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 …
Phi Fic #19 “Death in Venice” by Thomas Mann
In 1911, the great writer Thomas Mann (1875–1955) went on vacation with his family to a seaside resort in Venice, Italy. There, he came across a beautiful 14-year-old boy and it inspired his great novella Death in Venice. This experience sets up the central struggle in the story: where eros—or erotic love as seen in Plato’s dialogue Symposium—can lead one to recognize beauty in Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #17 “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino
The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #16 Stories by Clarice Lispector
This time we discuss two works by the remarkable Clarice Lispector—born to a Jewish family in Ukraine shortly before they emigrated to Brazil, where she became one of its most important writers. We read two of her works, the novella The Hour of the Star (1977), and the short story “The Departure of the Train” (1974). I know there are girls who sell their bodies, their only Continue Reading …
Episode 164: Dostoyevsky’s “The Idiot” on Perfection (Part Two)
More on the novel with guest Corey Mohler, considering Dostoyevsky explicitly as an existentialist in terms of his analysis of the crisis of meaning and his consequent views on religion. Listen to part 1 first, or get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition. End song: "Don Quixote" (acoustic, 2010) by Nik Kershaw, as interviewed on the Nakedly Examined Music podcast #37. Continue Reading …
Episode 164: Dostoyevsky’s “The Idiot” on Perfection (Part One)
On Fyodor Dostoyevsky's philosophical novel from 1869. Could a morally perfect person survive in the modern world? Is all this "modernity," which so efficiently computes our desires and provides mechanisms to fulfill them, actually suited to achieve human flourishing? Dostoyevsky (whose name, incidentally, can correctly be spelled with either one "y" or two... the Continue Reading …
Ep. 164: Dostoyevsky’s “The Idiot” on Perfection (Citizen Edition)
On Fyodor Dostoyevsky's philosophical novel from 1869. Could a morally perfect person survive in the modern world? Is all this "modernity," which so efficiently computes our desires and provides mechanisms to fulfill them, actually suited to achieve human flourishing? Dostoyevsky (whose name, incidentally can correctly be spelled with either one "y" or two... the translation Continue Reading …
PEL Special: Phi Fic on James Baldwin’s Fiction
On the short stories "This Morning, This Evening, So Soon" (1960) and "Sonny’s Blues" (1957). To supplement our episode on Baldwin's essays, we're doing a crossover on to the PEL feed here from the Phi Fic podcast. PEL's Mark Linsenmayer joins Phi Fic regulars Nathan, Cezary, Mary, and Laura (read about them all plus the absent Daniel at our new "Meet Phi Fic" page) to Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #4 “Grendel” by John Gardner
What’s with these self-aware monsters anyway? Both Frankenstein and Grendel bemoan their fates as the necessary evils in this world—so that goodness may exist, perhaps? Listen as we join their struggle, and Mary calms Laura’s frantic worry about Gardner’s use of the “other” to make his philosophical point while the guys argue about who is the real monster here: Grendel or Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #3 Frankenstein (PEL Crossover Special)
PEL welcomes a new podcast to our fledgling network: Phi Fic, which grew out of our Not School Philosophical Fiction group, featuring Nathan Hanks (who you'll likely recognize from our Not School anouncments, Mary Claire (who helps edit the PEL blog), Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Cezary Baraniecki. This time they discuss Mary Shelley's classic novel, and are joined by Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #2 “The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy
Looking for the meaning of life? You and me both, my friend. And so is Binx Bolling, protagonist in The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Join us as Mary and Daniel praise this story for its examination of the existential crisis presented in beautiful language and Southern charm, and as Nathan salutes Bolling’s view of life's preciousness. So step away from the dishes to be washed and Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #1 “In the Penal Colony” by Franz Kafka
Are we guilty from the first moment of life? Is the machine Franz Kafka devised not merely a metaphor for how we live our lives, but “actually here, all around…”? That’s what Kafka Tamura says in Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami, and what Daniel says here in our discussion on In The Penal Colony by Franz Kafka when he cites our failing bodies, our internal machines, that Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #0 “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy
We talk about the novel Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy with Nathan Hanks, Jordan Payne, and special guest Dylan Casey from the Partially Examined Life Podcast. This origin/zero-episode is taken from an older (2013) recording of the Philosophical Fiction group, before our current group of readers got together. Worth Mentioning: No Country for Old Men/The Crossing/Cities of Continue Reading …
New in Not School: Niebuhr, Kant, Zizek, Lovecraft
Hey everyone, Nathan Hanks here with an update from the Partially Examined Life's Not School. Just sign up for PEL Citizenship and you'll be able to access all the group pages and weigh in on new proposals. You'll find other members in the Citizen's Forum with these new group proposals to join in October: The Irony of American History by Reinhold Niebuhr Critique of Pure Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Albert Camus’ “The Fall” (Phi-Fi #16)
The Philosophical Fiction group, featuring Nathan Hanks, Daniel, Cezary, Laura, and Mary, in conversation on the novel by Albert Camus, The Fall. Recorded 8/30/15. We discuss the "portrait as a mirror," "party guilt," Jesus, traffic, and the human condition. Also, by way of clarifying, I was thinking of this false story surrounding "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Isaac Asimov’s “The Last Question” (Phi-Fi #15)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Daniel, Cezary, Laura, and Mary, in conversation on the short story by Isaac Asimov, "The Last Question." Entropy, artificial selves, comfort in circularity, and banning dragons as guests, all in this conversation. You can also hear Asimov read the story himself. Recorded on 8/16/2015. Continue Reading …
