Recorded 3/11/22. We have the war on our minds, and so are looking to cover Kant's Perpetual Peace soon, and maybe something on "just war theory" (feel free to share your recommendations). Perhaps we'll also look at Cassirer's The Myth of the State. Wes talks about conspiracy theories, and Seth brings up more books about fascism that we will not read. We talk some more about Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Early March 2022
Recorded 2/11/22. We give some brief psychoanalytic follow-up to our Scruton eps, anticipate Langer (which we are doing soon!), read a very nice letter, then talk way too long about ratings/reviews. When Dylan finally joins us, he talks about his stay now in Santa Fe where he's talking to someone St. John's Eastern Classics program (he's actually now talked to a few people) Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Early February 2022 (Danto Retrospective)
Recorded 1/17/22. Mark, Seth, and Dylan listened back to our first episode on the philosophy of art: our 2010 ep. #16 on Arthur Danto. We reflect on this in light of our preparation right now for discussing Roger Scruton's Beauty (2009), which since recording this we've decided to record two full discussions on. Here's the Jasper John's NY Times interactive article that Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap New Year’s Party to Welcome 2022
Welcome to an extra special, intentionally public edition of Nightcap to catch you up on what Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan are all up to personally and intellectually and hash out what we want to potentially cover on the show over the next year. Thanks so much for being a PEL supporter. We really appreciate you and hope that your 2022 makes you happier and wiser. The next Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Late December 2021
Recorded 12/3/21. We announce the new Discord server, which has been out for a few weeks now for supporters like you to chat with each other (and occasionally us). Join it. We reflect back on Thanksgiving (yes, timely, I know... back in the old days before Omicron scared us so) and talk about not drinking any more. Follow us on Instagram! Does anyone want to volunteer to Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Mid December 2021
Recorded 11/19/21. Mark, Wes, and Dylan discuss the effort by our previous guest, the now-former president of St. John's College, Pano Kanelos, to create a "free speech" college in Austin. This includes discussion of the literary canon as a concept. Also, future Kant episodes? Watch a video interview with Pano. Here's the pugilistic article about this by Niall Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Mid November 2021
Recorded 10/22/21. Post-Feyerabend, Mark opines on the reading whose episode he missed. Wes wants to learn new languages as an adult, and we all convey what we've done in that respect. Should we do more philosophy of science? Maybe Donna Haraway, i.e. feminist philosophy of science? We anticipate our next episode on Badiou and why we're not having a guest for it. Seth Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Early November 2021
Despite our now having released both Aristotle and Lakatos, this is an aftershow to our Bell episode, specifically talking more about the essay we discussed in part two, "The Rules of Racial Standing." What kind of discourse is Bell's recitation of these "rules" that he's observed in whose speech tends to make a political impact? In that discussion, John McWhorter came Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Mid October 2021
In the aftermath of Aristotle, Seth (who did the reading but missed the discussion) gives his impressions, and we look over the wide and strange range of texts attributed to Aristotle. We look forward to philosophy of science and more Aristotle (and Badiou) and think about our next potential celebrity philosopher and circle around yet again how many modern vs. historical Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Late September 2021
Recorded 9/2/21. We talk about drugs: psychedelic experiences, microdosing, CBD, plus the drug of reading fiction (literary vs. popular). Then we talk about Alien (that Wes just recorded on for subText). Mackie on moral error theory. We anticipate our Aristotle's Categories episode. Plus vaccination and sorryantivaxxer.com. Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Early September 2021
Recorded 8/16/21. Seth thinks about how to continue reading Hegel and some initial political ranting about Texas and gerrymandering ensues. We think about what to read in aesthetics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of sport. (Update: the sport episode is not happening soon.) For the main event, we try to see what we can remember about the philosophy of emotions. Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Late August 2021
Recorded 8/6/21. Mark and Wes hear about Dylan's tick-encounter, discuss whether Wes can break his Hegel habit when we're done ready this, and whether we should have Robert Brandom come on the podcast. Update: I have reached out for him, but he did not reply. A listener reminds you all that Mark writes helpful summaries for each of the episodes on the website, so maybe you Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Late May 2021
Recorded on 5/14/21. We anticipate our German idealism discussions, starting with a two-session run on Fichte's The Vocation of Man. Here's the Stanford article if you want a Fichte overview. Then we talk Apocalypse Now. Wes' (sub)Text podcast recorded on this, presumably right after their most recent release, the book on which it was based. We talk about the appeal of Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Mid May 2021
Recorded on 4/27/21. Seth is late, causing us to question Slack as a mode of communication a la Postman and Nightcap as a worthwhile creation. But then we go ahead and have a pretty darn interesting conversation that started with audio books, went through improv comedy, and then thought about how improv techniques could apply to doing philosophy. Finally Seth grouses about Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Early May 2021
Recorded on April 16 after our Neil Postman discussion. We start by talking about discussion options on our sites (read Jason's post that prompted this). Discord will be coming for all Citizens (when we get to it)! We then reflect on (half of us) having read Avicenna and whether we're ever going to finish even a minimal treatment of the Middle Ages (we will!). Should we Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Late April 2021
Recorded on March 30, after Avicenna but not at all reflecting back on that. Dylan starts us by telling us about Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal by Mark Bittman, which turns to all of our attitudes toward nutrition and dieting. Seth covers is kale shard with a side of cigar. Then a question from Seth for the group: How do our Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Early April 2021
Recorded on March 16, after recording on Jonathan Lear. We start off with some genetic testing talk, then chat about the kinds of comments we receive and what we can and can't reasonably respond to. This leads to some recounting of our various engagement attempts over the years and what we might we willing to do in terms of seminars or course offerings, so long as we can Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Late March 2021
Recorded on March 2, after Phaedo and before our upcoming episode on Jonathan Lear. You might want to get ahold of his book Open Minded: Working Out the Logic of the Soul. We read chapters 1, 10, 7, and 4, in that order; they all concern Plato. Dylan tells us about Wim Hof, and then we talk about death! No, that argument that we shouldn't fear death because either a) it's Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Early March 2021
Recorded on Feb. 21 after our Timaeus discussion, we start with Seth's tales of Austin with no power, which is why he missed that discussion. Dylan was traveling in the northwest and was also affected. But this is not just all about the weather. We fill Seth in on what he missed and look forward to the Phaedo, and later, Avicenna with Peter Adamson, and we're looking at Continue Reading …
PEL Nightcap Late February 2021
Recorded on Feb. 5 after the Lise Van Boxel discussion, we engage in some focused post-gaming on that: How did people like PEL covering a secondary source in this way? How did you like our having two guests; was it just as good as having the four of us on? We also consider a potential future episode on Alain Badiou, who's been often requested. Should we invite a scholar Continue Reading …