The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

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Ep. 244: Camus on Strategies for Facing Plague (Part One) May 25, 2020

Show notes

On Albert Camus' existentialist novel The Plague. How shall we face adversity? Camus gives us colorful characters that embody various approaches. Yes, the plague is an extreme situation, but we're all dying all the time anyway, right?

Join Mark, Wes, Dylan and Seth to tease out Camus' positions from this bleak yet colorful text.

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Ep. 243: Aristotle's "Poetics" on Art and Tragedy (Part Two) May 18, 2020

Show notes

Continuing on the Poetics from around 335 BCE, on the structure of plot (every element must be essential!), the moral status of the heroes, Homeric poetry, the difference between tragedy and history, and how Aristotle's formula may or may not apply to modern media.

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End song: "Structure of a Tragedy" by Mark Lint. Read about it.

Ep. 243: Aristotle's "Poetics" on Art and Tragedy (Part One) May 11, 2020

Show notes

These notes from 335 BCE are still used in screenwriting classes. Aristotle presents a formula for what will move us, derived from Sophocles's tragedies.

What is art? The text describes it as memesis (imitation), and tragedy imitates human action in a way that shows us what it is to be human. Aristotle has lots of advice about how to structure a plot optimized to our sensibilities. Join Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth to see if you think he's right.

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PEL Presents PMP#42: Star Trek Lives Long and Prospers (Intermittently) May 06, 2020

Show notes

In light of Star Trek: Picard, Brian, Erica, Mark, and Drew Jackson discuss our most philosophical sci-fi franchise. What makes a Trek story? How do you world-build over generations? How did Picard measure up? Plus Trek vs. Wars and step-children like The Orville and Galaxy Quest.

For more, visit prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

This podcast is part of the Partially Examined Life network and is curated by openculture.com.

Ep. 242: Stanley Cavell on Tragedy via King Lear (Part Two) May 04, 2020

Show notes

Continuing on Cavell's essay "The Avoidance of Love: A Reading of King Lear" (1969), shifting away from Lear in particular to a more general discussion of tragedy and Cavell's psychological insights.

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End song: "Out of Your Hands" by Gretchen's Wheel, i.e., Lindsay Murray, as interviewed for Nakedly Examined Music #81.

Ep. 242: Stanley Cavell on Tragedy via King Lear (Part One) Apr 27, 2020

Show notes

On Cavell's essay "The Avoidance of Love: A Reading of King Lear" (1969).

Can money buy you love? What is tragedy? With guest Erin O'Luanaigh.

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Ep. 241: Political Philosophy and the Pandemic Apr 20, 2020

Show notes

How should we think politically about the current global crisis? Do extreme circumstances reveal truths of political philosophy or do they reinforce whatever it is we already believe? Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan talk about applying philosophical insights to real-life situations rife with unknowns, John Rawls' veil of ignorance and Adam Smith on our interconnectedness, utilitarianism, libertarianism, and more. A source we used was "How Coronavirus Is Shaking Up the Moral Universe" by John Authers.

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End song: "Date of Grace" by Rob Picott, as discussed on Nakedly Examined Music #80.

Ep. 240: David Lewis on Possible Worlds and Language Games (Part Two) Apr 13, 2020

Show notes

On "Scorekeeping in a Language Game" (1979) and "Truth in Fiction" (1978).

Lewis's account of possible worlds can be applied to conversation: As we speak, each sentence adds to the "conversational score" (the set of assumptions that enable us to understand each other) while reducing the field of possible worlds that the picture we're painting together could potentially represent. What are the gravitational forces within this kind of scorekeeping? Also, when an author creates a fictive "world," how do facts about that world logically relate to those of the actual world? With guest Matt Teichman.

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End song: "Real Life" by Matt Wilson, as interviewed for Nakedly Examined Music #118.

Ep. 240: David Lewis on Possible Worlds and Language Games (Part One) Apr 06, 2020

Show notes

On Ch. 4 of Lewis's book Counterfactuals (1973) and the essays "Scorekeeping in a Language Game" (1979) and "Truth in Fiction" (1978).

What makes a sentence about possibility true? Lewis things that we need possible worlds that really exist in order to make sense of our modal intuitions. He uses this possible world talk to make sense of conversations and the worlds created by fiction writers. With guest Matt Teichman from Elucidations.

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Ep. 239: Montesquieu Invents Political Science (Part Two) Mar 30, 2020

Show notes

Continuing on The Spirit of the Laws (1748) by Charles Louis de Secondat, aka Baron de Montesquieu. Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth talk more about the "motive force" behind each type of government and the separation of powers.

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End song: "King of the Hill" by MINUTEMEN. Listen to Mark interview Mike Watt on Nakedly Examined Music #108.

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