The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

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Ep. 257: Locke Against Innate Ideas (Part One)

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On Book I of John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689).

How do we know things? Locke thought all knowledge comes from experience, and this might seem uncontroversial, but what are the alternatives? We consider the idea that there are some ideas we’re just born with and don’t need to learn. But what’s an “idea,” and how is it different from a principle? Clearly we have instincts (“knowhow”) but is that knowledge? We consider occurrent vs. dispositional nativism, the role of reason, and what Locke’s overall project is after.

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Ep. 255: Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” (Part One)

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On the Chinese military treatise from around the 5th century BCE.

How does a philosopher wage war? The best kind of war can be won without fighting. The general qua Taoist sage never moves until circumstances are optimal. We talk virtue ethics and practical strategy; how well can Sunzi’s advice be applied to non-martial pursuits? With guest Brian Wilson.

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Ep. 254: Michael Sandel Interview: Against Meritocracy (Part One)

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On The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? (2020).

Do people get the wealth and status they deserve? And if they did, would that be good? Michael critiques the meritocracy: It’s not actually fair, leaves most people feeling humiliated, and makes those on the top arrogant and disconnected. The commitment to meritocracy is shared by both political parties and helps explain our current dysfunction.

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Ep. 253: Leibniz on the Problem of Evil (Part One)

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On Gottfried Leibniz’s Theodicy (1710).

Why does God allow so many bad things to happen? Leibniz thought that by the definition of God, whatever He created must be the best of all possible worlds, and his theodicy presents numerous arguments to try to make that less counter-intuitive given how less-than-perfect the world seems to us.

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Ep. 252: Habermas on Communication as Sociality (Part One)

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On Jürgen Habermas’ “Actions, Speech Acts, Linguistically Mediated Interactions, and the Lifeworld” (1998), with guest John Foster.

What’s the relation between individuals and society? Habermas says that language has ethics built right into it: I’m trying to get you to agree with me, to engage in a cooperative enterprise of mutual understanding.

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Ep. 251: Simone Weil’s Ideal Society

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On “Theoretical Picture of a Free Society” (1934). What’s the ideal living situation for us all, given the peculiarities of human nature? Weil describes fulfillment as coming from being able to picture goals and plans and knowingly put them into effect, so social groups need to maximize that power by being small and cooperative.

End song: “Libreville” by Bill Bruford, as interviewed for Nakedly Examined Music #25.

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Ep. 250: Simone Weil on Human Needs (Part Three)

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Concluding on “The Needs of the Soul” from The Need for Roots (1943). This time we cover punishment, security, risk, private property, collective property, freedom of opinion, and truth.

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End song: “Even Though the Darkest Clouds” by liar, flower. Mark interviewed KatieJane Garside on Nakedly Examined Music #127.

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Ep. 250: Simone Weil on Human Needs (Part Two)

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Continuing on “The Needs of the Soul” from The Need for Roots (1943). We got started in part one with our need for order, and in this part we add liberty, obedience, responsibility, equality, hierarchy, and honor.

We’ll conclude with part 3, covering freedom of speech, punishment and more, but you needn’t wait: Get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition now. and you’ll also get our Nightcap recordings.

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Ep. 250: Simone Weil on Human Needs (Part One)

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On “The Needs of the Soul” from The Need for Roots (1943) and “Meditation on Obedience and Liberty” (1937).

What are our needs that should then drive what kind of society would be best for us? Weil says we need liberty yet obedience, equality yet hierarchy, security yet risk… and none of these words mean quite what you’d think. And to start off, why do the many obey the few?

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Ep. 249: Dewey on Education and Thought (Part Two)

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Continuing on John Dewey’s Democracy and Education (1916) ch. 1, 2, 4, and 24 with guest Jonathan Haber.

How is education different than mere conditioning, and how does it relate to habits and growth? We discuss how much of what Dewey recommends lines up with liberal education and multiculturalism. Also, can education change taste?

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End song: “Too Far to Turn Around” by The Ides of March; Jim Peterik appears on Nakedly Examined Music #126.

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Ep. 249: Dewey on Education and Thought (Part One)

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On John Dewey’s How We Think (1910) ch. 1 and Democracy and Education (1916) ch. 1, 2, 4, and 24.

What model of human nature should serve as the basis for education policy? Dewey sees learning as growth, and the point of education as to enable indefinite growth. With guest Jonathan Haber.

