In the years since Owen Flanagan’s The Bodhisattva’s Brain, there have been thousands of studies, of varying degrees of quality, on the effects of meditation on the human brain. Here, Lachlan Dale reviews some of the highlights of that research as it’s presented by Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson in Altered Traits.
REISSUE-Ep. 21: What Is the Mind? (Turing, et al) w/ New Intro
Discussing articles by Alan Turing, Gilbert Ryle, Thomas Nagel, John Searle, and Dan Dennett. What is this mind stuff, and how can it “be” the brain? Can computers think? What is it like to be a bat? With guest Marco Wise.
Plus a new intro by Mark, Wes, and Seth reflecting back on this 2010 discussion, which we’re re-releasing to help you prepare for our upcoming episodes in this area.
End Song: “No Mind” by Mark Lint and the Fake Johnson Trio (1998).
Become a PEL Citizen or $5 Patreon supporter for more energized conversations like this, including the the Not School discussion on David Chalmers’s book The Conscious Mind.
Sponsors: Read Neal Stephenson’s Fall or Dodge in Hell. Visit the St. John’s College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi.
Combat and Classics #28: Aristotle’s Politics Bk. I, Part 4
Jeff, Lise, and Brian continue a “close-read” series on Aristotle’s Politics. They continue to tackle Aristotle’s discussion of slavery, which raises questions about nature, law, and virtue.
Get more C&C on the PEL site or at combatandclassics.org.
Episode 217: Discussing Calderón’s “Life Is a Dream”
On the 1636 comedy by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, considering destiny (Christian vs. Ancient Greek), skepticism, meta-theater, and the ethic of honor. Listen to our performance first. With guests Bill Youmans and Erica Spyres.
End song: “Pulling Apart” by Jonathan Segel. Hear him on Nakedly Examined Music #38.
Please fill out our bonus material survey at partiallyexaminedlife.com/bonus. Please support PEL!
Sponsors: Visit TheGreatCoursesPLUS.com/PEL for a free month of online learning. Visit the St. John’s College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi.
Glimpse: Machiavellian Politics (for Partially Examined Life #14)
Given our treatment of Game of Thrones and Life Is a Dream, and the way in which end-justifying-the-means logic plays endlessly in our real-life political situation, it’s time we looked back on our episode 14 on Machiavelli. I reviewed that episode and recorded a little essay about practicing Machiavellian politics to get you back in this spirit.
PREVIEW-Ep 216 Game of Thrones’ Fantasy Politics (Part Two)
Get teased re. Mark and Wes’s post-finale, spoiler-filled continuation of the discussion of the show.
How does its conclusion affect its overall political message? Does it make sense to be performing feminist critiques on a show based on the premise of people murdering each other for power?
To hear the full discussion, become a PEL Citizen or $5 Patreon supporter. For more about these options see partiallyexaminedlife.com/support. Listen to our part one first, of course.
Episode 216: Game of Thrones’ Fantasy Politics
Discussing the TV show (2011-2019) based on the books by George R.R. Martin.
What’s the role of a mass-consumed fantasy series in today’s society? Is it our “fantasy” to have all these horrible things happen to us? Is this an edifying prompt to engage in public moral thinking, or a spectacular distraction of the kind that those Marxist theorists keep warning us about? We get into the function of fantasy and how a more “realistic” show plays with that, the extent to which we’re supposed to identify with the characters, depiction of moral complexity, low art vs. high art, identity issues, and more. With guest Sabrina Weiss.
End song: “Fire and Blood” by Sacrifice Feat. Mark Lint; hear the interview on Nakedly Examined Music #24.
Keep an eye out for a Citizen-only spoiler-filled follow-up discussion between Mark and Wes to be released this week!
Sponsors: Check out Bill Nye’s Science Rules and thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL
Episode 215: Brave New World: PEL Live 10th Anniversary Show
On Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian novel, recorded at Manhattan’s Caveat on 4/6/19, with audience participation.
If we harness the power of society to employ available technologies to really focus on making people happy, what would the result be? This is Huxley’s thought experiment, but is it in all respects a dystopia, and is it a fair test of the ideal of social improvement or merely of a flawed view of human nature? You can watch this episode instead.
End song: “Brave New World” by Mark Lint. Read about it.
Get the commemorative T-shirt, and save $10 with the coupon code revealed at the beginning of the Citizen Edition of this episode. Please support PEL! Contact us to share your PEL stories.
Sponsor: Visit garyjohnbishop.com and get his new book Stop Doing That Shit: End Self-Sabotage and Demand Your Life Back.
Episode 214: More Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Part Two)
Concluding Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885).
What’s the wise way to live? We start in earnest into part three, treating the “spirit of gravity,” where socially imposed values cover over your uniqueness; omni-satisfaction vs. being choosy; “Old and New Tablets,” where Nietzsche explores various ethical and meta-ethical issues (e.g., is self-overcoming a matter of one-time self-actualization or is it continual?); and more on the Overman and eternal recurrence.
Listen to part one first, or get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!
End song: “Upright Man” by Rachel Taylor Brown, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #91.
Sponsor: Get your free trial on a world of knowledge with thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL.
Episode 214: More Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Part One)
On the remainder of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885).
How can we keep our spirits up and avoid nihilism? We consider Nietzsche’s “solution” of eternal recurrence, why he uses a poetic, allegoric style, and more.
Don’t wait for part 2. Get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL!
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Episode 213: Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Part Two)
Continuing on Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, books 1 and 2 (1883).
