• Log In

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

A Philosophy Podcast and Philosophy Blog

Subscribe on Android Spotify Google Podcasts audible patreon
  • Home
  • Podcast
    • PEL Network Episodes
    • Publicly Available PEL Episodes
    • Paywalled and Ad-Free Episodes
    • PEL Episodes by Topic
    • Nightcap
    • Philosophy vs. Improv
    • Pretty Much Pop
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • (sub)Text
    • Phi Fic Podcast
    • Combat & Classics
    • Constellary Tales
  • Blog
  • About
    • PEL FAQ
    • Meet PEL
    • About Pretty Much Pop
    • Philosophy vs. Improv
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • Meet Phi Fic
    • Listener Feedback
    • Links
  • Join
    • Become a Citizen
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Log In
  • Donate
  • Store
    • Episodes
    • Swag
    • Everything Else
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account
  • Contact
  • Mailing List

Ep. 223: Guest Ned Block on Consciousness (Part One)

August 12, 2019 by Mark Linsenmayer 5 Comments

For the climax and denouement of our summer philosophy of mind series, Ned Block himself comes on to help us fill in the gaps about functionalism and attributing consciousness to machines. We discuss two essays by other authors responding to Ned's work from the collection Blockheads!: Essays on Ned Block's Philosophy of Mind and Consciousness (2019), ed. Adam Pautz and Daniel  Continue Reading …

Ep. 223: Guest Ned Block on Consciousness (Citizen Edition)

August 12, 2019 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

For the climax and denouement of our summer philosophy of mind series, Ned Block himself comes on to help us fill in the gaps about functionalism and attributing consciousness to machines. We discuss two essays by other authors responding to Ned's work from the collection Blockheads!: Essays on Ned Block's Philosophy of Mind and Consciousness (2019), ed. Adam Pautz and Daniel  Continue Reading …

Ep. 219: The Harder Problem of Consciousness (Block & Papineau)

July 1, 2019 by Mark Linsenmayer 11 Comments

On Ned Block's "The Harder Problem of Consciousness" (2002) and David Papineau's "Could There Be a Science of Consciousness?" (2003). What would give us sufficient reason to believe that a non-human was conscious? Block thinks this is a harder problem that we might suspect. We can't know for sure exactly what consciousness in us is, so we can't know for sure what such a  Continue Reading …

Ep. 219: The Harder Problem of Consciousness (Block & Papineau) (Citizen Edition)

June 30, 2019 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

On Ned Block's "The Harder Problem of Consciousness" (2002) and David Papineau's "Could There Be a Science of Consciousness?" (2003). What would give us sufficient reason to believe that a non-human was conscious? Block thinks this is a harder problem that we might suspect. We can't know for sure exactly what consciousness in us is, so we can't know for sure what such a  Continue Reading …

Ep. 218: The Hard Problem of Consciousness (Chalmers, et al) (Part Two)

June 24, 2019 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

Continuing on "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature" by David Chalmers (2003). We finish Chalmers's account of the types of physicialism, then move on to dualism (including epiphenomenalism), and finally dally with panpsychism, the specialty of our guest, Gregory Miller from the Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast. Listen to part 1 first or listen to the unbroken, ad-free  Continue Reading …

Ep. 218: The Hard Problem of Consciousness (Chalmers, et al) (Part One)

June 17, 2019 by Mark Linsenmayer 27 Comments

On "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature" by David Chalmers (2003), with special guest Gregory Miller from the Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast. Can we explain human experience using the terms of brain physiology? Well, it depends what you mean by "explain." Our experience has a qualitative character: the feeling of red, the smell of methane, the feel of a cat's scratchy  Continue Reading …

Ep. 218: The Hard Problem of Consciousness (Chalmers, et al) (Citizen Edition)

June 15, 2019 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

On "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature" by David Chalmers (2003), with special guest Gregory Miller from the Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast. Can we explain human experience using the terms of brain physiology? Well, it depends what you mean by "explain." Our experience has a qualitative character: the feeling of red, the smell of methane, the feel of a cat's scratchy  Continue Reading …

