Continuing on What is Literature? (1948). We've finished with poetry and moved on to prose, completing chapter 1 where Sartre expresses how literature is not primarily about style, how it has to actually say something, and so of course it should be political, or philosophical, or otherwise important, and we readers of "great books" should take these arguments seriously (if Continue Reading …
Ep. 212: Sartre on Literature (Part One)
On Jean-Paul Sartre's What is Literature? (1948), ch. 1 and 2. What's the purpose of literature? Why write prose as opposed to poetry? Sartre was fending off criticism that his prose was too overtly political. Kant's view of art was still dominant, according to which good art is "disinterested," i.e., the spectator is supposed to appreciate the pure play of form. So if an Continue Reading …
Episode 212: Sartre on Literature (Citizen Edition)
On Jean-Paul Sartre's What is Literature? (1948), chs. 1 and 2. What's the purpose of literature? Why write prose as opposed to poetry? Sartre was fending off criticism that his prose was too overtly political. Kant's view of art was still dominant, according to which good art is "disinterested," i.e., the spectator is supposed to appreciate the pure play of form. So if an Continue Reading …
Ep. 211: Sartre on Racism and Authenticity (Part Three)
Moving finally on to Jean-Paul Sartre's "Black Orpheus" (1948), where he introduces a book of black poetry by praising its revolutionary spirit as embodied in "negritude." This continues our discussion from Sartre's Anti-Semite and Jew (parts one and two), which criticized Jews whose reactions to racism he deemed inauthentic. "Black Orpheus" presents a similar story, but put Continue Reading …
Ep. 211: Sartre on Racism and Authenticity (Part Two)
Continuing on Jean-Paul Sartre's Anti-Semite and Jew: An Exploration of the Etiology of Hate (1946) and "Black Orpheus" (1948). We move into the latter half of the book, which deals with the Jews themselves. Though Sartre stresses that inauthenticity is more common among the majority protestant population of France, the persecuted Jews are not immune, and their persecuted Continue Reading …
Ep. 211: Sartre on Racism and Authenticity (Part One)
On Jean-Paul Sartre's Anti-Semite and Jew: An Exploration of the Etiology of Hate (1946) and "Black Orpheus" (1948). These are the essays that Frantz Fanon (see ep. 210) was most responding to, and they address the same question: How can we best psychologically understand racism and reactions to it? Sartre's chief analytical tool is the accusation of inauthenticity: The Continue Reading …
Ep. 211: Sartre on Racism and Authenticity (Citizen Edition)
On Jean-Paul Sartre's Anti-Semite and Jew: An Exploration of the Etiology of Hate (1946) and "Black Orpheus" (1948). These are the essays that Frantz Fanon (see ep. 210) was most responding to, and they address the same question: How can we best psychologically understand racism and reactions to it? Sartre's chief analytical tool is the accusation of inauthenticity: The Continue Reading …
Nothing So Absurd?
Introduction “There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it.” So wrote Cicero.[1] The immediate occasion of his remark was the claim that it is wrong to eat beans. Cicero attributes this claim—as do other sources—to Pythagoras and his followers. The Pythagoreans held that eating beans disturbs not just the body but also the soul. Or so Cicero reports. A Continue Reading …
Truth and Authenticity in Michael Haneke’s Caché
Critically acclaimed filmmaker, auteur of disquieting cinema, Michael Haneke (Funny Games, Caché, The White Ribbon, Amour) has always been one of my favorite directors and one I consider to be deeply philosophical. His subtle, reflective films slowly pull the viewer in and out of their existentially comfy seat, only to suddenly "throw" them, perhaps in a Heideggerian sense, Continue Reading …
Not School Digest #4: Sartre, Heidegger, Zizek, Marx, and Theater
Excerpts from PEL podcaster & listener discussions on Sartre's Nausea, Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology," Slavoj Zizek's Year of Dreaming Dangerously, Marx and Engels's "Communist Manifesto," Peter Schaffer's play Equus, and Cormac McCarthy's The Sunset Limited: A Novel in Dramatic Form. Plus an interview with Hillary Sydlowski, leader of the Not School Continue Reading …
Sincerity. Sincerely.
