Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a supporter-exclusive part three. Continuing from part one on The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, Ch. 1, 2, and 5 with guest John Ganz. We get further into the text itself, examining Habermas' characterizations of Hegel's characterizations of modernity and how Hegel's Continue Reading …
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Ep. 391: Habermas Defends Modernity (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Jürgen Habermas’ The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity (1985), lectures 1, 2, and 5. Guest historian/pundit John Ganz joins Mark, Wes, Seth and Dylan to discuss Habermas' characterization of modernity, which is approximately what Hegel was criticizing as The Enlightenment. Habermas Continue Reading …
Ep. 390: Diderot Debates a Cynic (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing from part one on Rameau's Nephew, getting further into Rameau's philosophy and practices and trying to figure out what this anti-hero can tell us about ethics, given that he displays the virtue of being candid about his own vices. Sponsors: Don’t get caught running yesterday’s Continue Reading …
Ep. 390: Diderot Debates a Cynic (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Denis Diderot's Rameau's Nephew, a dialogue written in the 1760s, published posthumously in 1805. Featuring Mark, Wes, and Dylan. Diderot was a key figure in the Enlightenment, and this dialogue was discovered right when philosophers like Hegel were criticizing the Enlightenment, Continue Reading …
Ep. 389: Hegel on Wealth and Power (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing form part one on the conclusion of "Culture and its Realm of Actuality," now largely covering sections 519-526 in Hegel's Phenomenology. Sponsor: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. The overall dynamic here makes it sound like nobles are just completely Continue Reading …
Ep. 389: Hegel on Wealth and Power (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology, "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 511-526, which finishes off the sub-section of "Self-Alienated Spirit" called "Culture and its Realm of Actuality." Featuring Mark, Wes, and Seth. Sponsors: Go to NerdWallet.com/PEL for trustworthy small business Continue Reading …
Ep. 388: Hegel on Culture (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing from part one on the "Spirit" chapter (more specifically. "Culture and its realm of actuality") in Hegel's Phenomenology, now covering sec. 490-510. Sponsors: Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial Continue Reading …
Ep. 388: Hegel on Culture (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology, "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 484-510, which is the first part of "Self-Alienated Spirit. Culture." Featuring Mark, Wes, and Seth. As we left things in our last discussion, law had ceased feeling like a natural outgrowth of moral sentiment, but at Continue Reading …
Ep. 387: Hegel on Law (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing from part one on sec. 469-483 of Hegel's Phenomenology. Now that Hegel has told us the story of Antigone, he adds in a comparison to Oedipus to say why the conflict between human and divine law amounts to guilt and destiny. Sponsors: Get three months free of online payroll Continue Reading …
Ep. 387: Hegel on Law (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology, "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 464-483, which are under the sub-headings "Ethical Action. Human and Divine Knowledge. Guilt and Destiny" and "Legal Status." Sponsors: Go to NerdWallet.com/PEL for trustworthy small business loans. Get a $1/month Continue Reading …
Ep. 386: Hegel on Society (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a supporter-exclusive part three. We drill in further on The Phenomenology of Spirit, now starting at sec. 441 and largely covering "The True Spirit. The Ethical Order." We gave an overview of our assignment for this episode (438-463), in part one, and are covering more of these Continue Reading …
Ep. 386: Hegel on Society (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On. G.W.F. Hegel's The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), sec. 438-463. What constitutes society? Featuring Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan. Sponsors: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/pel. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial Continue Reading …
Ep. 385: Guest Graham Harman on Object vs. Continuum (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. In our continuing Q&A with Graham, we engage him about Kantian Things-In-Themselves, complex things (that if divided, must be cut at the joints) vs. mere heaps, fact ontology, natural kinds, fictional objects, why philosophy is not knowledge, and philosophical style. Start with part one, Continue Reading …
Ep. 385: Guest Graham Harman on Object vs. Continuum (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. An interview with Graham in light of his new book, Waves and Stones: On the Ultimate Nature of Reality, which elaborates and adds to issues that the gang (Mark, Wes, Seth and Dylan) previously studied in Object-Oriented Ontology. We read chapters 1, 2, the conclusion of 9, and 10. Sponsors: Continue Reading …
Ep. 384: Graham Harman’s Object-Oriented Ontology (Part Three)
Subscribe to get parts 1, 2, and 3 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. We take one more crack at Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything (2018), now focusing on ch. 2, "Aesthetics Is the Root of All Philosophy," which uses an essay by José Ortega y Gasset called "An Essay in Esthetics by Way of a Preface" (1914). Sponsor: Visit Continue Reading …
Ep. 384: Graham Harman’s Object-Oriented Ontology (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1, 2, and 3 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing from part one on Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything (2018), finishing up ch. 1 (his introduction to the theory) and moving to ch. 4, "Indirect Relations," which is about causality. Sponsor: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. To clarify Continue Reading …
Ep. 384: Graham Harman’s Object-Oriented Ontology (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1, 2, and 3 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything (2018), ch. 1, 2, and 4. Featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. Sponsors: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. Go to HelloFresh.com/pel10fm to Get 10 free meals + a free Zwilling Knife with your third Continue Reading …
Ep. 383: Freud on Love and the Primal Horde (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Finishing up Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, finally now turning to Freud's anthropological account of group membership. Freud attributes to Darwin the idea that the first societies were family units ruled despotically, and Freud in his earlier book Totem and Taboo had described Continue Reading …
Ep. 383: Freud on Love and the Primal Horde (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. We discuss the second half of Sigmund Freud’s Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (1921), continuing from ep. 382 on the first half. We'd established that in group psychology, we take the leader (or leading idea) as a substitute for our super-ego, i.e. our conscience, so we let the Continue Reading …
PEL 2026 Kickoff Nightcap
Subscribe to hear this ad-free and get tons of bonus content. It's another year, and Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan each came in with a short bucket list of philosophical works that we'd like to read before this podcast concludes, whenever that might be. I'm not going to bother to copy out all the titles here, but a few you might not be familiar with include Susan Haack's Continue Reading …