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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. 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. 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. Get your streaming or in-person ticket to our April 15  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 Leave a 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. Try the History That Doesn't Suck podcast. Attend our live show in NYC on April  Continue Reading …

Ep. 309: Wittgenstein On Certainty (Part Two)

January 30, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

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 1 Comment

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free along with tons of bonus content including first crack on tickets to PEL Live April 15 in Manhattan. 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). Sponsors: Check out the Weird Studies podcast at  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 …

Ep. 307: G.E. Moore Defends Common Sense (Part Two)

January 2, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free, plus a supporter exclusive PEL Nightcap discussion. Continuing from part one on "A Defense of Common Sense" (1925), now down to Mark, Wes, and Dylan. We get into the nitty gritty of Moore's argument: Against idealism, Moore argues that physical facts are in now way dependent on mental facts; for instance, the  Continue Reading …

Ep. 307: G.E. Moore Defends Common Sense (Part One)

December 26, 2022 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On "A Defense of Common Sense" (1925), featuring Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan. Various philosophers will tell you that the only thing you experience is your own ideas, and hence the world outside of your mind is something wholly unknowable, or if it is knowable, it must be because those supposedly physical objects are  Continue Reading …

Ep. 306: Dworkin and the Dobbs Decision (Part Two)

December 19, 2022 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3. Continuing from part one on Ronald Dworkin's "Unenumerated Rights: Whether and How Roe Should be Overruled" (1992) and the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2021) decision featuring guest Robin Linsenmayer. Sponsors: Visit StoryWorth.com/pel to save $10 making it easy for your loved  Continue Reading …

Ep. 306: Dworkin and the Dobbs Decision (Part One)

December 12, 2022 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. Does the U.S. Constitution guarantee the right to an abortion? Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth are joined by lawyer/sister Robin Linsenmayer to discuss Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2021) and Ronald Dworkin's "Unenumerated Rights: Whether and How Roe Should be Overruled" (1992). We previously considered  Continue Reading …

Ep. 305: Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (Part Two)

December 5, 2022 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3. Continuing from part one on McCarthy's 1985 novel, we discuss whether the plentiful, explicit violence in the book is actually gratuitous or whether it's central for presenting the book's philosophy. What makes the book supposedly unfilmable? We then focus on the details of Judge Holden's  Continue Reading …

Ep. 305: Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (Part One)

November 28, 2022 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On McCarthy's 1985 anti-Western novel, featuring Wes, Seth, and Dylan. How does violence play a role in the way the world works? The novel tells a historically based story of the 19th century Glanton gang who were hired as scalp hunters by the Mexican government but then went on a rogue massacre. It's told from the  Continue Reading …

Ep. 304: Dworkin v. Hart on Legal Judgment (Part Two)

November 21, 2022 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free, plus a supporter exclusive PEL Nightcap discussion. Continuing from part one on Roland Dworkin's "The Model of Rules" (1967) and Scott J. Shapiro's "The 'Hart-Dworkin' Debate: A Short Guide for the Perplexed" (2007), plus some of Dworkin's "Hard Cases" (1977). We go through some responses by Hartians to Dworkin's  Continue Reading …

Ep. 304: Dworkin v. Hart on Legal Judgment (Part One)

November 14, 2022 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On Ronald Dworkin's "The Model of Rules" (1967) and Scott J. Shapiro's "The 'Hart-Dworkin' Debate: A Short Guide for the Perplexed" (2007). How do judges make decisions in hard cases? When the law "runs out" and doesn't definitively decide, e.g., whether we have a general "right of privacy," do judges then just draw  Continue Reading …

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