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 …
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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. One surprising notion that Nietzsche throws in is that even 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. We start out by re-litigating what Timon's problem is at the beginning of the play, which sets up his fall. Then we move to explicitly considering the 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 …
Ep. 297: Heidegger on the Human Condition (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. We continue from ep. 296 with our close reading on Martin Heidegger's Being and Time (1927), covering in this part of the discussion chapter 1. Featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. This selection (aka section 9) covers existence (in German, Existenz) vs. existentia. The former is Dasein's (humanity's) specific way of Continue Reading …
Ep. 296: Heidegger Questions Being (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free plus tons of bonus content. Continuing our close reading of selections of Being and Time from part one, we come back on a different day without Wes and focus on two parts from the Introduction 2, sec. 7: Sec. 5, where Heidegger says why time has to be the focus of the ontological analysis of Dasein (i.e. his description of the Continue Reading …
Ep. 296: Heidegger Questions Being (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. This close reading of sections near the beginning of Martin Heidegger's Being and Time (1926) is a direct sequel to ep. 32, which provides an overview of his project. In this episode and 297, we read and discuss particular textual passages, so you can experience along with us what it's like to read this text with its Continue Reading …
Ep. 295: Kant on Preventing War (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 Immanuel Kant's essay "Perpetual Peace," we go further into how Kant's politics relate to his ethics and consider his actual policy proposals: each state must be a republic, i.e. somehow representative with separation of powers, and countries should Continue Reading …
Ep. 295: Kant on Preventing War (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus the supporter-only part 3. On Immanuel Kant's essay "Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch" (1795). Do nations have the "right" to go to war? What principles ground just international relations, and are there structures and agreements that we can embrace to prevent prevent future wars? Naturally, we consider the Continue Reading …