More on philosophical and psychological interpretations of and judgments about suicide with guest Drew Pinsky. Is suicide an epidemic or a choice? Could it be both? Socrates didn't fear death and inspired Stoics and others to see suicide in some circumstances as brave. Or is it always cowardly? Does meaninglessness motivate suicide? If so, why should it? Listen to part Continue Reading …
Ep. 205: Suicide with Dr. Drew (Durkheim et al) (Citizen Edition)
We are rejoined by Drew Pinsky to discuss philosophical, psychological, and sociological readings on suicide. Is suicide ever morally permissible? If it's a symptom of mental illness rather than a chosen behavior, is it even appropriate to morally evaluate it? Last time Drew joined us, he helped us add clinical depth to an area that we'd already talked about Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Ep 202 Follow-Up: Close Reading of Kristeva’s “Approaching Abjection”
Mark takes a very close look at pages 1–4 of the first chapter of On Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980) as a supplement to episode 202. This was a hard reading, and we disagreed in the discussion about some of what it meant. So hear her words for yourself and decide! Get the full, 55-minute experience here by becoming a PEL Citizen. This has also been made Continue Reading …
Ep. 202: Julia Kristeva on Disgust, Fear, and the Self (Part Two)
Continuing on Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, ch. 1 and 2. We try to get clearer on Kristeva's talk of "object," the relationship between language and abjection, how Kristeva is advancing on Freud, how to be a mom that allows a kid to separate in a healthy way, and how abjection plays into religion and writing. Listen to part one first, or get the unbroken, Continue Reading …
Ep. 202 Follow-Up: Close Reading of Kristeva’s “Approaching Abjection” (Citizens Only)
Mark takes a very close look at pages 1–4 of the first chapter of On Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980). This close reading assumes that you've listened to our episode 202. Read along: Buy the book or try this online version. You may also want to consult this wiki page on object relations theory. Note that there's nothing in there to indicate that "object" Continue Reading …
Ep. 202: Julia Kristeva on Disgust, Fear and the Self (Part One)
On Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980), chapters 1 and 2. What is horror? Kristeva's book is about a process she calls "abjection," where we violently reject things like corpses, bodily wastes and other fluids, and the Lovecraftian unnameable that lurks at the edge of our awareness, hideously inhuman and indifferent to our suffering. The book is also all about Continue Reading …
Ep. 202: Julia Kristeva on Disgust, Fear and the Self (Citizen Edition)
On Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980), chapters 1 and 2. What is horror? Kristeva's book is about a process she calls "abjection," where we violently reject things like corpses, bodily wastes and other fluids, and the Lovecraftian unnameable that lurks at the edge of our awareness, hideously inhuman and indifferent to our suffering. The book is also all about Continue Reading …
Episode 84: Netzsche’s “Gay Science” (Citizens Only)
On Friedrich Nietzsche's The Gay Science (1882, with book 5 added 1887). What is wisdom? Nietzsche gives us an updated take on the Socratic project of challenging your most deeply held beliefs. Challenge not just your belief in God ("God is dead!") but uncover all your habits of thinking in terms of the divine. Question the motives behind relentless inquiry: the "will to Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 84: Nietzsche’s “Gay Science”
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 #84: Nietzsche’s “Gay Science”
On 10/13/13 we recorded a discussion on Nietzche's Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 81: Jung on the Psyche and Dreams
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 …
Episode 81: Jung on the Psyche and Dreams (Citizens Only)
On Carl Jung's "Approaching the Unconscious" from Man and His Symbols, written in 1961. What's the structure of the mind? Jung followed Freud in positing an unconscious distinct from the conscious ego, but Jung's picture has the unconscious much more stuffed full of all sorts of stuff from who knows where, including instincts (the archetypes) that tend to give rise to Continue Reading …
Precognition of Ep. 81: Jung
An introduction to Carl Jung's Man and His Symbols, read by Wes Alwan. After you listen to this, listen to the full episode. Read more about the topic. Get Wes's transcript. Continue Reading …
Precognition of Ep. 81: Jung
An introduction to Carl Jung's Man and His Symbols, read by Wes Alwan. Read more about the topic. Listen to the full episode. Read a transcript. Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 74: Jacques Lacan’s Psychology
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 …
Episode 74: Jacques Lacan’s Psychology (Citizens Only)
On Bruce Fink's The Lacanian Subject (1996) and Lacan's "The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience" (1949). What is the self? Is that the same as the experiencing subject? Lacan says no: while the self (the ego) is an imaginative creation, cemented by language, the subject is something else, something split (at least Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 71: Martin Buber’s “I and Thou”
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 …
Episode 71: Martin Buber’s “I and Thou” (Citizens Only)
On Buber's 1923 book about the fundamental human position: As children, and historically (this is his version of social contract theory), we start fully absorbed in relation with another person (like, say, mom). Before that point, we have no self-consciousness, no "self" at all, really. It's only by having these consuming "encounters" that we gradually distinguish ourselves Continue Reading …
Topic for #71: Martin Buber’s “I and Thou”
On Feb. 1 we up again with previous guest and PEL blogger (and Twitter/YouTube master) Daniel Horne to discuss Martin Buber. Listen to the episode. Buber is known as a religious existentialist, much like Kierkegaard, which means he's concerned with our fundamental relation to reality, and thinks that our individual attitude has some impact on our being, on whether we're living Continue Reading …
“Human Sacrifice? Are you kidding? This is the weirdest thing I ever heard.”
Part of the goal of The Partially Examined Life is to pull ivory-tower philosophical theories out into the light of day and see if they hold water. If an academically lauded idea seems totally absurd when discussed in ordinary language, well, then either those presenting the idea aren't doing a very good job explaining its context, or maybe it is in fact ridiculous. With the Continue Reading …