Subscribe to get this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive final part to this discussion, which you can preview. Exiting the high-pressure live situation of our last episode, Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan ponder the 1869 novel in a more leisurely way. First, we revisit the prime "problem of evil"-related arguments in the book, and then look at textual passages to see how the Continue Reading …
Ep. 317: Character Philosophies in Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov” (Part Two for Supporters)
To conclude our discussion of the novel, we turn to the philosophies of Dmitri and Ivan. Start with part one, or better yet, ep. 316. Dmitri is fixated on honor and its conflict with his romantic desires, and this causes him to make all sorts of terrible decisions that drive much of the plot of the novel. Ivan is a more complicated case, because so much of his motivations Continue Reading …
Ep. 316: Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov”: PEL Live in NYC (Part Two)
Subscribe to get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition of this episode along with plenty of bonus content. Continuing from part one on Dostoevsky's 1880 novel, we respond to some objections to the Christian arguments that the characters Alyosha and Zosima put forward (either explicitly or just through their behavior) to respond to Ivan's "problem of evil"-type arguments Continue Reading …
Ep. 316: Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov”: PEL Live in NYC (Part One)
Subscribe to get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition of this episode. On Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1880 novel, focusing mostly on the "Rebellion" and "Grand Inquisitor" chapters, featuring Mark, Wes, Seth and Dylan at the Caveat in Lower Manhattan. How can we reconcile ourselves to the existence of evil and suffering? The character Ivan Karamazov gives an argument that we Continue Reading …
Ep. 316: Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov”: PEL Live in NYC (Citizen Edition)
On Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1880 novel, focusing mostly on the "Rebellion" and "Grand Inquisitor" chapters, featuring Mark, Wes, Seth and Dylan at the Caveat in Lower Manhattan. How can we reconcile ourselves to the existence of evil and suffering? The character Ivan Karamazov gives an argument that we just can't. This is a variation of the classic argument from evil against the Continue Reading …
Ep. 305: Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3. Continuing from part one on McCarthy's 1985 novel, we discuss whether the plentiful, explicit violence in the book is actually gratuitous or whether it's central for presenting the book's philosophy. What makes the book supposedly unfilmable? We then focus on the details of Judge Holden's Continue Reading …
Ep. 305: Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (Part Three for Supporters)
To conclude our discussion of Blood Meridian, we talk about the roles of maturation and regression in the novel. Plus, more on Judge Holden's philosophy and how our view of this should be affected by the fact that Holden is a hypocritical child molester, the (small) role of women in the novel, the character of the idiot, "white man's burden," and more. Do you think we Continue Reading …
Ep. 305: Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On McCarthy's 1985 anti-Western novel, featuring Wes, Seth, and Dylan. How does violence play a role in the way the world works? The novel tells a historically based story of the 19th century Glanton gang who were hired as scalp hunters by the Mexican government but then went on a rogue massacre. It's told from the Continue Reading …
Ep. 305: Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one on McCarthy's 1985 novel, we discuss whether the plentiful, explicit violence in the book is actually gratuitous or whether it's central for presenting the book's philosophy. What makes the book supposedly unfilmable? We then focus on the details of Judge Holden's philosophy. He posits that war is the purpose (the telos) of man. Man is essentially a Continue Reading …
Ep. 305: Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (Part One for Supporters)
On McCarthy's 1985 anti-Western novel, featuring Wes, Seth, and Dylan. How does violence play a role in the way the world works? The novel tells a historically based story of the 19th century Glanton gang who were hired as scalp hunters by the Mexican government but then went on a rogue massacre. It's told from the point of view of "The Kid," a 15-year-old member of the gang Continue Reading …
Ep. 299: Philosophy in Shakespeare’s “Timon of Athens” (Part Three for Supporters)
Mark, Wes, and Dylan conclude our discussion of Shakespeare's play. We talk about the exchanges about art in the play: How does art relate to life and to commerce? This leads us to consider more generally Shakespeare's language and how we moderns can be good spectators of these plays. Are we meant to just get the gist, or is study and preparation necessary before Continue Reading …
Ep. 244: Camus on Strategies for Facing Plague (Part Two)
Continuing on Albert Camus's 1947 novel, covering the old functionary Grand, the criminal (or just paranoid?) Cottard, and more of our narrators Dr. Rieux and his doomed friend Tarrou, plus more on the overall message of the book and how it might relate to our current situation. Start with part one or get the unbroken Citizen Edition. Please support PEL! End song: "You Continue Reading …
Ep. 244: Camus on Strategies for Facing Plague (Part One)
On Albert Camus's novel The Plague (1947), which has been selling out lately like N95 COVID-19 face masks. How shall we face adversity? Camus gives us colorful characters that embody various approaches. Should we put faith in God (Paneloux), or refuse to believe that a God would allow such suffering (Rieux)? Should you dwell on the one you love that the plague is keeping you Continue Reading …
Ep. 244: Camus on Strategies for Facing Plague (Citizen Edition)
On Albert Camus's novel The Plague (1947), which has been selling out lately like N95 COVID-19 face masks. How shall we face adversity? Camus gives us colorful characters that embody various approaches. Should we put faith in God (Paneloux), or refuse to believe that a God would allow such suffering (Rieux)? Should you dwell on the one you love that the plague is keeping you Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #42: Star Trek Lives Long and Prospers (Intermittently)
The world-wide Tribble infestation and Star Trek: Picard dropping make this an apt time to address our most philosophical sci-fi franchise. 44 years of thought experiments (with photon torpedoes!) about what it is to be human should have taught us something, and Brian, Erica, and Mark along with Drew Jackson (Erica’s husband) reflect on what makes a Star Trek story, world Continue Reading …
Bonus: (sub)Text #2: Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five”: Is There Such a Thing as a War Story? (Part One)
For Episode 2 of (sub)Text, Wes discusses Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five with Phi Fic podcaster and PEL Blog Managing Editor Mary Ricci. Slaughterhouse Five is a story about war, yet one that seems to advance the thesis that there can be no war stories that don’t entirely falsify the experience and significance of war. That falsification is effected by the way in Continue Reading …
(sub)Text #2: Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five”: Is There Such a Thing as a War Story? (Citizens Only)
For Episode 2 of (sub)Text, Wes discusses Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five with Phi Fic podcaster and PEL Blog Managing Editor Mary Ricci. Slaughterhouse Five is a story about war, yet one that seems to advance the thesis that there can be no war stories that don’t entirely falsify the experience and significance of war. That falsification is effected by the way in Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics #19: Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”
Is human life “nada”—nothing? In their discussion of Hemingway’s (very) short story, Brian, Lise, and Jeff examine the contrast between youth and old age and the states of being hurried versus unhurried. How are those distinctions related to the question of whether there is a difference between those who need a clean, well-lighted place and those who do not? Get more C&C Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #22 “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf
She would not say of any one in the world now that they were this or were that. She felt very young; at the same time unspeakably aged. She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on. She had a perpetual sense, as she watched the taxicabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #20 “Lord Jim” by Joseph Conrad
It is when we try to grapple with another man's intimate need that we perceive how incomprehensible, wavering and misty are the beings that share with us the sight of the stars and the warmth of the sun. It is as if loneliness were a hard and absolute condition of existence; the envelope of flesh and blood on which our eyes are fixed melts before the outstretched hand, and Continue Reading …