The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

A Philosophy Podcast and Philosophy Blog

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Episode 204: The Bhagavad Gita’s Hindu Theology (Part Two)

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More on this classic text by (perhaps) Vyasa, with guest Shaan Amin.

Should we acquire good karma or behave “beyond good and evil”? How can everything be Krishna while Krishna is also the an element of virtue we’re supposed to pursue? How does this compare with Stoicism? Plus, behold Krishna unveiled and be freaked out!

Listen to part one first or get the full, unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition. Please support PEL and get the 2019 PEL Wall Calendar!

End song: “Om Hari Om 1” by Tim Jordan Kirtan feat. Michael Manring. Hear Michael on Nakedly Examined Music #31.

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Episode 204: The Bhagavad Gita’s Hindu Theology (Part One)

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On the classic Hindu text (ca. the third century BCE), part of the Indian Epic poem Mahabharata, attributed to Vyasa, using Keya Maitra’s 2018 translation/commentary.

What is it to live wisely? What grounds duty? Listen as the supreme God Krishna convinces archer hero Arjuna that it’s OK for him to kill his relatives because, you know, reincarnation and determinism and caste-related duties. Lots of metaphysical complications! With guest Shaan Amin.

Don’t wait for part two! Get the full, unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL. Get the 2019 PEL Wall Calendar!

Sponsors: Visit thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL and explore Peter Singer’s http://thelifeyoucansave.org/pel.

Episode 204: The Bhagavad Gita’s Hindu Theology (Citizen Edition)

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On the classic Hindu text (ca. the third century BCE), part of the Indian Epic poem Mahabharata, attributed to Vyasa, using Keya Maitra’s 2018 translation/commentary.

What is it to live wisely? What grounds duty? Listen as the supreme God Krishna convinces archer hero Arjuna that it’s OK for him to kill his relatives because, you know, reincarnation and determinism and caste-related duties. With guest Shaan Amin.

End song: “Om Hari Om 1” by Tim Jordan Kirtan feat. Michael Manring. Hear Michael on Nakedly Examined Music #31.

Get the 2019 PEL Wall Calendar!

Episode 203: Kristeva vs. Lovecraft on Horror and Abjection (Part Two)

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Concluding on Julia Kristeva’s Powers of Horror (1980) and focusing on H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” (1928). Does Lovecraft’s presentation of nameless terror capture (or improve upon) what Kristeva means by “abjection”?

End song: “The Other” by Mark Lint feat. Lucy Lawless. Read about it and support the project.

Listen to part one first, or go back to ep. 202 first. Become a PEL Citizen to get the full, ad-free experience. Please support PEL!

Sponsors: Visit fin.com/pel to try a virtual assistant for free. Explore Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save at partiallyexaminedlife.com/savealife.

Episode 203: Kristeva vs. Lovecraft on Horror and Abjection (Part One)

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More on Julia Kristeva’s Powers of Horror (1980) plus H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” (1928).

What is the object of fear? Mark, Seth, and Dylan get clearer on Kristeva’s view of the establishment and loss of the integrity of the self, what the “object” of abjection is, and what this all might have to do with feminism.

Most of the Lovecraft goodness is in part 2, so don’t wait! Get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition, along with Mark’s Kristeva Close Reading. Please support PEL!

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Episode 203: Kristeva vs. Lovecraft on Horror and Abjection (Citizen Edition)

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More on Julia Kristeva’s Powers of Horror (1980) plus H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” (1928).

Mark, Seth, and Dylan reflect on the nature of horror, how well Lovecraft’s story captures it, and how well Kristeva explains it. Plus, more clarity on the establishment of self and how Kristeva advances over Freud.

End song: “The Other” by Mark Lint feat. Lucy Lawless. Read about it and support the project.

Episode 202: Julia Kristeva on Disgust, Fear, and the Self (Part Two)

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Continuing on Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, ch. 1 and 2. We try to get clearer on Kristeva’s talk of “object,” the relationship between language and abjection, how Kristeva is advancing on Freud, how to be a mom that allows a kid to separate in a healthy way, and how abjection plays into religion and writing.

Listen to part one first, or get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition, and don’t miss Mark’s Close Reading, available to Citizens and $1+ Patreon members. Please support PEL!

End song: “Eyes of Fire” by Jill Freeman, as discussed on Nakedly Examined Music #28.

Help us plan our 10th Anniversary show by taking our planning survey. Watch out for our 2019 Wall Calendar!

Sponsor: Visit thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL for a one-month free trial of The Great Courses Plus Video Learning Service.

Episode 202: Julia Kristeva on Disgust, Fear and the Self (Part One)

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On Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980), ch. 1 and 2.

Kristeva writes about “abjection,” where we violently reject things like corpses, bodily wastes and other fluids, and the Lovecraftian unnameable that lurks at the edge of our awareness. Her book is also all about the self, suggesting modifications to Freud’s Oedipal complex and Lacan’s mirror-stage story. With guest Kelley Citrin.

Don’t wait for part 2! Get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition now, as well as Mark’s Close Reading, which we’ve made available to Patreon supporters at the $1 level. Please support PEL!

Sponsors: Visit fin.com/pel to try a virtual assistant for free. Visit thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL for a one-month free trial of The Great Courses Plus Video Learning Service.

Episode 202: Julia Kristeva on Disgust, Fear and the Self (Citizen Edition)

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On Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980), ch. 1 and 2.

What is horror? Kristeva’s book is about a process she calls “abjection,” where we violently reject things like corpses, bodily wastes and other fluids, and the Lovecraftian unnameable that lurks at the edge of our awareness.

