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Is “Do What You Love” Elitist?

May 18, 2014 by Mark Linsenmayer 15 Comments

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 Continue Reading …

Please Stop Contributing to the Publish-or-Perish Landfill

April 9, 2014 by Wes Alwan 26 Comments

<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 academic arguments. What he chose to Continue Reading …

Apoplectic About Outsourcing Apps

April 7, 2014 by Evan Selinger 6 Comments

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 the boundaries of Continue Reading …

Philosophy Bro on Transhumanism

April 4, 2014 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

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 Continue Reading …

A Heap of David Brin Links

March 30, 2014 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

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.

On Woody Allen and the Presumption of Innocence

February 3, 2014 by Wes Alwan Leave a Comment

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 Continue Reading …

The Wisdom of the ‘Ignorant Schoolmaster’

November 4, 2013 by Sotiris Triantis 3 Comments

“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

October 27, 2013 by Jason Durso 22 Comments

[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

September 28, 2013 by David Buchanan 17 Comments

…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 Continue Reading …

The Digitization of the Real

September 24, 2013 by Sotiris Triantis 6 Comments

“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 Continue Reading …

Bergmann as Philosopher (Before All that “New Work” Stuff)

September 20, 2013 by Mark Linsenmayer 29 Comments

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. Continue Reading …

‘Don’t Act. Just Think’: A short comment on Slavoj Zizek’s critique of Activism

August 26, 2013 by Sotiris Triantis 39 Comments

[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 Continue Reading …

Bertrand Russell’s “In Praise of Idleness” and Gary Gutting’s Modern Response

August 11, 2013 by Mark Linsenmayer 20 Comments

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. Continue Reading …

How Examined is the “Examined” Life? Truly.

August 9, 2013 by Laura Davis 48 Comments

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

August 3, 2013 by Dylan Casey 16 Comments

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 sympathetic to philosophers/ philosophical Continue Reading …

Chomsky vs. Zizek

July 30, 2013 by Michael Burgess 61 Comments

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 Continue Reading …

Interviewing Eva Brann

July 19, 2013 by Seth Paskin 1 Comment

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 Continue Reading …

Impersonating Ayn Rand

July 13, 2013 by Rachael Wolanski 1 Comment

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 Continue Reading …

Is Experimental Philosophy Bad Science?

June 12, 2013 by Seth Paskin 9 Comments

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 methodology that relies mainly on a priori justification, sometimes called Continue Reading …

Virtual Insanity: Social Media with Jacques Lacan

May 21, 2013 by Peter Hardy 31 Comments

[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 Continue Reading …

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