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)
On Karl Marx's The German Ideology, Part I, an early, unpublished work from 1846.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
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”
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”
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”
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
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 …