Episode 179: William James’s Introspective Psychology (Part One)

December 18, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

On The Principles of Psychology (1890) chapters 1 & 7, and Psychology, the Briefer Course (1892), the chapters on "The Stream of Thought," "Habit," and some of "The Self." Can we talk about the mind in a way that is both scientific and also does justice to our everyday experiences? James thought that previous philosophers talking about the mind weren't accurately reflecting  Continue Reading …

Ep. 179: William James’s Introspective Psychology (Citizen Edition)

December 17, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

On The Principles of Psychology (1890) chapters 1 & 7, and Psychology, the Briefer Course (1892), the chapters on "The Stream of Thought," "Habit," and some of "The Self." Can we talk about the mind in a way that is both scientific and also does justice to our everyday experiences? James thought that previous philosophers talking about the mind weren't accurately  Continue Reading …

What Is It Like to Be Ourselves? A Debate on Consciousness and the Mind

October 25, 2016 by Ana Sandoiu 22 Comments

“Consciousness is that annoying thing that happens between naps.” This is how world-renowned philosopher and cognitive scientist David Chalmers defines the quintessentially human state in this debate, although his facetiousness is quite easy to detect: Chalmers famously formulated the “hard problem of consciousness” and built an immensely successful career around it. His  Continue Reading …

Not School This February

February 2, 2016 by Nathan Hanks Leave a Comment

Hey,  there. Nathan Hanks here with a February update on the Partially Examined Life's Not School and Citizen's Forum. While the semesters are starting, PEL Members are also meeting and talking with others about whatever is of interest. Currently there is a discussion in the forum on Nietzche's concept of  "The Death of God" and a conversation in the group for Consciousness  Continue Reading …

Citizen Interview with Nicholas Humphrey, a Leading Figure in Mind and Consciousness

May 22, 2015 by John Ludders 1 Comment

On May 1st I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with Nicholas Humphrey, one of the world’s leading minds in the fields of evolutionary psychology and the study of consciousness.  The interview is a followup to an article in The Partially Examined Life blog titled “Soul Dust: A Well Supported Stab At The Why of Consciousness.”  Our conversation focuses mainly on  Continue Reading …

Soul Dust: A Well Supported Stab At The “Why” Of Consciousness.

March 30, 2015 by John Ludders 13 Comments

Nicholas Humphrey, professor of psychology at The London School Of Economics, is a leading investigator of  what philosopher David Chalmers dubbed the “hard problem” of consciousness.   His Recent book Soul Dust approaches the second part of the Hard Problem: why human beings have consciousness, and why consciousness should have evolved at all. It is an excellent read for  Continue Reading …

A Lagging, Nagging Take on Her

September 5, 2014 by Jay Jeffers 6 Comments

Her got a lot of attention during its run in theaters. It even captured the attention of philosophers, no doubt because of the movie’s focus on artificial intelligence, a fixation of philosophy for at least as long as the term has been in our common vernacular. Released on DVD back in the spring, the movie received mostly (but not exclusively) positive reviews. Life in Her  Continue Reading …

Topic for #84: Nietzsche’s “Gay Science”

October 10, 2013 by Mark Linsenmayer 8 Comments

On 10/13/13 we recorded a discussion on Nietzche's  Continue Reading …

Do Phenomenal Concepts Negate Wittgenstein’s Private Language Argument?

