The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

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Ep. 334: Gabriel Marcel's Christian Existentialism (Part One) Jan 22, 2024

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Discussing "On the Ontological Mystery" (1933) about our need for meaning. Marcel asserts that our need for "mystery" is much more primal than the scientific, technical point of view that breaks down problems into component parts for easy analysis. In fact, this more modern-seeming way of looking at the world presupposes and relies on the more originary position.

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PEL Presents NEM#209: Bruce Hornsby Is a Lifelong Student Jan 20, 2024

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Bruce is best known for his first album The Way It Is (1986), but has come light years since then through 18+ albums, experimenting with different styles, playing over 100 shows with the Grateful Dead, and scoring numerous projects for Spike Lee. He's won three Grammys and recorded with music royalty including Elton John, Ornette Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, etc.

We discuss "Sidelines" (feat. Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend) from 'Flicted (2022), "My Resolve" (feat. James Mercer of The Shins) from Non-Secure Connection (2020), and a new live version of "Shadow Hand" from the 25th Anniversary Edition of Spirit Trail. End song: "Cast-Off" (feat. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver) from Absolute Zero (2019). Intro: "The Way It Is" (Live from Köln, 2019). More at brucehornsby.com

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Sponsors: Visit GreenChef.com/60Nakedly (use code 60Nakedly) to get 60% off your first box from America's #1 Meal Kit for eating clean (plus 20% off for the next two months) Get the ultimate gift: A custom-written song from Songfinch. Use songfinch.com/NEM to get free Spotify streaming for your song. Listen to the song Mark commissioned.

Ep. 333: Kierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling" on Faith (Part Two) Jan 15, 2024

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Continuing on Kierkegaard's perhaps most famous book, this time focusing largely on "Problem One: Is There a Teleological Suspension of the Ethical?"

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Ep. 333: Kierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling" on Faith (Part One) Jan 08, 2024

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To wrap up our coverage of Kierkegaard, we consider his religious stage of development through this 1843 text analyzing the Biblical story of Abraham. Can we understand, much less admire, an attitude whereby you think God has commanded you to kill your son and you gladly go along with it? How does this sort of "greatness" relate to ethics?

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PREMIUM-PEL Winter Nightcap (Concluding 2023) Jan 07, 2024

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Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan set ourselves as part of our ongoing Kierkegaard reading to re-listen to our 2010 episode 29 on Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death. This leads us to our personal histories regarding faith and how the idea of faith intersects with our philosophy studies.

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Ep. 332: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Ethical Self (Part Two) Jan 01, 2024

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Concluding our discussion of Either/Or, still this time considering "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" on how the ethical helps us to develop a self.

What is this ideal self that Kierkegaard wants us to aim for, but yet which is within us as individuals already? How can each of us merge with the universal ethically yet assert our individuality?

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Ep. 332: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Ethical Self (Part One) Dec 25, 2023

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On the second half of "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" from Vol. 2 of Either/Or (1843). How do we "absolutely" form a coherent self by embracing ethical conventions like marriage, friendship, and having a job?

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PREMIUM-Ep. 331: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Ethical Life (Part Three) Dec 22, 2023

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Mark and Wes talk in more details about the "stages of despair" Kierkegaard lays out in "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" from Vol. 2 of Either/Or.

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Ep. 331: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Ethical Life (Part Two) Dec 18, 2023

Show notes

Continuing on "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality," with a critique of (Hegelian) philosophy and concrete advice for how to build yourself in an optimal way.

Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content including a supporter-exclusive part three to this discussion. Listen to a preview.

Ep. 331: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Ethical Life (Part One) Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

On "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" from Vol. 2 of Soren Kierkegaard's Either/Or (1843).

What is choice? Kierkegaard's character Judge William criticizes the aesthete from our previous episode on the earlier part of this book: The aesthete doesn't make any authentic choices and so doesn't develop a coherent self.

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