The book is also all about the self, suggesting modifications to Freud’s Oedipal complex and Lacan’s mirror-stage story. With guest Kelley Citrin.

End song: “Eyes of Fire” by Jill Freeman, as discussed on Nakedly Examined Music #28.

Watch out for Mark’s Close Reading/follow-up on this text, coming soon!

PREVIEW-Ep 201 Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations” (Part Three)

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Mark and Seth get further into the specifics of Marcus’s metaphysics and how this is supposed to relate to behavior. Can his directives really come solely “from reason” as he claims? How does this interact with the behaviors that we pursue “by nature,” i.e., without conscious deliberation required? Seth is concerned with how individualistic the philosophy is. Mark is concerned that if you discard the metaphysics (as modern skeptics largely do), why should you expect the rest of the philosophy to be coherent?

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Episode 201 Follow-Up: More on Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations” (Citizens Only)

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Mark and Seth get further into the specifics of Marcus’s metaphysics and how this is supposed to relate to behavior. Can his directives really come solely “from reason” as he claims? How does this interact with the behaviors that we pursue (appropriately, according to Marcus) “by nature,” i.e., without conscious deliberation required? Seth is concerned with how individualistic the philosophy is. Mark is concerned that if you discard the metaphysics (as modern skeptics largely do), why should you expect the rest of the philosophy to be coherent?

Listen to episode 201 first.

Episode 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Part Two)

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More on The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (ca. 180 CE) plus Ryan’s The Daily Stoic (2016).

We talk Stoicism as “pre-mourning,” love of fate, the divine plan, political ethics, ethical models, and overwriting your brain with the Stoic operating system.

Hear part 1 first, or get the full, unbroken Citizen Edition, as well as the follow-up discussion. Please support PEL!

End song: “Any Way the Wind Blows” by MIR; listen to Mark talk with Asif Illyas on Nakedly Examined Music #33.

Help us plan our 10th Anniversary show by taking our planning survey.

Episode 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Part One)

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On The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (ca. 180 CE) plus Ryan’s The Daily Stoic (2016).

What does Stoicism look like in practice, in both ancient and modern contexts? You might think that eschewing the shallow, out-of-our-control trappings of fame and wealth in favor of personal cultivation would make one unambitious, but Ryan uses Marcus as a prime example of how to be a Stoic while trying to accomplish great things.

Don’t wait for part two! Get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition now. We’ll also be releasing a Citizen-only follow-up discussion getting more into the text of Marcus this week. Please support PEL!

Help us plan our 10th Anniversary show by taking our planning survey.

Episode 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Citizen Edition)

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On The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (ca. 180 CE) plus Ryan’s The Daily Stoic (2016).

What does Stoicism look like in practice, in both ancient and modern contexts? You might think that eschewing the shallow, out-of-our control trappings of fame and wealth in favor of personal cultivation would make one unambitious, but Ryan uses Marcus as a prime example of how to be a Stoic while trying to accomplish great things.

End song: “Any Way the Wind Blows” by MIR; listen to Mark talk with Asif Illyas on Nakedly Examined Music #33.

Help us plan our 10th Anniversary show by taking our planning survey.

Episode 200: Kant/Mendelssohn/Foucault on Enlightenment (Part Two)

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Continuing on “What Is Enlightenment” by Immanuel Kant (1784), “On Enlightening the Mind” by Moses Mendelssohn (1784), and “What Is Enlightenment” by Michael Foucault (1984).

We finish up Kant (the courage to know!) and lay out the Mendelssohn (cultivation vs. enlightenment) and Foucault (ironically heroize the present!). Will this conversation enlighten you? Who knows?

Listen to part one first or get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition. Please support PEL! Participate in the survey to help us plan our 10 year anniversary PEL Live event!

End song: “Holy Fool” by Love and Rockets. Listen to singer Daniel Ash on Nakedly Examined Music #35.

Sponsor: Visit thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL for a one-month free trial of The Great Courses Plus Video Learning Service.

Episode 200: Kant/Mendelssohn/Foucault on Enlightenment (Part One)

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On “What Is Enlightenment” by Immanuel Kant (1784), “On Enlightening the Mind” by Moses Mendelssohn (1784), and “What Is Enlightenment” by Michael Foucault (1984).

At the end of the historical period known as the Enlightenment, a Berlin newspaper asked what exactly that is, and Kant and Mendelssohn responded. Both were concerned with whether too much enlightenment among the public can cause social unrest, and so whether there should be freedom of speech and opinion. Foucault thinks that we’re not yet Enlightened, that it’s an ongoing process of critique.

Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/pel-live to help us plan the 10-year anniversary live event!

Don’t wait for part 2! Get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL!

Sponsors: Visit ZipRecruiter.com/pel to try this hiring service for free. Visit thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL for a one-month free trial of The Great Courses Plus Video Learning Service.

Episode 200: Kant/Mendelssohn/Foucault on Enlightenment (Citizen Edition)

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On “What Is Enlightenment” by Immanuel Kant (1784), “On Enlightening the Mind” by Moses Mendelssohn (1784), and “What Is Enlightenment” by Michael Foucault (1984).

At the end of the historical period known as the Enlightenment, a Berlin newspaper asked what exactly that is, and Kant and Mendelssohn responded. Both were concerned with whether too much enlightenment among the public can cause social unrest, and so whether there should be freedom of speech and opinion. Foucault thinks that we’re not yet Enlightened, that it’s an ongoing process of critique.

Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/pel-live to help us plan the 10-year anniversary live event!

End song: “Holy Fool” by Love and Rockets. Listen to singer Daniel Ash on Nakedly Examined Music #35.

About The Partially Examined Life

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

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