxv8eCTA Wikipedia tells us that Experimental Philosophy (X-Phi) is: an emerging field of philosophical inquiry that makes use of empirical data—often gathered through surveys which probe the intuitions of ordinary people—in order to inform research on philosophical questions. This use of empirical data is widely seen as opposed to a philosophical Continue Reading …
Virtual Insanity: Social Media with Jacques Lacan
[A post from Peter Hardy, longtime fan and contributor] For a couple of years I have been lurking on PEL's Facebook group, biding my time for the perfect moment to pounce on this blog. Recently I got to thinking about the philosophical ramifications of social media. Especially as we've just been looking at Jacques Lacan, for whom a central concern was to highlight negative Continue Reading …