August at PEL began with political philosophy, as a live discussion of the Federalist Papers asked whether the American system is working as its architects intended or whether some of its problems were there from the beginning. The month then turned toward the philosophy of mind. A conversation on Donald Davidson offered one way of fitting reasons, causes, and mental events Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: July 2026
July at PEL took up some basic questions about knowledge, reason, and their limits. C.S. Lewis argued for Christianity on the basis of morality found in human experience, and the Hegel discussions returned to the conflict between faith and Enlightenment reason. From there, Peirce challenged the idea that we have immediate knowledge even of ourselves, while Galen Strawson’s Continue Reading …
Under Examination I
The news moves fast. Most of it passes by before we can get a full view. Pandemics, wars, and the economy demand our attention. Other considerations, like celebrity gossip and political operatives yelling from our screens, just don't. That's the media and social media landscape in pressing and trivial form. But what about the stuff in-between? We encounter arguments. We start Continue Reading …
Free Your Mind
Christopher Sunami, the editor of the 2024 Partially Examined Life book, is back with a brand-new work of original philosophy--emphasis on original. He describes it as if Plato's Symposium was set in a secret Black fraternity, and if the topics on the table included race, religion, artificial intelligence and new ways forward out of the world's many current existential Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: June 2026
June at PEL centered on questions of reason and human understanding, at least philosophically speaking. The month continued the extended engagement with Hegel while also branching into AI, Beckett, fantasy literature, and the evolving Star Wars universe. All this plus new conversations in music and improvisation. Below is a full recap of everything published across the network Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: May 2026
May was an especially full month at PEL, featuring discussions in philosophy alongside a mix of music, film, and improvisation. The month featured Habermas’s defense of modernity, Hegel’s reflections on reason, Horkheimer and Adorno’s reading of the Odyssey, and a return to Diderot’s Rameau’s Nephew. All this is available with episodes on folk music, television, cinema, and Continue Reading …
What Makes a Just War?
To many people, “just war” sounds like an oxymoron. How can the lethal violence unleashed in war ever be just? Yet realpolitik underscores that not all international conflict lends itself to peaceful remedies. The twenty-first century, like many centuries before, has been one of great conflict. The U.S.-Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine war are just two examples among many Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: April 2026
April at PEL carried the Hegel series forward while shifting into some of its more socially relevant territory. Additionally, the month saw a mix of film, music, and improvisation, with episodes on everything from horror franchises and prestige TV to Diderot and songwriting. Below is a full roundup of everything published across the network in April, listed in order of Continue Reading …
Lovesick: Erōs and Melancholia in Plato’s Phaedrus
Since its inception, psychoanalysis has been in robust conversation with Greek mythology and philosophy. Modern psychoanalytic theories developed in sustained dialogue with mythology and philosophy, mediated in no small part by Sigmund Freud’s reading of the Greeks. While more contemporary psychoanalysis has largely amended this Freudian dependence on the interpretation of Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: March 2026
March at The Partially Examined Life (PEL) continued the extended run through Hegel and opened into a wider mix across the network. Alongside discussions of ethical life, law, and culture in the Phenomenology of Spirit, the month included episodes on Kierkegaard and Sontag, as well as entries in music, film, and improvisation. Below is a full roundup of everything published Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: February 2026
February at The Partially Examined Life continued several major threads while branching into new territory across the network. The month featured the conclusion of the Graham Harman series and an extended interview with Harman himself, alongside discussions of Hegel, Shakespearean drama, and musical improvisation. Below is a full roundup of everything published here at PEL in Continue Reading …
When a Fallacy Ain’t a Fallacy: The Naturalistic Fallacy
In this series, we've been looking at ideas that are dismissed too quickly. "Fallacy!" is the label applied, as if the accusation alone settles the matter. The word has power, and rightly so. A knowledge of fallacies is critical to blocking attempts at manipulation from others and avoiding argumentative mistakes ourselves. But sometimes the label is a substitute for real Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: January 2026
January opened the year at PEL with a mix of social and political philosophy, close textual interpretation, cultural criticism, and more. The month featured engagements with figures such as Frantz Fanon, Bruno Latour, David Hume, and Graham Harman, and discussions spanning film, television, music, and Shakespeare. Below is a full roundup of everything published across the Continue Reading …
Hume’s 3rd Prong
David Hume’s influence is felt throughout Anglophone philosophy, most especially in epistemology. Typically, students and scholars of Hume’s epistemology focus on whether judgments and sentiments, among other considerations, can count as knowledge. For normative judgments, this focus leads to thorny questions about grounding, truthmaking, and non-cognitivism. This is rough Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: December 2025
December closed out the year at PEL with a mix of philosophy, psychoanalysis, music, film, and holiday-season reflection. The month featured discussions on Freud, law, music, television, and popular film, alongside seasonal episodes of Philosophy vs. Improv and Pretty Much Pop. Below is a full roundup of everything published across the network last month, listed in order of Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: November 2025
November brought an eclectic mix across PEL. We covered ancient Egyptian literature, perused musical craftsmanship, returned to American pragmatism via Josiah Royce, and did some deep dives into film. Below is a full roundup of everything published across the network last month, listed in order of occurrence. Ep. 378: Aquinas on God and Mind (Part Three) Nov 2, 2025How does Continue Reading …
The Abuse of “Meaning is Use”
Someone, somewhere coined the powerful phrase "meaning is use," but the expression as we know it is from Ludwig Wittgenstein. Among other things, it causes a great deal of headache, which includes figuring out what in the world it means. Regardless of whether it's right or even what it means exactly, we can still say something about what it does not mean. This becomes important Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: October 2025
Content at The Partially Examined Life (PEL) ran the gamut in October: from Emil Cioran’s dark aphorisms to Aquinas’s scholastic proofs, from dub producers to fake bands, and from improv’s joyful absurdity to Halloween’s macabre reflections. Below is a list of October content (in order of occurrence) you can revisit, or in case you missed it, enjoy for the first time. Ep. Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: September 2025
The Partially Examined Life was characteristically active in September, delving into many fascinating topics. In order of occurrence, here’s a list of September content you can revisit, or in case you missed it, enjoy for the first time. Ep. 374: Discussing Liberalism (Lincoln, et al) with Walter Sterling (Part Two)September 1, 2025The second half of a conversation on the Continue Reading …
Partially Examined Recap: August 2025
August was another lively month at The Partially Examined Life (PEL). In order of occurrence, here’s a list of August content you can revisit, or in case you missed it, enjoy for the first time. (sub)TEXT: The Door Slam Heard ‘Round the World: Ibsen’s "A Doll’s House"August 3, 2025Wes & Erin discuss Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House.” Ep. 372: Kant’s Ethics Lectures Continue Reading …