The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Επεισόδια

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  Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part One) 14.09.2026 52λ

  We focus on the final chapters of Dan Dennett's Consciousness Explained, where he confronts various views, figures, and thought experiments that contend that he's failed to explain the essence of consciousness: the "what it's like" element of any conscious experience that is distinct from a mere judgment or processing of information. One could imagine a being that organizationally matches Dennett's multiple drafts model, acts just like an intelligent person, and yet lacks consciousness. Dennett denies this. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health.
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  PEL Presents PvI#124: Navel Evaluation (Our Season 5 Finale) 12.09.2026 53λ

  We wrap up Mary's first year with the podcast, and changes are afoot for our upcoming season, but why? Let's explore to the point of physical discomfort! We act out an odd annual employee review, a dramatic pitch for a new play, and the navel-gazing club. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyimprov.
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  PEL Presents NEM#260: Jacqui Hunt (Single Gun Theory) Now Master of Her Synth Domain 11.09.2026 1ώ 4λ

  Jacqui rose to fame with the Australian electronic dance band Single Gun Theory (three albums '87-'94), did some one-off collaborations, and released her first solo album in 2008. After an album as CiiVE and some solo singles, she's now released her second solo album, Desiderium. We discuss "Planet" and listen at the end to "Cycles" from that new album, plus "Myriad" from Auraphonic (2008), and "The Sea of Core Experience" by Single Gun Theory from Flow, River of My Soul (1994). Intro: "Take Me Back" by Single Gun Theory from Millions, Like Stars in My Hands, The Daggers in My Heart Wage War (1991). More at jacquihunt.net. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.
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  Ep. 399: Dan Dennett's Model of Mind (Part Two) 07.09.2026 51λ

  Continuing on Consciousness Explained (Ch. 5, 12). We talk about appearance vs. judgment and whether Dennett's denial of this distinction makes sense or just holds for very short time-scales, as in the phi-phenomenon experiment. Does the rejection of appearances and rejection of the concept of qualia undermine the very thing Dennett is trying to describe? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Get your free trial at shopify.com/pel.
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  PEL Presents Closereads: Donald Davidson on Self-Knowledge (Part One) 05.09.2026 54λ

  On "First Person Authority" (1984). What warrants our superior knowledge of our own mental states, as oppose to those of others? Why is this not obvious? Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy; follow us there via the free tier to get many other episodes like this one ad free, or pay us to get part 2 and everything else we've recorded. (Alternatively, support both PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife for a nice combo deal.)
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  PEL Presents PMP#229: What's Spider-Man Up To? 04.09.2026 48λ

  It's been 2019 since our last Spider-Man episode, so what's with the new film (Brand New Day), and the Spider-Verse, and Nicholas Cage being Spider Noir? Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al discuss in this, our SEASON FINALE! Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.
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  Ep. 399: Dan Dennett's Model of Mind (Part One) 31.08.2026 47λ

  On Daniel C. Dennett's Consciousness Explained (Ch. 1, 5), featuring guest Mark, Seth, Dylan, and guest Chris Heath. What is the mind? Dennett puts forth his "multiple drafts" model against the centralization that he characterizes as the "Cartesian Theater." Dennett claims that there is no central place in the brain, or (more controversally) no central processing center in experience, that receives data from the senses and then initiates action (and memory, and other post-experiential processing). How counter-intutitive is this, exactly? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel.
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  PREMIUM-PEL Sunami Nightcap August 2026 30.08.2026 10λ

  Chris Sunami, the editor of the PEL book, joins Mark, Wes and Seth as part of the launch of his new book, Free Your Mind, which is a series of PEL-like conversations all coming out of Chris' brain, using the model of Plato's symposium to talk about race, AI, art, religion, and more. Chris then starts us talking about what we all might want to communicate to all the future people, so we get going on empathy (and its limits), loneliness, phone addiction, physical media, used book stores, the first albums we bought, and more. If you're not hearing the full version of this discussion, sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support.
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  PEL Presents NEM#259: Glenn Morrow (Bar/None): Songwriting Re-Emergence 28.08.2026 1ώ 2λ

  lenn was a central figure in the Hoboken punk scene, fronting the band "a" in the late '70s and then The Individuals in the early '80s. His next band, Rage to Live, was the first release from Bar/None records in 1986, and Glenn then joined the label as a partner and signed They Might Be Giants, Yo La Tengo, etc. He started recording his own music again in the early 2010's and has now released three albums as Glenn Morrow's Cry for Help. We discuss "Sweater Weather" (and listen at the end to "That's That") from Our Final Album Vol. 1 (2026), "Our World" by The Individuals from Fields (1982), and "Swimmer" from the self-titled album (1986) by Rage to Live. Intro: "Yellowed Pages" from 2 (2020). More at glenn-morrow.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.
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  Ep. 398: Donald Davidson on Mind vs. Body (Part Two) 23.08.2026 53λ