Our New Citizen Feed, August Not School Doings, and a New Mayor of Not School
[Editor's Note: Thanks very much to everyone who's become a PEL Citizen. Your support has made our ongoing ambitions to produce this podcast viable, now with more frequent episodes, with a live show coming up in Pittsburgh in September, and we were able last week to send Seth to a big podcasting conference last week (we were nominated for but did not win an award). We've also Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Walker Percy’s “The Moviegoer” (Phi-Fi #14)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Daniel, Cezary, Laura, and Mary, on Walter Percy's novel The Moviegoer about "existential crisis in beautiful language... with Southern charm." Mentionables: "I wish I could marry Walker Percy," The Windup Bird Chronicles, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and "How the movies mess it up." Join the group to participate in future discussions! Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” (Phi-Fi #13)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Daniel, Laura, and Mary. The story is about one special day in an American "village" that turns horrific and ends with, as was said, "the most perfect last line." We partially spoil the story, use adult language, and wander into politics and religion. Recorded July 19, 2015. "Bill," Mr. Summers said, and Bill Hutchinson reached into the box and felt Continue Reading …
Bonus Discussion: Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony”
The Philosophical Fiction Not School Group read the short story by Franz Kafka "In The Penal Colony" for our conversation in May. It's about a traveler visiting a penal colony who meets the officer in charge of a justice system. (Saying anything more would spoil it; just read it!) I talked with Daniel Cole, Cezary, Laura Davis, and Mary Ricci for a few hours about Kafka's Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony” (Phi-Fi #12)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Daniel, Cezary, Laura, and Mary. Recorded May 31, 2015. The story is about a traveler visiting a penal colony who meets the officer in charge of a justice system. It's tense, violent, surprising, and "kind of like a Tarantino movie." Read more about it. Join the Philosophical Fiction group! Continue Reading …
Phi-Fi Conversation on Woolf’s Novel “To The Lighthouse”
Philosophical Fiction read Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse for our conversation in April. You can hear us discuss the plot, characters, and themes, with quotes and passages so... beware of spoilers. Myself along with PEL members Dan, Cezary, Daniel, and Laura, talk about: Time, Beauty, and Life; we bring up Ulysses by James Joyce and The Map and the Territory by Michel Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Virginia Woolf’s “To The Lighthouse” (Phi-Fi #11)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Daniel, Cezary, Laura, and Dan J. Recorded April 5, 2015. Talking about time, beauty, and life in Woolf's 1927 novel. Read more about it. Join the Philosophical Fiction group! 'And that's the end,' she said, and she saw in his eyes, as the interest in the story died away in them, something else take its place; something wondering, pale, like the Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Michel Houellebecq’s “The Map and the Territory” (Phi-Fi #10)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Daniel, and Kimberly. Recorded December 12, 2014. We discuss the story of Jed Martin, a man at the “at the beginning of the third millenium” whose successful life as an artist pales against his lonely life as a human. "You can work alone for years, it's actually the only way to work, truth be told; but there always comes a moment when you feel the Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: James Joyce’s “Ulysses” (Phi-Fi #4)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Daniel, Philip and Laura. Recorded Mar. 9, 2014. Not everyone had finished the book, but we all got a sense of the richness and depth of Joyce's expanding story of the phenomena of a single day. There are Irish folk songs, stunning prose, a style weaving between the inner-thoughts of characters, and content considered blasphemous and obscene in its Continue Reading …
Conversation on the Novel ‘Distant Star’ by Roberto Bolaño
A novel about Chile, Art, and literally killer poets. Daniel, Philip, Kimberly, Dan, Cezary and I discussed Roberto Bolano's novel Distant Star in the Not School Philosophical Fiction group. We review the plot, then talk about what interests us most in the novel, like the sky-writing poet--and murderer--Carlos Wieder. Citizens can check out the full discussion on the Free Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Roberto Bolano’s “Distant Star” (Phi-Fi #9)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Philip, Daniel, Dan J., Kimberly, and Cezary. Recorded November 9, 2014. A novel about Chile, Art, and literally killer poets. That is how [Carlos Wieder, the sky-writing murderer poet] was; he believed that Nature intervenes actively in history, shaping it, buffeting our lives, although in our pitiful ignorance we usually attribute these blows to Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Georges Bataille “The Story of the Eye” (Phi-Fi #8)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Philip, Laura, and Cezary. Recorded August 2, 2014. Check out the Philosophical Fiction group. Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: J. M. Coetzee’s “Age of Iron” (Phi-Fi #6)
Featuring Nathan Shaine, Philip Cherny, Laura Davis, and Cezary. Recorded June 27, 2014. The novel is about Mrs. Curren, who writes letters to her emigrated daughter about her own final years and the lives of friends caught in apartheid violence in South Africa.Check out the Philosophical Fiction group. Featuring Nathan Hanks, Daniel, and Phillip. Recorded Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Franz Kafka’s “The Trial” (Phi-Fi #7)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Philip, Laura, and Cezary. Recorded June 27, 2014. Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group: Thomas Bernhard’s “Wittgenstein’s Nephew” (Phi-Fi #5)
Featuring Nathan Hanks, Daniel, Philip, Laura, and Cezary. Recorded April 6, 2014. Two old friends find themselves at the same hospital, one diagnosed with pulmonary disease and the other madness, and while they long to be near each other both confront their separate mortality. Though that Wittgenstein is mentioned, this book by Thomas Bernhard is about another Wittgenstein, Continue Reading …