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Ep. 295: Kant on Preventing War (Part One for Supporters)

June 5, 2022 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

On Immanuel Kant's essay "Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch" (1795). Do nations have the "right" to go to war? What principles ground just international relations, and are there structures and agreements that we can embrace to prevent prevent future wars? Naturally, we consider the current conflict in Ukraine as well as other recent wars. Kant's essay reads like a  Continue Reading …

REISSUE-PEL Ep 37: Locke on Political Power (w/ New Intro)

December 21, 2020 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

Happy Holidays! Have you heard our 2020 Holiday Party yet? Discussing John Locke's Second Treatise on Government (1690). What makes political power legitimate? Like Hobbes, Locke thinks that things are less than ideal without a society to keep people from killing us, so we implicitly sign a social contract giving power to the state. But for Locke, nature's not as bad, so  Continue Reading …

Things to Read: Philosophy of Race and the Social Contract

March 21, 2012 by Law Ware Twitter: @law_ware 3 Comments

In this text, Charles W. Mills argues that social contract theory has racist underpinnings. While his argument is not completely persuasive, this is an intriguing take on the theory. -Law  Continue Reading …

Debating Locke’s View of Slavery as War

May 17, 2011 by Daniel Horne Leave a Comment

Ta-nehisi Coates, a senior editor for The Atlantic, recently opened up a discussion on Locke's Second Treatise, with respect to the discussion of slavery. A fairly intelligent debate thread followed in the comments section. Check it out if you found that section of PEL's Locke episode interesting. Some of the better comments in the thread debated whether or not Locke was  Continue Reading …

Episode 37: Locke on Political Power (Citizens Only)

May 6, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Discussing John Locke's Second Treatise on Government (1690). What makes political power legitimate? Like Hobbes, Locke thinks that things are less than ideal without a society to keep people from killing us, so we implicitly sign a social contract giving power to the state. But for Locke, nature's not as bad, so the state is given less power. But how much less? And what  Continue Reading …

PREVIEW-Episode 37: Locke on Political Power

May 6, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 29 Comments

This is a 30-minute preview of a 1 hr, 34-minute 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  Continue Reading …

Topic for #37: John Locke on Legitimate Powers

March 30, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

What gives a government the right to rule over its citizens? John Locke in his Second Treatise of Government (1689) says that government requires the real (though often implicit) consent of the people, which means it has to be in the people's interest. Unlike Hobbes, Locke thinks that the state of nature (i.e. the alternative to having a government) isn't completely chaotic  Continue Reading …

Topic for #35: Hegel on Self-Consciousness

March 8, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 14 Comments

We will at last be breaking open the most notoriously obscure, fantabulous work of philosophy ever: Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit.This is the early Hegel: anti-metaphysical and historicist, as opposed to the later Hegel previously discussed in our philosophy of history episode and ripped on by Kierkegaard and Schopenhauer. It's a frickin' acid trip, this book is. We'll  Continue Reading …

Episode 26: Freud on the Human Condition (Citizens Only)

September 25, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 5 Comments

Discussing Civilization and its Discontents (1930). For Wes Alwan's summary of this book, go here). What's the meaning of life? Well, for Sigmund Freud, an objective purpose rises or falls with religion, which he thinks a matter of clinging to illusion, so to rephrase: what do we want out of life? To be happy, of course, yet he sees happiness as a matter of fulfillment of  Continue Reading …

PREVIEW-Episode 26: Freud on the Human Condition

September 25, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 42 Comments

This is a 32-minute preview of a 2 hr, 5-minute 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  Continue Reading …

PREVIEW-Episode 23: Rousseau: Human Nature vs. Culture

July 29, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 27 Comments

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

This is a 31-minute preview of a 1 hr, 29-minute 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  Continue Reading …

Episode 15: Hegel on History

February 24, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Discussing G.W.F Hegel's Introduction to the Philosophy of History. Though he didn't actually write a book with this name, notes on his lectures on this topic were published after his death, and the first chunk of that serves as a good entrance point to Hegel's very strange system. How should a philosopher approach the study of history? Is history just a bunch of random  Continue Reading …

Episode 15: Hegel on History

February 24, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 35 Comments

Discussing G.W.F Hegel's Introduction to the Philosophy of History. Though he didn't actually write a book with this name, notes on his lectures on this topic were published after his death, and the first chunk of that serves as a good entrance point to Hegel's very strange system. How should a philosopher approach the study of history? Is history just a bunch of random  Continue Reading …

Episode 14: Machiavelli on Politics

February 7, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Reading Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince and Ch. 1-20 of The Discourse on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy. What's a philosophically astute approach to political matters? What makes a government successful? Should you keep that fortress or sell it for scrap? If you conquer, say, Iraq, do you have to then go and live there for the occupation to work out? Is it OK to display  Continue Reading …

Episode 14: Machiavelli on Politics

February 7, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 15 Comments

Reading Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince and Ch. 1-20 of The Discourse on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy. What's a philosophically astute approach to political matters? What makes a government successful? Should you keep that fortress or sell it for scrap? If you conquer, say, Iraq, do you have to then go and live there for the occupation to work out? Is it OK to display  Continue Reading …

Episode 11: Nietzsche’s Immoralism: What Is Ethics, Anyway?

November 10, 2009 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Transcription of Episode 61 on Nietzsche

Discussing The Genealogy of Morals (mostly the first two essays) and Beyond Good and Evil Ch. 1 (The Prejudices of Philosophers), 5 (Natural History of Morals), and 9 (What is Noble?). We go through Nietzsche's convoluted and historically improbable stories about about the transition from master to slave morality and the origin of bad conscience. Why does he diss  Continue Reading …

Episode 11: Nietzsche’s Immoralism: What Is Ethics, Anyway?

November 10, 2009 by Mark Linsenmayer 91 Comments

Discussing The Genealogy of Morals (mostly the first two essays) and Beyond Good and Evil Ch. 1 (The Prejudices of Philosophers), 5 (Natural History of Morals), and 9 (What is Noble?). We go through Nietzsche's convoluted and historically improbable stories about about the transition from master to slave morality and the origin of bad conscience. Why does he diss  Continue Reading …

Episode 3: Hobbes’s Leviathan: The Social Contract

June 7, 2009 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

Discussing Hobbes's Leviathan, Chapters 13-15. Have we implicitly signed a social contract whereby our native right to punch other people in the face is given to the President? Hobbes does things that eventually result in the U.S. Constitution and makes Wes nauseous. Plus: Star Trek and the Bible! Buy the book or read it online End song: "The Villa" by Mark Lint and  Continue Reading …

Episode 3: Hobbes’s Leviathan: The Social Contract

June 7, 2009 by Mark Linsenmayer 39 Comments

Discussing Hobbes's Leviathan, Chapters 13-15. Have we implicitly signed a social contract whereby our native right to punch other people in the face is given to the President? Hobbes does things that eventually result in the U.S. Constitution and makes Wes nauseous. Plus: Star Trek and the Bible! Buy the book or read it online End song: "The Villa" by Mark Lint and  Continue Reading …

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