Judgment without Morality
Both Sartre and Anscombe say that they're teasing out the logical consequences of atheism for ethics, and of course we saw this back in Nietzsche too. If you ask "are these figures moral realists or moral irrealists?", I think they're going to say you're missing the point. No, a sentence like "X is right" no longer becomes simply true or false, and this is because of some sort Continue Reading …
Not School: Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Nausea”
Featuring Mark Linsenmayer, Sean Webb, Stan Martin, and Yannick Kilberger. Recorded January 26, 2014. Moreso than Sartre's philosophical work, a novel like this is supposed to tell us what existentialism is really all about, and sure enough, we get the narrator Roquentin feeling the raw existence of his surroundings: "existence which unceasingly renewed itself and which was Continue Reading …
Not Ep. 87 Addendum: Citizen Outtakes from “No Exit”
Some bonus footage from our recent No Exit performance. Here you'll hear a couple of minutes of us chatting as we share our preconceptions about the play and give excuses for being unprepared; next, about 5 minutes of blooper-type material, as we make jokes that interrupt the performance and have a few car crashes trying to determine the best way to deliver some of this very Continue Reading …
Sartre’s “No Exit” Read with Lucy Lawless & Jaime Murray
In support of our ep. #87 discussing Sartre, the PEL Players present our 2nd annual dramatic reading of a work of philosophical theater. Mark Linsenmayer and Wes Alwan are joined by real actresses Lucy Lawless (Xena, Battlestar Galactica, Parks & Recreation, etc.) and Jaime Murray (Defiance, Dexter, Warehouse 13, etc.), who are pals through working together on Continue Reading …
Not Ep. 87: Sartre’s “No Exit” Read with Lucy Lawless & Jaime Murray
In support of our ep. #87 discussing Sartre, the PEL Players present our 2nd annual dramatic reading of a work of philosophical theater. Mark Linsenmayer and Wes Alwan are joined by real actresses Lucy Lawless (Xena, Battlestar Galactica, Parks & Recreation, etc.) and Jaime Murray (Defiance, Dexter, Warehouse 13, etc.), who are pals through working together on Continue Reading …
Episode 87: Sartre on Freedom and Self-Deception
On Jean-Paul Sartre's "Existentialism is a Humanism" (1946), "Bad Faith" (pt. 1, ch. 2 of Being & Nothingness, 1943), and his play No Exit (1944). What is human nature? Sartre says that there isn't one, but there is a universal human condition, which is our absolute freedom. This freedom is a basic certainty in our experience, and it comes out of the mere fact of our being Continue Reading …
Episode 87: Sartre on Freedom and Self-Deception
On Jean-Paul Sartre's "Existentialism is a Humanism" (1946), "Bad Faith" (pt. 1, ch. 2 of Being & Nothingness, 1943), and his play No Exit (1944). What is human nature? Sartre says that there isn't one, but there is a universal human condition, which is our absolute freedom. This freedom is a basic certainty in our experience, and it comes out of the mere fact of our being Continue Reading …
Precognition of Ep. 87: Sartre
Mark Linsenmayer lays out some themes from Jean-Paul Sartre's "Existentialism is a Humanism" and the "Bad Faith" chapter (Part 1, Ch. 2) of Being & Nothingness. Listen to the full episode. Read a transcript. Continue Reading …
Precognition of Ep. 87: Sartre
Mark Linsenmayer lays out some themes from Jean-Paul Sartre's "Existentialism is a Humanism" and the "Bad Faith" chapter (Part 1, Ch. 2) of Being & Nothingness. Listen to the full episode. A transcript is available on our Citizen site's Free Stuff page. Continue Reading …