May 16, 2012 by Daniel Horne 2 Comments

http://vimeo.com/10182737 Watch on Vimeo In the video above, Prof. David Papineau compares different "naturalist" theories of consciousness to propose that phenomenal concepts pose a problem for Wittgenstein's private language argument. (A version of this issue was briefly raised during the second episode discussing Philosophical Investigations.) Hint: If you're not yet  Continue Reading …

Anesthesia and Consciousness

January 10, 2012 by Wes Alwan 5 Comments

Neuroscientists are using anesthesia to study consciousness in a way that seems related to higher order theories of consciousness. The conclusion so far: "consciousness emerges from the integration of information across large networks in the brain": Over the past few years, other EEG studies have supported the idea that anesthesia doesn't simply shut the brain down but, rather,  Continue Reading …

Episode 47: Sartre on Consciousness and the Self (Citizens Only)

November 30, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

Discussing Jean-Paul Sartre's The Transcendence of the Ego (written in 1934). What is consciousness, and does it necessarily involve an "I" who is conscious of things? Sartre says no: typical experience is consciousness of some object and doesn't involve the experience of myself as someone having this consciousness. It's only when we reflect on our own conscious experiences  Continue Reading …

PREVIEW-Episode 47: Sartre on Consciousness and the Self

November 30, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 36 Comments

This is a 31-minute preview of a 2 hr, 1-minute episode. Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat  Continue Reading …

Topic for #47: Sartre on the Self

November 11, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

Jean-Paul Sartre is best known for his 1960's existentialism and Marxist activism, but before he was a big celebrity, he was a phenomenologist who spent a lot of time grappling with Heidegger (his book Being and Nothingnessis an homage in part to Heidegger's Being and Time, but more importantly (to this topic) with Edmund Husserl. Part of Husserl's analysis of experience  Continue Reading …

Next Page »

PEL Live Show 2023

Brothers K Live Show

Citizenship has its Benefits

Become a PEL Citizen
Become a PEL Citizen, and get access to all paywalled episodes, early and ad-free, including exclusive Part 2's for episodes starting September 2020; our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more causally; a community of fellow learners, and more.

Rate and Review

Nightcap

Listen to Nightcap
On Nightcap, listen to the guys respond to listener email and chat more casually about their lives, the making of the show, current events and politics, and anything else that happens to come up.

Subscribe to Email Updates

Select list(s):

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Support PEL

Buy stuff through Amazon and send a few shekels our way at no extra cost to you.

Tweets by PartiallyExLife

Recent Comments

  • Jason Engelund on Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part Two for Supporters)
  • Eric on Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part One)
  • Vincent Czyz on Lucifer: How a Decent Deity Got a Bad Rap (Part 1)
  • Matt Kuenning on Ep. 310: Wittgenstein On World-Pictures (Part Two)
  • Sean Fournier on Not Episode 69: PEL Players Full Cast Audiobook of Plato’s “Gorgias” (part 1)

About The Partially Examined Life

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

Become a PEL Citizen!

As a PEL Citizen, you’ll have access to a private social community of philosophers, thinkers, and other partial examiners where you can join or initiate discussion groups dedicated to particular readings, participate in lively forums, arrange online meet-ups for impromptu seminars, and more. PEL Citizens also have free access to podcast transcripts, guided readings, episode guides, PEL music, and other citizen-exclusive material. Click here to join.

Blog Post Categories

  • (sub)Text
  • Aftershow
  • Announcements
  • Audiobook
  • Book Excerpts
  • Citizen Content
  • Citizen Document
  • Citizen News
  • Close Reading
  • Combat and Classics
  • Constellary Tales
  • Exclude from Newsletter
  • Featured Ad-Free
  • Featured Article
  • General Announcements
  • Interview
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Misc. Philosophical Musings
  • Nakedly Examined Music Podcast
  • Nakedly Self-Examined Music
  • NEM Bonus
  • Not School Recording
  • Not School Report
  • Other (i.e. Lesser) Podcasts
  • PEL Music
  • PEL Nightcap
  • PEL's Notes
  • Personal Philosophies
  • Phi Fic Podcast
  • Philosophy vs. Improv
  • Podcast Episode (Citizen)
  • Podcast Episodes
  • Pretty Much Pop
  • Reviewage
  • Song Self-Exam
  • Supporter Exclusive
  • Things to Watch
  • Vintage Episode (Citizen)
  • Web Detritus

Follow:

Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Apple Podcasts

Copyright © 2009 - 2023 · The Partially Examined Life, LLC. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Copyright Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in