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The Diamond-Water Paradox and the Subjective Theory of Value

April 3, 2018 by Adam De Gree 12 Comments

In his famous work The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith articulated a paradox that he could not resolve: water is essential to life; diamonds a mere decoration. Yet for all that, we are willing to lavish enormous sums on pretty rocks while taking clean water for granted. What could explain this disconnect? Smith’s confusion stemmed from his understanding of the source of  Continue Reading …

Episode 70: Marx on the Human Condition (Citizens Only)

January 30, 2013 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Karl Marx

On Karl Marx's The German Ideology, Part I, an early, unpublished work from 1846. What is human nature? What drives history? How can we improve our situation? Marx thought that fundamentally, you are what you do: you are your job, your means of subsistence. All the rest, this culture, this religion, this philosophy, is just a thin layer over our basic situation. Ideas are  Continue Reading …

PREVIEW-Episode 70: Marx on the Human Condition

January 30, 2013 by Mark Linsenmayer 90 Comments

Karl Marx

This is a short preview of the full episode. Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more  Continue Reading …

Topic for #70: Karl Marx’s “German Ideology”

January 16, 2013 by Mark Linsenmayer 5 Comments

On 1/13 we recorded a discussion of an early work of Karl Marx, from about 20 years before the publication of his famous Das Capital, The German Ideology. Listen to the episode. We read just part 1 of the work, which was written in 1845-6 but not published until 1932 (with some portions of it coming out earlier in the 20th century). The work is credited to Marx and Engels, but  Continue Reading …

More on Bergmann’s “New Work”

January 25, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 27 Comments

Here are the main elements of Frithjof's Bergmann's idea of "New Work" (introduced in this post) as he taught it back at U. of Michigan. 1. Developing a calling. Work can sap our will to live, but the right kind of work can be invigorating. If it's an enterprise you can identify with, that's meaningful to you, then it becomes part of "the good life" that philosophy is always  Continue Reading …

Political Idealism and Frithjof Bergmann’s “New Work”

January 18, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 23 Comments

I had intended to wait for some upcoming episode more relevant to this topic than Husserl to start ranting on this on the blog, but it's been much on my mind of late. As you may know from my mentioning it at every possible opportunity on the podcast, probably my favorite undergrad prof. at U. of Michigan was Frithjof Bergmann. He was a student of the major Nietzsche scholar  Continue Reading …

Philosophy in/of Economics – Call for Ideas

November 17, 2010 by Seth Paskin 21 Comments

OK folks. As we build out our schedule for the next year, I've promised that we are going to do something on Economics. I'm in the process of doing the research now and would like to solicit input from the community.  What we need is a digestible text (or several) that lay out some of the central philosophical assumptions of Economics or which represent economic philosophical  Continue Reading …

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