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Episode 179: William James’s Introspective Psychology (Part Two)

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Continuing on Psychology, the Briefer Course (1892), completing “The Stream of Thought” and covering the chapter on “Habit.”

James thinks that psychologists focus too much on those parts of consciousness that get picked out by substantive words. He describes habit as part of a general natural pattern in which things that happen once tend to create pathways for themselves in surrounding material to allow the same thing to happen again more easily. Be careful what you do, because your organism is recording all of your bad behavior and corrupting your character!

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End song: “Drowning Mind (feedback overload)” by AMP, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #57.

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Episode 179: William James’s Introspective Psychology (Part One)

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On The Principles of Psychology (1890) chapters 1 & 7, and Psychology, the Briefer Course (1892), the chapters on “The Stream of Thought,” “Habit,” and some of “The Self.”

Can we talk about the mind in a way that is both scientific and also does justice to our everyday experiences? James thought his method, which involved both introspection and physiology, yielded more accurate descriptions of the mind than associationism (the mind is made up of ideas) or spiritualism (the mind is a faculty of the soul). Consciousness is a stream, not a concatenation of ideas!

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Episode 179: William James’s Introspective Psychology (Citizen Edition)

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On The Principles of Psychology (1890) chapters 1 & 7, and Psychology, the Briefer Course (1892), the chapters on “The Stream of Thought,” “Habit,” and some of “The Self.”

Can we talk about the mind in a way that is both scientific and also does justice to our everyday experiences? James thought his method, which involved both introspection and physiology, yielded more accurate descriptions of the mind than associationism (the mind is made up of ideas) or spiritualism (the mind is a faculty of the soul). Consciousness is a stream, not a concatenation of ideas!

End song: “Drowning Mind (feedback overload)” by AMP, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #57.

Episode 153: Richard Rorty: There Is No Mind-Body Problem

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On Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (1979), Part I: “Our Glassy Essence.”

“The mind” seems to be an unavoidable part of our basic conceptual vocabulary, but Rorty thinks not, and he wants to use the history of philosophy as a kind of therapy to show that many of our seemingly insoluble problems like the relation between mind and body are a result philosophical mistakes by Descartes, Locke, and Kant. With guest Stephen Metcalf of Slate’s Culture Gabfest podcast.

End song: “Wall of Nothingness” from Sky Cries Mary from This Timeless Turning (1994). Listen to Mark’s interview with the band’s frontman, Roderick Romero, in Nakedly Examined Music ep. 9.

Episode 153: Richard Rorty: There Is No Mind-Body Problem (Citizen Edition)

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On Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (1979), Part I: “Our Glassy Essence.”

“The mind” seems to be an unavoidable part of our basic conceptual vocabulary, but Rorty thinks not, and he wants to use the history of philosophy as a kind of therapy to show that many of our seemingly insoluble problems like the relation between mind and body are a result philosophical mistakes by Descartes, Locke, and Kant. With guest Stephen Metcalf of Slate’s Culture Gabfest podcast.

End song: “Wall of Nothingness” from Sky Cries Mary from This Timeless Turning (1994). Listen to Mark’s interview with the band’s frontman, Roderick Romero, in Nakedly Examined Music ep. 9.

Episode 138: Guest John Searle on Perception

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We interview John about Seeing Things As They Are (2015). What is perception? Searle says that it’s not a matter of seeing a representation, which is then related to things in the real world. We see the actual objects, with no mediation. But then how can there be illusions? Well, it’s complicated, but not too complicated, just some funny terminology that this episode will teach you.

Searle lays out his theory for us and amusingly dismisses much of the history of philosophy in the first half, and then Mark, Wes, and Dylan continue the discussion to make sure we understood what was just said and chase down some threads of the conversation.

End song: “Flesh and Blood” from The MayTricks’ Happy Songs Will Bring You Down (1994).

Episode 138: John Searle Interview on Perception (Citizen Edition)

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We interview John about Seeing Things As They Are (2015). What is perception? Searle says that it’s not a matter of seeing a representation that is then related to things in the real world. We see the actual objects, with no mediation. But then how can there be illusions? Well, it’s complicated, but not too complicated, just some funny terminology that this episode will teach you.

Searle lays out his theory for us and amusingly dismisses much of the history of philosophy in the first half, and then Mark, Wes, and Dylan continue the discussion to make sure we understood what was just said and chase down some threads of the conversation.

End song: “Flesh and Blood” from The MayTricks’ Happy Songs Will Bring You Down (1994).

Episode 131: Aristotle’s “De Anima”: What Is the Mind?

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Our second discussion of De Anima or On the Soul (350 BCE), this time on book 3. What is the intellect? We talk about its highest part/function: nous, which is a “form of forms,” literally nothing until it thinks, survives death and is not actually yours or mine, but just the universal mind!

This continues the discussion from ep. 130 and includes a preview of the Aftershow featuring Rebecca Goldner.

End song: “Wonderful You” (live 2001) by Mark Lint.

Episode 131: Aristotle’s “De Anima”: What Is the Mind? (Citizen Edition)

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Our second discussion of De Anima or On the Soul (350 BCE), this time on book 3. What is the intellect? We talk about its highest part/function: nous, which is a “form of forms,” literally nothing until it thinks, survives death and is not actually yours or mine, but just the universal mind!

Continued from ep. 130. The discussion concludes with the Aftershow featuring Rebecca Goldner.

End song: “Wonderful You” (live 2001) by Mark Lint.

Episode 116: Freud on Dreams (Citizen Edition)

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On Sigmund Freud’s On Dreams (1902), a bit of The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), and the lecture, “Revision of the Theory of Dreams” (1933).

Are dreams just a bunch of random crap? Freud says, no, they’re actually the first and best way to figure out the structure of the mind, which (surprise) involves the unconscious and how repressed, anti-social desires get (sort of) revealed to us, albeit smashed together through chains of association with what seems like random crap. How can Freud support such a view? Is it science? What are its implications for our capacity to philosophize?

End song: “Sleep” by Mark Lint.

Citizen Interview with Nicholas Humphrey, a Leading Figure in Mind and Consciousness

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Having the opportunity to speak with Nicholas Humphrey was a phenomenal experience (pun intended). His accounts of discussing dreams with Francis Crick, debating the best materialist arguments with Dan Dennett, working on blindsight, describing how personhood and ethics arise out of consciousness, and positing that our minds act as artists to make us fall in love with ourselves, make for a wonderful and enlightening listen.

Episode 108: Dangers of A.I. with Guest Nick Bostrom (Citizen Edition)

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On Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, and Strategies (2014) with the author. What can we predict about, and how can we control in advance, the motivations of the entity likely to result from eventual advances in machine learning? Also with guest Luke Muehlhauser. Learn more.

End song: “Volcano,” by Mark Linsenmayer, recorded in 1992 and released on the album Spanish Armada: Songs of Love and Related Neuroses.

Apoplectic About Outsourcing Apps

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When the Partially Examined Life discussion of human enhancement (Episode 91) turned to the topic of digital technology, the philosophical oxygen was sucked out of the room. Sure, folks conceded that philosopher of mind Andy Clark (not mentioned by name, but implicitly referenced) has interesting things to say about how technology upgrades our cognitive abilities and extends the boundaries of Continue Reading …

About The Partially Examined Life

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

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