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Ep. 256: Kropotkin’s Anarchist Communism (Part One)

November 9, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 10 Comments

Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode, or listen to a preview. Citizens can get the entire second part here. On Peter Kropotkin's The Conquest of Bread (1892), discussed by Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. If we want an egalitarian society, do we need the state to accomplish this? Kropotkin says no, that in fact the state inevitably serves the interests of the few, and that if  Continue Reading …

Ep. 256: Kropotkin’s Anarchist Communism (Part Two for Supporters)

November 8, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 6 Comments

Continuing on Peter Kropotkin's The Conquest of Bread (1892). Start with Part One. If Kropotkin is right that mutual aid is a natural tendency and so communism is very much feasible, why hasn't it happened already? This is the question that he starts off with in his Preface (added in 1913), and we go through this and many other specific points and passages from the text.  Continue Reading …

Ep. 256: Kropotkin’s Anarchist Communism (Part One for Supporters)

November 8, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

On Peter Kropotkin's The Conquest of Bread (1892), discussed by Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. If we want an egalitarian society, do we need the state to accomplish this? Kropotkin says no, that in fact the state inevitably serves the interests of the few, and that if we got rid of it, our natural tendencies to cooperate would allow us through voluntary organizations to keep  Continue Reading …

PEL Nightcap Late September 2020 (Citizens Only)

September 21, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

When we recorded this, we were still awaiting our Habermas recording; we discuss what secondary sources we use. How about you listeners? Anarchism! Should we do an episode on it? We probably will, and probably before the end of 2020, but not immediately. Relatedly, should we have guests who are adherents of the philosophy we're discussing? What was the episode we've  Continue Reading …

Ep. 237: Walter Benjamin Analyzes Violence (Part Two)

March 9, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 8 Comments

Continuing on Benjamin's "Critique of Violence" (1921). Mark, Wes, and Seth keep trying to figure out this difficult essay. Is Benjamin really advocating a workers' revolution to end the state, or just reflecting on a hypothetical to explore the limits of the concept of violence? According to Judith Butler's interpretation of the essay, the takeaway is the alternative to  Continue Reading …

Ep. 237: Walter Benjamin Analyzes Violence (Part One)

March 2, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

On Benjamin's "Critique of Violence" (1921). What is violence? Walter Benjamin (pronounced "Ben-Ya-Meen") breaks down the phenomenon into four types and then shows why these are not really distinct after all. First, any state is always established, he says, through at least some violent acts, so this is law-making violence. Not only does one group subdue another, but then  Continue Reading …

Ep. 237: Walter Benjamin Analyzes Violence (Citizen Edition)

March 2, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

On Benjamin's "Critique of Violence" (1921). What is violence? Walter Benjamin (pronounced "Ben-Ya-Meen") breaks down the phenomenon into four types and then shows why these are not really distinct after all. First, any state is always established, he says, through at least some violent acts, so this is law-making violence. Not only does one group subdue another, but then  Continue Reading …

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The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

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