Back on March 22, host Stephen West was joined by Wes, Michael Burgess, Ken Presting (calling in from the center of a vacuum cleaner, apparently), and (after 15 min or so) Law Ware reflect further on whether hermeneutics can really give us a reading of the Bible that gives us modern folks something that's not morally backward or otherwise crazy. This last Sunday, April 19. Continue Reading …
Phi-Fi Conversation on Woolf’s Novel “To The Lighthouse”
Philosophical Fiction read Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse for our conversation in April. You can hear us discuss the plot, characters, and themes, with quotes and passages so... beware of spoilers. Myself along with PEL members Dan, Cezary, Daniel, and Laura, talk about: Time, Beauty, and Life; we bring up Ulysses by James Joyce and The Map and the Territory by Michel Continue Reading …
April’s Not School Groups: Jesus, Murakami, Auslander, Heidegger
Our Not School our mainstays are all continuing this April, and we have one new group running so far. There will also be more Aftershow discussions, with the for #113 scheduled for Sun., 4/19 at 5:30pm Eastern. Go join the group to signal that you'll be there. If you like the podcast but haven't signed up to be a PEL Citizen, take a look here at what it offers. First up, Continue Reading …
Listen to the Gadamer Aftershow
The Aftershow to Ep. 111 on Gadamer was happenin', sporting not only Stephen West and Seth Paskin, but returning Aftershower Amogh Sahu (did you know he has his own podcast?), Michael Burgess, Erik Weissengruber, Everett Reed, Peter Forbes, and (joining later in the call) Not-School-Regular Cezary. There was a vigorous discussion of what "interpretation" amounts to for Gadamer Continue Reading …
Not School Report: Grotowski’s ‘Akropolis’
Our Philosophy and Theatre Group spent most of the winter studying the perplexing work of Jerzy Grotowski. As I've mentioned before, Grotowski had many ideas about the nature of theatre, performance, humanity and its essence. At a certain point, we decided that we needed something concrete to get a better grasp on what we'd read, so we turned to Akropolis. Carlos Franke, Philip Continue Reading …
Bonus Discussion: Jaspers’s “Truth & Symbol”
I was pleased to lead a Not School discussion on Karl Jaspers's Truth and Symbol (1947). Our recent episode left us a little in the dark on what Jaspers was really proposing re religion and the mystical. Well, Truth & Symbol still left a lot of questions unanswered, but gave us a lot to chew on. A lot of the book (which is actually an excerpt from a longer, untranslated Continue Reading …
Philosophical Fiction Reading: Woolf’s To The Lighthouse
We are going to read To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf for our conversation this March in Philosophical Fiction. A few regulars and I chose a book from our List of Suggestions to read before our conversation where we'll go over the plot, discuss the characters, recall apt passages, and try to get at what everything is all about anyway. To The Lighthouse will be my first Continue Reading …
Not School Offerings In March
We have several Not School groups running this month, but before I tell you about them, a word to the unfamiliar: If you've enjoyed the podcast episodes, becoming a PEL Citizen is an easy and inexpensive way to get involved firsthand in similarly stimulating conversations. I can vouch that these study groups are rewarding, relaxed, and very helpful in getting a grip on Continue Reading …
Reading Fiction in February, ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ by Flannery O’Connor
Our Philosophical Fiction story for February is 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' by Flannery O'Connor, where a grandmother and her family go on vacation yet encounter an outlaw known as The Misfit. "The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she was seizing at every chance to change Bailey’s mind. Bailey was the Continue Reading …
Continue the Discussion and Have Fun Doing It!
Hello everyone! I'm Stephen West. I host the Philosophize This! podcast: a show where I try to get people thinking. I do my best to talk about important ideas from philosophy in a way that doesn't make people feel like they're being lectured by a second-rate elitist university professor with tenure. (We all know how that is.) But before I ever did this for a living I was Continue Reading …
Not School Happenings In February
There is plenty of philosophy afoot in Not School this month. Our members are running a variety of groups, and some of the podcast fellows are running others. We have another post-episode discussion with Stephen West coming up, which is but one of the many perks that PEL Citizens receive. Membership options start at only $5 a month, and you can sign up right here. First up, Continue Reading …
Not School Discussion: Finding Philosophy in Grotowski
Our Philosophy and Theater discussion group has just spent two months studying a series of readings on the work of Jerzy Grotowski, the famous Polish director whose productions first stunned audiences in the 1960s with their distinctive physicality. We wrapped up with our usual recorded Skype call, which featured Carlos Franke, Philip Cherny and myself. Members can download it Continue Reading …
Fiction Conversation on ‘The Map and the Territory’
The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq was our novel up for conversation this December, and you can hear Nathan, Dan and Kimberly discuss the story in Philosophical Fiction from PEL’s Not School, on the Free Stuff for Citizens page (under "Not School Discussion Group Audio"). We sum up the plot, quote key passages, and discuss the story of Jed Martin; a man at the “at Continue Reading …
Not School in January
Have you resolved to become a PEL Citizen in 2015? What's this, you ask? It's an easy and affordable way to get access to all kinds of bonus content on the site. Plus, you get the chance to do some first hand philosophizing in one of our Not School study groups. We have two groups running this month so far, and you can still propose a new one if you hurry. Come join up! Our Continue Reading …
Not School Groups In December
The annual holiday frenzy has begun, but our Not School groups will still be soldiering on through December. Most groups have decided to carry November's readings over, so anyone interested in riveting philosophical conversation has another shot at joining up with them. There are also proposals up in the Citizens' Forum to read on some other juicy philosophical topics. Not Continue Reading …
Conversation on the Novel ‘Distant Star’ by Roberto Bolaño
A novel about Chile, Art, and literally killer poets. Daniel, Philip, Kimberly, Dan, Cezary and I discussed Roberto Bolano's novel Distant Star in the Not School Philosophical Fiction group. We review the plot, then talk about what interests us most in the novel, like the sky-writing poet--and murderer--Carlos Wieder. Citizens can check out the full discussion on the Free Continue Reading …
Not School In November
This month both the Fiction and the Theater group will be starting new texts, the Heidegger group will be continuing, and a new group exploring conservative political philosophy is just starting up. If you're interested in any of these subjects or in forming a group to read something else, you can read about how PEL Not School works and join up. The Philosophical Fiction Continue Reading …
The Theater Group Discusses Victor Turner’s “From Ritual to Theatre”
During late October, the Philosophy and Theater Group (Carlos Franke, Philip Cherny and Daniel Cole) wrapped up a month and a half long study of Victor Turner's From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play. For anyone out there who may have listened to our Schechner or Artaud discussions, this one tops off many of the themes and issues we explored in those. PEL Continue Reading …
October Not School Happenings
As usual, there's plenty happening with Not School this October, and it's not too late for you to sign up. It looks like two groups are carrying over September's readings, and another two will be starting a new books. At least a couple groups are still deciding whether to continue, so if you want to read something in their vein you probably still have time to jump in and Continue Reading …
B.K.S. Iyengar: A Model for Living Philosophically
At some point, western philosophy became alienated from its original intention: to help people live well. Pierre Hadot, a historian of philosophy, pointed out the difference between philosophy practiced, on the one hand, as a way of life (as Socrates, Aristotle, the Stoics, and the Epicureans did) and, on the other hand, philosophy practiced as mere discourse. Much Continue Reading …