philosophy and literature

Episode 212: Sartre on Literature (Part One)

April 1, 2019 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

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 argues that while poetry is about the words themselves, prose is about the ideas, so it’s necessarily political. A written work is essentially an ethical appeal for a reader to apply his or her own faculties and experiences to complete the work through the act of reading.

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Episode 212: Sartre on Literature (Citizen Edition)

April 1, 2019 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

On Jean-Paul Sartre’s What is Literature? (1948), ch. 1 and 2.

End song: “Things I Shouldn’t Have Told You” by Sam Phillips, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #90.

Combat & Classics #26: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”

November 20, 2018 by Brian Wilson 2 Comments

What is the relationship between the natural world and the human world?
In this belated Halloween episode, Lise, Jeff, and Brian discuss Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

Get more C&C on the PEL site or at combatandclassics.org.

Bonus: (sub)Text #1: Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”: Poesis as Revenge Forsaken (Part One)

July 21, 2018 by Wes Alwan 13 Comments

Wes Alwan and Bill Youmans discuss the 1611 play about revenge, forgiveness, and authorship. Or maybe it’s about exploitation, or how we react to changes in status, or perhaps how a liberal education can give you magical powers!

Note: Part two will NOT be appearing on this feed. Become a PEL Citizen to get the full discussion. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to learn how.

How Plato’s “Phaedrus” Influenced Thomas Mann’s “Death in Venice”

July 3, 2016 by Ana Sandoiu 1 Comment

This beautiful novella draws heavily from Plato’s conception of love, but to what extent?

Episode 117: Discussing Sophocles’s “Antigone”

June 15, 2015 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

Philosophically considering the ancient Greek tragedy, which we also performed with Lucy Lawless and Paul Provenza.

End song: “Woe Is Me” (live, 2002) by Madison Lint.

Features a preview of the Aftershow, feat. Wes and host Danny Lobell.

Episode 117: Sophocles’s “Antigone” (Citizen Edition)

June 13, 2015 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

What can philosophy wrench from the ancient Greek tragedy (BCE 451)? A party, for one! Mark, Wes, and Dylan are rejoined by drama guy John Castro, who played Haimon in our performance.

End song: “Woe Is Me,” live 2002 on WORT by Madison Lint.

Episode 111: Gadamer’s Hermeneutics (Citizen Edition)

March 2, 2015 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

On Hans-Georg Gadamer’s Truth and Method (1960, ch. 4), “Aesthetics and Hermeneutics” (1964), “The Universality of the Hermeneutical Problem” (1966), and “Hermeneutics as Practical Philosophy” (1972). What’s the best way to interpret a text, or anything else? With guest Law Ware.

End song: “The Default Relation,” by Mark Lint (2015).

Episode 111: Gadamer’s Hermeneutics: How to Interpret

March 2, 2015 by Mark Linsenmayer 20 Comments

Not School Fiction Group Reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

June 1, 2013 by Nathan Hanks 22 Comments

This May, PEL’s Not School Fiction Group read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, the author of No Country for Old Men (which PEL covered) and The Road. Blood Meridian is a dark masterpiece set in 1849 where a runaway kid joins a gang of scalp-hunters led by the Judge, a philosophizing warmonger. The Judge’s views on existence come out in several stories and Continue Reading …

Philosophy as “Literary” (or “Is the Sky So Very Big?”)

May 30, 2013 by Mark Linsenmayer 19 Comments

Following up on my recent post skeptical of a strong formulation of the difference between philosophy and science, I’ve been thinking about the character of many philosophical claims, particularly in light of my current reading of Rand. In addition to the readings for the podcast proper (which I’ll post about within the next week, but I can tell you right Continue Reading …

Is Quine “Literature” Because He Reads All Smooth and Silky?

December 12, 2012 by Mark Linsenmayer 9 Comments

After our posts about philosophical literature it seemed appropriate to refer to this post from the NY Times on philosophy itself as literature by Jim Holt. An excerpt: Now let me narrow my query: Does anybody read analytic philosophy for pleasure? Is this kind of philosophy literature? Here you might say, “Certainly not!” Or you might say, “What the heck Continue Reading …

Not School Group Report: Paul Auster’s Novella, “City of Glass”

December 6, 2012 by Paul Harris 3 Comments

Editor’s Note: PEL listener Paul Harris has written up this report on a great Not School discussion available for member download. Whether or not you want to join, it’s still a fricking great book, recommended for anyone with an interest in modern and/or philosophical literature. Last Sunday, the Not School group ‘Worlds of Wordcraft’ – a group created to read Continue Reading …

Is Philosophy Better Than Art?

October 2, 2012 by David Buchanan 9 Comments

If you believe Plato, then the answer is “yes”. If all of philosophy is a footnote to Plato, then the artists have been subordinated to the philosophers for about 25 centuries. According to Plato’s Republic, especially the last section, the artists present a danger to society and to your soul. Two of my favorite thinkers disagree with Plato and Socrates Continue Reading …

The Invisible Man and Existentialism

October 1, 2012 by Law Ware Twitter: @law_ware 5 Comments

Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is a great American novel. Ellison’s ability to make the reader feel the racism of the time is unsettling. The painful experience of living in a country that views you with disdain—that sees you as a problem—permeates the text. It is also a deeply philosophical novel. Consider the following outline of the novel written by Ellison to his literary agent Continue Reading …

Ghostlier Demarcations, Keener Sounds

September 30, 2012 by C.-Derick-Varn 2 Comments

When writing about literature and philosophy there are three obvious tropes: the existential or absurdist nior, the speculative fiction, and the condemnation of poetry. Not that poetry hasn’t had its defenders, and if Mark’s rant is indication, the sort of “deepity” he seems to accuse McCarthy of can easily be applied to most poets. In fact, Zizek would apply atrocities Continue Reading …

Iris Murdoch on Philosophy and Literature

September 29, 2012 by Chris Mullen 3 Comments

In Fire and the Sun: Why Plato Banished the Artists, Iris Murdoch claimed that “[a]rt is far and away the most educational thing we have…” Here she is discussing this notion, among many others, with the philosopher Bryan Magee. Part One: Watch on YouTube.