The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

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Ep. 225: Simone Weil on War and Oppression (Part Two)

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Continuing on Simone Weil’s essays “The Iliad, or the Poem of Force” (1939) and “Analysis of Oppression” (1934) with guest Corey Mohler.

We talk about the self-contradictions of power, why oppression and war are so intractable, and her positive solution (what there is of it here). Weil cuts through our left-right political dichotomy in a way that might interest you. Plus, why the Iliad is so great.

Start with part one or get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!

End song: “Throw Down the Sword” from Wishbone Ash; hear Andy Powell on Nakedly Examined Music #51.

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Episode 170: Guy Debord’s “Society of the Spectacle” (Part Two)

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More on the 1967 Situtationist book. Do we buy Debord’s critique? Is any merely partial critique (i.e., no revolution) just more spectacle? Is technology inherently dehumanizing? Don’t these passivity/anti-technology arguments even apply to books? Could Debord’s model of authenticity catch on in society as a whole?

Start with part 1, or get the Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!

End song: “Millionaire” by The Mekons (1993); Jon Langford appears on Nakedly Examined Music #22.

Try blinkist.com/pel for audio condensations of non-fiction books, and try Seriously Wrong: srslywrong.com.

Episode 170: Guy Debord’s “Society of the Spectacle” (Part One)

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What is culture? In modern capitalism, Debord’s 1967 book describes it as all about the economy. It’s not just our jobs that keep us trapped, but our life outside of working hours is also demanded by “the system” via our activity as consumers, and this commoditization infiltrates every corner of our lives. Debord wants us to WAKE UP, break our chains, and live lives of immediacy, vitality, and authenticity.

Episode 170: Guy Debord’s “Society of the Spectacle” (Citizen Edition)

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What is culture? In modern capitalism, Debord’s 1967 book describes it as all about the economy. It’s not just our jobs that keep us trapped, but our life outside of working hours is also demanded by “the system” via our activity as consumers, and this commoditization infiltrates every corner of our lives. Debord wants us to WAKE UP, break our chains, and live lives of immediacy, vitality, and authenticity.

End song: “Millionaire” by The Mekons (1993), one of whom, Jon Langford, Mark interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #22.

The Fate of Slavoj Zizek

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Friend of PEL Doug Lain has been trying to score an interview with Slavoj Žižek on his Zero Squared podcast for years. Now, some think that Žižek’s stock is in decline, among other reasons because he said he’d vote for Trump if he could. Could he really have been only pretending to be some sort of radical leftist all along? Doug’s got the full story; find out how it all went down here.

More on Marx? (on Diet Soap and Elsewhere)

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[Editor’s Note: Thanks for Doug Lain of the Diet Soap Podcast for weighing in here with his extensive experience with Marxism.] Mark, Seth and Wes finally arrived at the philosopher who matters most over at the pinko podcast Diet Soap.  While I plan on writing a response to their comments, and most especially to respond to the problem of this Continue Reading …

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

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