The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

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PREMIUM-Ep. 330: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Aesthetic Life (Part Three) Dec 08, 2023

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Mark, Wes, and Seth read through more of Kierkegaard's Diapsalmata, translated as "Refrains," which are the aphorisms that begin the book and demonstrate the aesthetic point of view.

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Ep. 330: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Aesthetic Life (Part Two) Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

Continuing on "Diapsalmata" and "Rotation of Crops" from the "Either" portion of Kierkegaard's pseudonymous book.

We talk through more of K's aphorisms, his narrator's solution to boredom, and we take the critique personally: Is this Romantic view described one that we held as younger people (or now)?

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PEL Presents PvI#66: Legacy Mops w/ Kevin Allison Dec 01, 2023

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Kevin is the creator and host of the storytelling podcast RISK! and is the alphabetically foremost member of the MTV-televised, newly reformed, celebrity-infested sketch comedy troupe The State. But can he improvise? Mark and Bill surprise Kevin into a scene about a suspicious hotel.

How does one engineer one's legacy? Will history inevitably either reduce your greatest contributions to mere noise or reinterpret them in light of your final, embarrassing moments? Perhaps the legendary comedy team of Ricky and Lester can serve as a scenic example; let's let them say a little about who they are and how their career reached its current nadir.

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

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Ep. 330: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Aesthetic Life (Part One) Nov 27, 2023

Show notes

On the aphorisms ("Diapsalmata") that begin Soren Kierkegaard's Either/Or (1843), plus the essay also in the first volume, "Rotation of Crops." What is it to live your life as if it were a work of art? K thinks such a life is unserious and unsatisfying.

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Ep. 329: Kierkegaard on Irony (Part Three/Closereads Part One) Nov 25, 2023

Show notes

Mark and Wes Closeread the conclusion to Soren Kierkegaard's On the Concept of Irony (1841), "Irony as a Controlled Element, the Truth of Irony." The discussion starts with the role of irony in good art, and then moves on to discuss the proper role of irony as an existential strategy in a well-grounded, thoughtful life.

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Ep. 329: Kierkegaard on Irony (Part Two) Nov 20, 2023

Show notes

Continuing with On the Concept of Irony, defined as "infinite absolute negativity." K criticizes his Romantic peers of taking irony too far. So what is healthy, well-grounded irony?

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Ep. 329: Kierkegaard on Irony (Part One) Nov 13, 2023

Show notes

Discussing On the Concept of Irony (1841).

Kierkegaard builds up to telling us what irony is by showing how Socrates invented irony, as characterized by his wholly negative project of showing others that their beliefs inherited from society are wrong.

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PREMIUM-Ep. 328: Yascha Mounk Against Identity Politics (Part Three) Nov 10, 2023

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Mark, Wes, Dylan, and now Seth too discuss further Mounk's project in The Identity Trap and what philosophically we can glean from it.

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Ep. 328: Guest Yascha Mounk Against Identity Politics (Part Two) Nov 06, 2023

Show notes

Continuing on The Identity Trap (2023). Which works better to achieve social progress; classical liberalism, or strategies involving emphasis of identity group membership? Do we even have to pick a side, or can we pragmatically choose strategies from whichever philosophy most effectively addresses the situation in question?

We discuss cultural appropriation, free speech, standpoint epistemology, and more.

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

Ep. 328: Guest Yascha Mounk Against Identity Politics (Part One) Oct 30, 2023

Show notes

On The Identity Trap (2023), an intellectual history of wokeness (aka "the identity synthesis") and defense of philosophical liberalism against this set of ideas. Are our differences more important than that which unites us?

Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.

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