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You can also see them organized by topic. For episodes marked "Preview," you can access the full episode at our store, or you could become a PEL Citizen and get them from our Free Stuff for Citizens page.

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Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part Two)

June 5, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive part three. Listen to a preview.. We continue (from part one) working through letters 1-15 of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), helped by Markus Reuter. By the end of this, we get a clearer picture of what Schiller means by the experience of Beauty. We have a sensuous drive on the one hand  Continue Reading …

Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part One)

May 29, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including an exclusive part three to this discussion. Can art make us better people? Musician Markus Reuter joins Mark, Wes, and Seth to discussion the first half of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795). Schiller was a famous poet of early German Romanticism, and this book is partly  Continue Reading …

Ep. 317: Character Philosophies in Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov” (Part One)

May 15, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive final part to this discussion, which you can preview. Exiting the high-pressure live situation of our last episode, Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan ponder the 1869 novel in a more leisurely way. First, we revisit the prime "problem of evil"-related arguments in the book, and then look at textual passages to see how the  Continue Reading …

Ep. 316: Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov”: PEL Live in NYC (Part Two)

May 8, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition of this episode along with plenty of bonus content. Continuing from part one on Dostoevsky's 1880 novel, we respond to some objections to the Christian arguments that the characters Alyosha and Zosima put forward (either explicitly or just through their behavior) to respond to Ivan's "problem of evil"-type arguments  Continue Reading …

Ep. 316: Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov”: PEL Live in NYC (Part One)

May 1, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition of this episode. On Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1880 novel, focusing mostly on the "Rebellion" and "Grand Inquisitor" chapters, featuring Mark, Wes, Seth and Dylan at the Caveat in Lower Manhattan. How can we reconcile ourselves to the existence of evil and suffering? The character Ivan Karamazov gives an argument that we  Continue Reading …

Ep. 315: Mengzi (Mencius) on Virtuous Leaders (Part One)

April 17, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Subscribe to get this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive final part to this discussion. Following up on our previous discussion, we go further into the collected teachings of this early Confucian (aka Ruhist) from the late 4th century BCE. What's the best way to be a virtuous person and hence (on the ancient Chinese view, contra someone like Machiavelli) an effective  Continue Reading …

Ep. 314: Mengzi (Mencius) on Moral Psychology (Part Two)

April 10, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

Subscribe to both parts of this discussion ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing from part one on the teachings of Mengzi from ca. 350 BCE. Our guest has gone, and so Mark, Wes, Dylan and Seth dive into textual quotes, starting with verse 2A6 which says that we all have "sprouts" of humaneness, rightness, propriety, and wisdom. In a move that was not actually in  Continue Reading …

Ep. 314: Mengzi (Mencius) on Moral Psychology (Part One)

April 3, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On books 2, 4, and 6 of the collected teachings of the greatest early interpreter of Confucian thought, from the late 4th century BCE. The full foursome are joined by Krishnan Venkatesh of the St. John's College Eastern Classics program. Since this will be the first installment of two full  Continue Reading …

Ep. 313: Mozi’s Political Ethics (Part Two)

March 27, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive part three. Listen to a preview.. Continuing from part one on the central Mohist text, with guest Tzuchien Tho. Sponsors: Check out the Continuing the Conversation web series by St. John's College at sjc.edu. Check out the Hermitix podcast at hermitix.net. Was Mozi really only concerned  Continue Reading …

Ep. 313: Mozi’s Political Ethics (Part One)

March 20, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including including a new Nightcap discussion relevant to this episode about tributes to the dead. On the central Mohist text, collecting the teachings of Mozi (aka Mo Tzu), from the Chinese Warring States period around 430 B.C.E., with guest Tzuchien Tho joining Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. The  Continue Reading …

Ep. 312: The Dao De Jing on Virtue (Part Two)

March 13, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free. Concluding our discussion of the Daodejing with guest Theo Brooks. This continues directly from part one, but you should really start with ep. 311. Sections covered in this part of the discussion include: Next episode: We're reading another figure from the Chinese Warring States period: Mozi, specifically the  Continue Reading …

Ep. 312: The Dao De Jing on Virtue (Part One)

March 6, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including including a new Nightcap discussion about philosophy as self-help. Our second full discussion on the Daodejing by Laozi. What actions and attitudes characterize the Daoist sage? Featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, Seth, and Theo Brooks. Listen to ep. 311 first. In this part of the  Continue Reading …

Ep. 311: Understanding the Dao De Jing (Part Two)

February 27, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free. Continuing from part one with guest Theodore Brooks on the central Daoist text attributed to Laozi. We start with more discussion of practical vs. metaphysical interpretations of the first chapter. In either case, Laozi recommends not being too self-conscious; you want to be fully present in your activities, open to the  Continue Reading …

Ep. 311: Understanding the Dao De Jing (Part One)

February 20, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. The Daodejing (or Tao Te Ching) from around 500 BCE, attributed considerably after its production to Laozi (or Lao Tzu according to an older but still prevalent style of transliteration; it just means "old master") is the fundamental text of Daoism (Taoism), but what they hell does it mean? Well, it depends on which of  Continue Reading …

Ep. 310: Wittgenstein On World-Pictures (Part Two)

February 13, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free, plus a supporter exclusive PEL Nightcap discussion. Concluding our discussion of On Certainty, with guest Chris Heath. Listen to part one first. We spend more time with quotes from the book and try once again to figure out what Wittgenstein's philosophy of science is. We finally fill out Wes' take on conspiracy  Continue Reading …

Ep. 310: Wittgenstein On World-Pictures (Part One)

February 6, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. We continue picking at Ludwig Wittgenstein's On Certainty (written 1951), with Mark, Wes, Dylan and Seth now supplemented by guest Chris Heath, who is a guy who's very into philosophy of science who runs a Discord philosophy server. This is really the fourth discussion in this series; we recommend you start with ep.  Continue Reading …

Ep. 309: Wittgenstein On Certainty (Part Two)

January 30, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free, plus a supporter exclusive PEL Nightcap discussion. Continuing our discussion from part one of On Certainty (1951), we do some close reading of the text. How does he actually respond to Moore's argument about his hand? How does he extend his account to talk about mathematical and scientific statements? Is Wittgenstein a  Continue Reading …

Ep. 309: Wittgenstein On Certainty (Part One)

January 23, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. Discussing the notes Ludwig Wittgenstein made at the end of his life in 1951 that were published as On Certainty in 1969, featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. Check out the Overthink podcast and Conversations with Coleman. Attend our live show in NYC on April 15. These were in direct response to the essays by G.E.  Continue Reading …

Ep. 308: Moore’s Proof of Mind-Independent Reality (Part Two)

January 16, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free and tons of bonus content. Continuing from part one, we quickly complete our treatment of G.E. Moore’s "Proof of the External World" (1939) and move on to consider "Certainty" (1941). In the latter paper, Moore considers various "obvious" statements about his current situation (in my case now: I am writing this, I am  Continue Reading …

Ep. 308: Moore’s Proof of Mind-Independent Reality (Part One)

January 9, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On G.E. Moore’s "Proof of the External World" (1939) and "Certainty" (1941), featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. Similar to the essay we covered in our last episode, Moore is defending common sense realism against idealists who claim that the external world is not mind-independent but is instead made up of ideas,  Continue Reading …

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