Update: The Course is now underway. If you'd still like to get in on it at any point during its progress, email Mark. Likewise, if you'd like to register your interest in taking this in the spring or have other comments or suggestions on how you might like to engage in this sort of class, feel free to reach out.
Mark Linsenmayer, your Partially Examined Life host, wants to get back to working with students (remotely), and also wants to re-read and talk about some central philosophical texts.
This will be beginner-friendly, but I also welcome students who are returning to these texts to deepen their understanding.
This class will be a guided discussion, giving you the opportunity to develop your speaking/summarizing skills just like on a PEL episode.
Classes will be limited to not more than 20 students and will be conducted over Zoom.
When is it?
There are two sections available, each offered over Zoom. Each section consists of 10 sessions that 1 hr 15 min.
- Section 1
Fridays at 5pm ET/4pm CT
Sep. 1, 8, 22; Oct. 13, 27; Nov. 10, 17; Dec. 1, 8, 15
- Section 2
Saturdays at 11am ET/10am CT
Sep. 2, 9, 23; Oct. 14, 28; Nov. 11, 18; Dec. 2, 9, 16
What are the readings?
(These are subject to minor changes.)
- Sep. 1: Death of Socrates (Apology/Crito/Phaedo)
- Sep. 8: Plato’s Republic (his politics and theory of forms)
- Sep. 22: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
- Oct. 13: Stoicism (selections from Epictetus/Seneca/Marcus Aurelius)
- Oct. 27: Descartes’ Meditations (rationalism)
- Nov. 10: Hume’s Enquiry (empiricism)
- Nov. 17: Kant’s Epistemology (his Prolegomena) (plus responses to it)
- Dec. 1: Kant’s Ethics (vs. other ethical approaches: utilitarianism, virtue ethics)
- Dec. 8: Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals
- Dec. 15: Sartre/Beauvoir: “Existentialism Is a Humanism” and part of Ethics of Ambiguity
Do I actually have to read them? Is there homework? Tests?
Each week has at least one PEL episode associated with it, and I expect you to listen and have some thoughts. You should also try to at least start the readings to get a flavor. The more you're able to read, the more you'll learn.
How much does it cost?
$300 for the course (10 sessions).
In addition, some sessions will require you to access behind-the-paywall PEL discussions, so you should be registered during the course as a $5/month supporter, whether through our website or Patreon or Apple Podcasts.
Enrollment
Enrollment is now closed, since the class has started, but see the invitation to still get involved. at the beginning of this page.