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? The Partially Examined Life is sponsored by Continue Reading …
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Ep. 305: Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (Part One)
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)
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)
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 …
Ep. 303: H.L.A. Hart on the Foundations of Law (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3. Continuing from part one on "Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals" (1958) and The Concept of Law (1961), ch. 5 and 6. If law is not based on morality, then why obey the law? Hart claims that it's just a fact that most of us feel most of the time that we should obey the law. If this Continue Reading …
Ep. 303: H.L.A. Hart on the Foundations of Law (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On "Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals" (1958) and The Concept of Law (1961), ch. 5 and 6. What's the relationship between law and morality? If law isn't founded on morality, what is it founded on? Hart was a leading figure in the philosophy of law, and wrote in the tradition of legal positivism that goes Continue Reading …
Ep. 302: Erasmus Praises Foolishness (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3, which you can preview. Continuing from part one on The Praise of Folly (1509) with guest Nathan Gilmour. Can foolishness actually make us more prudent, which sounds like its opposite? Well, having the wisdom to avoid all trouble keeps us from getting experience that would be helpful in acting Continue Reading …
Ep. 302: Erasmus Praises Foolishness (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On Desiderius Erasmus' The Praise of Folly (1509), featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Nathan Gilmour from the Christian Humanist podcast. Does foolishness enhance life? The Dutch Renaissance Catholic theologian known for his disputes with Martin Luther criticized the church from the inside, using gentle satire that Continue Reading …
Ep. 301: Is Abortion Morally Permissible? (Part Three)
Subscribe to get all three parts of this episode ad free, plus a supporter exclusive Nightcap discussion about representation in discussions like this (i.e. are only women qualified to talk about the morality of abortion?), which you can preview. Jenny Hansen joins us for our final part of this discussion, covering "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion" by Mary Anne Continue Reading …
Ep. 301: Is Abortion Morally Permissible? (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1, 2, and 3 ad-free right now. We continue from part one on Judith Jarvis Thomson's "A Defense of Abortion" (1971), and then add Don Marquis' "Why Abortion is Immoral" (1989) and we begin our treatment of Mary Anne Warren's "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion" (1973), which we'll conclude in part three of this discussion. We pry further Continue Reading …
Ep. 301: Is Abortion Morally Permissible? (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1, 2 and 3 of this now, ad-free. We discuss some widely read papers about the morality of abortion, starting here with a selection from the Roe v. Wade decision (1973) and Judith Jarvis Thomson's "A Defense of Abortion" (1971). Featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. Roe tried to sidestep the philosophical question of the current personhood of a Continue Reading …
Ep. 300: Nietzsche on Relating to History (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3, which you can preview. Continuing from part one on “On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life” (1874), we get into the antiquarian use of history and the critical approach to history and Nietzsche's humanistic goals in his essay. Sponsors: Visit NordVPN.com/PEL for a risk-free massively Continue Reading …
Ep. 300: Nietzsche on Relating to History (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. In this special live-streamed show, we discuss Friedrich Nietzsche's “On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life” (1874), which is Untimely Meditations #2, featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. What is the healthiest way to relate to our history? More generally, should we live lives driven purely by reason, Continue Reading …
Ep. 299: Philosophy in Shakespeare’s “Timon of Athens” (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3, which you can preview. Continuing from part one, instead of Jonathan, now actor Sarah Manton (from our performance) joins us, plus Seth is back. Sponsor: Visit NordVPN.com/PEL for a risk-free massively discounted 2-year plan, plus one free month. We start out by re-litigating what Timon's Continue Reading …
Ep. 299: Philosophy in Shakespeare’s “Timon of Athens” (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. What role does money have in human psychology? This is one of several philosophical questions that William Shakespeare's least popular play explores, and Mark, Wes, and Dylan start off our rumination on these with special guest Sir Jonathan Bate, editor of this new complete edition of Shakespeare's plays for the Royal Continue Reading …
Not Ep. 299: Shakespeare’s “Timon of Athens” Audioplay (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free plus tons of bonus content. Continuing our performance from part one of William Shakespeare's play, finishing things up with acts 4 and 5 plus some post-performance discussion with the cast. This is the part of the play where Timon either has gone crazy or become enlightened, such that he's trying to out-cynic the cynic philosopher Continue Reading …
Not Ep. 299: Shakespeare’s “Timon of Athens” Audioplay Feat. Jay O. Sanders, Michael Ian Black, and Michael Tow (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. The PEL Players are back, with more players than ever, doing an unrehearsed reading of William Shakespeare's least popular play, co-written with Thomas Middleton in Shakespeare's later years, probably around 1605. The play is about money and cynicism, where a man gets to see where his friends go when his money runs Continue Reading …
Ep. 298: Marsilio Ficino on Love (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Nightcap featuring more Ficino discussion, which you can preview. Continuing from part one on Commentary on Plato's Symposium on Love (1475), with guest Peter Adamson. Peter gives us some context in terms of other Renaissance theories of love, and then we're back to the text, considering the role of beauty Continue Reading …
Ep. 298: Marsilio Ficino on Love (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On Commentary on Plato's Symposium on Love (1475), with guest Peter Adamson from the History of Philosophy podcast joining Mark, Wes, and Seth. Attention: We'll be live-streaming video for our big ep. 300 on Friday, Aug. 19 at 8pm ET. More info at partiallyexaminedlife.com/pel-live. Leading up to that episode, Continue Reading …
Ep. 297: Heidegger on the Human Condition (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3, which you can preview. Continuing from part one on Being and Time, now up to Ch. 2, sec. 12 on what our "being-in-the-world" amounts to. Sponsors: Download the Zocdoc app free to find a top rated doctor at Zocdoc.com/PEL. Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/pel. According to H, we are Continue Reading …