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Ep. 248: Racism and Policing (Al-Saji, Merleau-Ponty, et al) (Part Two)

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Continuing on Alia Al-Saji’s “A Phenomenology of Hesitation” (2014) and other things with guest Phil Hopkins. 

Can we restructure our (and the police’s) reactions and live with each other? We further explore the psychology of habit and Al-Saji’s notion of hesitation. How does it compare to other types of heistation recommended by philosophies and religions?

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End song: “Every Man’s Burden” by Dusty Wright, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #89.

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Ep. 248: Racism and Policing (Al-Saji, Merleau-Ponty, et al) (Part One)

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On Alia Al-Saji’s “A Phenomenology of Hesitation” (2014), bits of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception (1945) and Linda Martín Alcoff’s Visible Identities (2006), plus Alex Vitale’s The End of Policing (2017).

Is there subconscious racism, and how might we root it out and fix our policing problems? Ex-cop Phil Hopkins joins to look at how phenomenology can help.

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Ep. 247: Aristotle on Rhetoric and Emotions (Part Two)

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Continuing on the Rhetoric (ca. 335 BCE) book 1, ch. 1-6 and book 2, ch. 1-5, 18-24.

We finish up with enthymemes (rhetorical arguments), maxims, and signs. We then move to emotions, where we chiefly talk about anger: Is it always a matter of status injury, or is frustration equally (or more) foundational?

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End song: “Reason with the Beast” by Shriekback, whose leader Barry Andrews was interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #107.

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Ep. 247: Aristotle on Rhetoric and Emotions (Part One)

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On the Rhetoric (ca. 335 BCE) book 1, ch. 1–6 and book 2, ch. 1–5, 18–24.

What role does persuasion play in philosophy? Aristotle (contra Plato) argues it can and should be used for good: in law courts, political debates, public speeches. He describes the arguments forms used in rhetoric (“enthymemes”) and analyzes the emotions that an audience might have so that speakers know what points are worth dwelling on and how to best argue them.

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Ep. 246: Susan Sontag on Interpreting Art (Part Two)

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Continuing on Sontag’s essays “On Style” (1965) and “The Death of Tragedy” (1963).

Mark, Wes, Seth and Dylan keep talking about the appropriate distance to retain (or not) to a work of art, which is supposed to be relevant to moral action in the world. We also spell out how this is relevant to our recent episodes on tragedy.

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End song: “Mela” by Julie Slick, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #115.

Ep. 246: Susan Sontag on Interpreting Art (Part One)

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On Sontag’s essays “Against Interpretation” (1964), “On Style” (1965), and “The Death of Tragedy” (1963).

What is it to understand a work of art? Sontag objects to critics’ need to decode art into its “meaning” or “content,” divorcing it from how this content is embodied. She argues that the content vs. form distinction isn’t tenable; that the style of a work is an essential part of experiencing it. Sontag thinks we’re too analytical, too divorced from our instincts, and a direct encounter with art is essential to enliven us.

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Ep. 245: Fashion (Derrida, Foucault, Sontag) w/ Shahidha Bari (Part Two)

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We conclude with Foucault’s “The Ethics of the Concern of the Self as a Practice of Freedom” (1984) and add Susan Sontag’s “On Style” (1965). After our guest’s departure, we give some concluding remarks about her book Dressed: A Philosophy of Clothes (2020) and Derrida’s “The Animal That Therefore I Am” (1999).

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End song: “Clothe Me in Ashes” by K.C. Clifford, interviewed for Nakedly Examined Music #121.

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Ep. 245: Fashion (Derrida, Foucault) w/ Shahidha Bari (Part One)

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On Jacques Derrida’s “The Animal That Therefore I Am” (1999), Michel Foucault’s “The Ethics of the Concern of the Self As A Practice of Freedom” (1984), and our guest’s Dressed: A Philosophy of Clothes (2020).

Philosophy devalues appearances, but our changing dominant metaphysics (there is no “underneath” but rather a complex built out of appearance itself) should have changed this. Our guest provided us with readings that elaborate this change, arguing for our continuity with animal nature (Derrida) and the ethical importance of self-care (Foucault).

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Ep. 244: Camus on Strategies for Facing Plague (Part Two)

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Continuing on Albert Camus’s 1947 novel, covering the old functionary Grand, the criminal (or just paranoid?) Cottard, and more of our narrators Dr. Rieux and his doomed friend Tarrou, plus more on the overall message of the book and how it might relate to our current situation.

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End song: “You Will Kill the One You Love” by Jack Hues, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #122.

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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