Phi Fic means Philosophical Fiction. Each episode, we have a candid dicussion on a heady work of of fiction, full of SPOILERS. Join host Nathan Hanks and readers Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Mary Claire, plus the occasional guest.
We also discuss the themes which Nathan, Laura, Jennifer and Daniel each found to be what resonated most: the circularity of time, memory, loss, humanity, and the caution the novel leaves us with about living life.
What Does It Mean for a Thing to Be “A Thing”?
Despite its many obvious shortcomings, the human mind is a remarkably productive generator of categories—from the Linnaean system of taxonomy to two drinkers in a bar arguing over India Pale Ales, and indeed the person sitting next to them who complains to the bartender about “hipsters” taking over his favorite bar. This natural proclivity to set out a number of Continue Reading …
To Celebrate Recording 200 Episodes, Mark Partially Examines 10 Bad Reviews
I wanted to remind you if you’re a fan of the podcast to go to the iTunes store and leave us a nice rating or a review. I noticed that we now for the first time have a 4 1/2 star overall average instead of a 5 star one. I think this is not uncommon when one’s exposure gets large Continue Reading …
Updated “Episodes by Topic” and “Upcoming” pages
Have you gotten lost in our 200+ episodes? Don’t quite know where to dive into our back catalog? Due to several people nagging me over email in recent years, I’ve finally updated our Episodes by Topic page to carry us through the present day. This includes new tabs dedicated to the philosophy of language and to psychology, which we’ve now Continue Reading …
On Reactions to Our American Indian Episode
Yes, our episode 173 was not perfect. Maybe we can do a follow-up? Maybe you can help make that happen. Or maybe you think it was fine and we should all just move on.
Come See Seth Deliver Keynote at Houston Community College Philosophy and Humanities Conference Nov. 4
Seth will speak at the Inaugural Houston Community College Philosophy and Humanities Conference Fri. Nov. 4, 5:30pm in Houston, on “Reason, Memory, Habit and Discourse in the Age of On-Demand Content.” Admission is free, and you should attend. Meet and greet Seth afterwards at the conference reception.
PEL Live Show/Election Special at Brown University on October 27: de Tocqueville and the Problem with Democracy
Grab your hats: PEL will be doing a live recording at Brown University on October 27, 2016.
STOICON 2016 – October 15 in Manhattan
Wes Alwan will be at STOICON 2016, an annual meeting of people interested in exploring Stoicism as a philosophy of life. You should come too.
Not School Update: August 2016
As the heat of summer is causing me to spend as much time trying to stay cool as is humanly possible (and hopefully you as well, dear reader), we want to let you know about some of the upcoming Not School seminars that you can enjoy whilst pondering some of life’s more existential issues (such as: mojito or bud light lime).
Not School Update for July: Free Montaigne Seminar 7/11
Everybody’s out “America-ing” this weekend, but we want to take a moment from your patriotic revelry to remind you of some of our PEL Not School seminars coming up in July.
Where’s Seth? (And Who Are You?)
We recently kicked off a survey to get feedback from you folks about what we are doing well and what you would like to see us improve. We also asked for some demographic and behavioral data to satisfy our corporate sponsor overlords. With typical PEL Citizen and Fan aplomb you responded in numbers to our request. I’d like to share Continue Reading …
New Upcoming Episodes Page!
Want to keep up with the reading? Go check out the new page: www.partiallyexaminedlife.com/upcoming, which now and for the foreseeable future will list the readings for future episodes as soon as we’ve got them finalized.
Not School This February
It’s February! Time to check out the Citizens’ Forum and Not School proposals.
January News for PEL Citizens and Not School
Happy New Year! Nathan Hanks brings us up to date on January’s Not School offerings for PEL Citizens. And if you’re not a Citizen yet, what better way to start the year than by making a commitment to your intellectual health?
On Power, Knowledge and Wall Calendars
Avis! The 2016 PEL wall calendar is for sale here. This is no mere concept, rather it is a physical object like your body on which you can inscribe words, images and – if you are creative – power relations. I myself used our galley proof as a canvas for a History of My Sexuality. It was just the right size… This year Continue Reading …
Topic for #129: Is Religious Faith Rational?
Nathan Gilmour (Christian Humanist podcast) and Rob Dyer (God Complex Radio) joined Mark and Wes for a wide-ranging discussion on the reasonableness of religious belief, covering short articles by Alvin Plantinga, Antony Flew, Richard Swinburne, and others.
“Songs from the Partially Examined Life” Now Available (CD, mp3)
A 17-song album featuring the best tracks composed for the end of the podcast is now available as super cheap mp3s or as a gift-optimal CD. Newly mastered, shinier than you remember, better with repeated listens!
New from the PEL Citizens’ Forum and Not School
It’s December! Time for PEL Citizens to join or propose groups and discussions in the Citizens’ Forum. Guaranteed to make your holidays more enjoyable! Join an existing or proposed Not School group, or create one of your own.
PEL Goes up to Eleven (Million Downloads, That Is)
Hey, our podcast episodes have now been downloaded over 11,000,000 times, which is crazy. Thank you on Thanksgiving! Here are some semi-speculative, vague announcements re: how things are going and what’s ahead.
Topic for #128: Hilary Putnam on Linguistic Meaning
We were rejoined by Matt Teichman to continue our Kripke thread, discussing primarily Putnam’s essay “The Meaning of Meaning” (1971) about water here vs. water on “Twin Earth” where that stuff that runs in rivers and streams has a different chemical composition. Putnam puts forth a positive theory of meaning that involves holding a stereotype of a term (e.g., that water is wet) but also where your meaning is determined by extension, i.e., what your term in the real world actually refers to, so that we and the Twin Earthers mean something different even though we seem to have the same psychological state when talking about water.
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