We talk through Nietzsche’s symbolism (tightrope walkers and gravediggers and snakes, oh my!), the path toward the overman, his screed against the state, the Will to Power as the will to overcome oneself by reconciling oneself with the past, and more.
Listen to part one first or get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!
Sponsors: Please visit calm.com/pel, thegreatcoursesplus.com/PEL, and openculture.com.
PREVIEW-(sub)Text#6: Melanie Klein’s “Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms”
Wes Alwan is joined by Dr. Glenn Mobray to discuss this classic 1946 psychoanalytic text.
This is a preview of a 63-minute discussion. You can listen to the whole thing by becoming a PEL Citizen or $5 Patreon supporter. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to learn how.
Listen to more (sub)Text.
Episode 213: Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Part One)
On Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, books 1 and 2 (1883).
What is wisdom? In this text whose style parodies the Bible, we get pithy advice and allegorical imagery to guide us away from self-defeating, life-denying attitudes and orient us toward creative self-overcoming (i.e., exertion of the Will to Power). The Last Man who no longer knows how to give birth to a dancing star is a rotten egg!
Don’t wait for part 2! Get your ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL!
Sponsors: St. John’s College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi. Listen to the Hi-Phi Nation podcast at hiphination.org.
Episode 212: Sartre on Literature (Part Two)
Continuing on What is Literature? (1948).
Sartre gives a phenomenology of reading and writing that makes reading into a creative act of completing the writer’s work, and calls this cooperation ethical: the work is an appeal to the reader’s freedom, and also the reader’s responsibility to then know what the work reveals. Are you shirking, all you skimmers?
Start with part one, or get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition.
End song: “Things I Shouldn’t Have Told You” by Sam Phillips, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #90.
Sponsor: For a free trial of unlimited online learning, visit TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/PEL.
Episode 212: Sartre on Literature (Part One)
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.
Continue on part 2, or get your ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!
Sponsors: Please visit calm.com/pel for 25% off a stress-reducing subscription and the St. John’s College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi.
PEL Live is this Saturday 4/6 4-6pm Eastern time! We will post live-stream info and other details at partiallyexaminedlife.com/pel-live.
PREVIEW-(sub)Text#5: Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya”
Wes Alwan is joined by Monica McCarthy of the Happier Hour podcast to discuss Anton Chekhov’s 1898 play about family dysfunction and potentially wasting your life.
This is a preview of a 54-minute discussion. You can listen to the whole thing by becoming a PEL Citizen or $5 Patreon supporter. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to learn how.
Episode 211: Sartre on Racism and Authenticity (Part Three)
Moving finally on to Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Black Orpheus” (1948), where he introduces a book of black poetry by praising its revolutionary spirit as embodied in “negritude.” Is this a legitimate consciousness-raising exercise or a weird fetishization of blackness?
Listen to parts one and two first, or get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition, which will also get you access to (sub)Text#5 on Checkhov’s Uncle Vanya. Please support PEL!
End song: “Punch Bag” by Godley & Creme as discussed on Nakedly Examined Music #3.
Sponsor: Visit TheGreatCoursesPLUS.com/PEL for two months of unlimited learning for 99 cents.
Episode 211: Sartre on Racism and Authenticity (Part Two)
Continuing on Jean-Paul Sartre’s Anti-Semite and Jew: An Exploration of the Etiology of Hate (1946).
Is there an “authentic” way to respond to persecution? As part of his critique of anti-semitism, Sartre criticized the responses of some Jews to this situation, e.g. denying that the persecution exists, pretending to not be Jewish, or in any way accepting the terms of anti-semitism and setting up one’s life in reaction to it. Sartre instead recommends solidarity and “concrete liberalism,” which we try to figure out.
Listen to part one first. Don’t wait for the last part; get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL! Join us for PEL Live on 4/6!
Sponsors: Visit TheGreatCoursesPLUS.com/PEL for two months of unlimited learning for 99 cents. Visit the St. John’s College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi.
Episode 211: Sartre on Racism and Authenticity (Part One)
On Jean-Paul Sartre’s Anti-Semite and Jew: An Exploration of the Etiology of Hate (1946) and “Black Orpheus” (1948).
How can we best understand the psychology of racism? Sartre condemns anti-Semitism as denying the facts of the human condition: the responsibility for fixing problems and not blaming them on a demonized other. But he also criticizes “the democrat” for a humanism that pretends we’re in a post-racial world, calling instead for “concrete liberalism” that treats Jews not as abstract individuals but as real people in an an oppressed situation.
Don’t wait for parts 2 and 3; get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL! See PEL Live in NYC on April 6.
Sponsors: Please visit calm.com/pel for 25% off a stress-reducing subscription, TakeCareOf.com (code PEL) for 50% off a month of personalized vitamins, TheGreatCoursesPLUS.com/PEL for two months of unlimited learning for 99 cents, and use code 30PEL get 30% off at Amazon of Bill Wooditch’s book Fail More.
Episode 210: Frantz Fanon’s Black Existentialism (Part Two)
Continuing on Black Skin White Masks (1952), starting with the influential ch. five, “The Fact of Blackness.” Are the successive coping strategies to racism (including “anti-racist racism” and embrace of negritude) that Fanon describes, necessary steps in a dialectic that should be encouraged, or would it be best to learn from his “mistakes” and jump right to the humanistic end-point? With guest Lawrence Ware.
Start with part 1 or get the ad-free Citizen Edition. Please support PEL! See PEL Live in NYC on April 6.
End song: “Malaika” by John Etheridge and Vimala Rowe; hear John interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #85.
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