  Continuing on Consciousness Explained (Ch. 5, 12). We talk about appearance vs. judgment and whether Dennett's denial of this distinction makes sense or just holds for very short time-scales, as in the phi-phenomenon experiment. Does the rejection of appearances and rejection of the concept of qualia undermine the very thing Dennett is trying to describe? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.
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  PEL Presents PvI#123: Brain Spritzing w/ Bill Arnett and Jenny Hansen 23.08.2026 50λ

  Future co-host philosophy Jenny joins past co-host improviser Bill along with the usual Mark and Jenny for some tag-team mud swimming, hot takes about The Odyssey, and discussion and play about Bill's return to school, Maslow's hierarchy, gamified syllabi, some math stuff, and academic dishonesty. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyimprov.
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  PEL Presents Closereads: Peirce's New Categories (Part One) 21.08.2026 1ώ 1λ

  How shall we break down the universe into basic types of things? Peirce has an idiosyncratic way of thinking about this problem and coming up with his division, revolving around the steps and presuppositions involved in predicating something. Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy; follow us there via the free tier to part two and many other episodes like this one ad free, or pay us to get parts 2-5 and everything else we've recorded. (Alternatively, support both PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife for a nice combo deal.)
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  Ep. 399: Dan Dennett's Model of Mind (Part One for Supporters) 18.08.2026 46λ

  On Daniel C. Dennett's Consciousness Explained (Ch. 1, 5), featuring guest Mark, Seth, Dylan, and guest Chris Heath. What is the mind? Dennett puts forth his "multiple drafts" model against the centralization that he characterizes as the "Cartesian Theater." Dennett claims that there is no central place in the brain, or (more controversally) no central processing center in experience, that receives data from the senses and then initiates action (and memory, and other post-experiential processing). How counter-intutitive is this, exactly? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.
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  Ep. 398: Donald Davidson on Mind vs. Body (Part One) 17.08.2026 52λ

  On "Mental Events" (1970) and "Actions, Reasons, and Causes" (1963), w/ guest Chris Heath. When we talk about mental events (e.g. desires) causing physical occurrences (an action to obtain what is desired), are we giving a causal picture in the scientific sense, which would rule out free will? Or are reason-giving and causality just different language games? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. Learn about Mark's fall philosophy of mind class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class.
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  PMP#228: Spielberg's Alien Fetish 16.08.2026 57λ

  We discuss the various films Steven Spielberg has released about alien encounters: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982), War of the Worlds (2005), and our inciting film, Disclosure Day. Featuring Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al. How is the new film as "mature Spielberg"? Is it as fun as the older films? Is it too heavy handed? Do the older films hold up? Would YOU go with the aliens? Are we as a society too jaded at this point for the Spielberg magic to fully work? Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. Sponsor: Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp.
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  Ep. 397: Federalist Papers LIVE (Part Two) 10.08.2026 52λ

  We now have a free-form discussion in light of what was raised in part one about the Federalist Papers and Frederick Douglass' Fourth of July Speech: What should we do about the problems identified? Is the system broken beyond repair? Was it built with fatal flaws in it? Is it just working as normal, and the pendulum will inevitably swing away from madness as the system reasserts itself? We then open it up for a Q&A, which gets us talking about property vs. liberty, the power of corporations, the moral basis of our government, and our outlook on the future. Learn about Mark's fall philosophy of mind class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class.
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  PEL Presents NEM#258: Dan Montgomery: Direct Communication 09.08.2026 1ώ 11λ

  Dan was Ben Vaughn's sound-man and released his first solo album of Americana rock in 2004. We discuss "Busted" from his eighth album (produced by Vaughn), the just Dan-and-his guitar effort Dispatches from the Desert, then "Beaumont" from Cast-Iron Songs and Torch Ballads (2023), "Favorite Color" from Rosetta, Please (A Love Story) (2006). End song: "Lookin' for a Fight" also from the new album. Intro: "Always" from Man from Out of State (2004). More at danmontgomery.bandcamp.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.
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  PEL Presents PvI#122: Hello from Iran w/ AmirAli Maleki 07.08.2026 46λ

  AmirAli is a philosophy researcher in Iran who tries to make Islamic philosophy speak to and with the West. We hear about doing philosophy in the "Islamic Republic of Iran," life during wartime, the relationship between play and philosophy, Islamic philosophy in Arabic vs. Persian, Amanah ("sacred trust"), philosophy as empathy, plus the Dream Police and fun with imperialism. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyimprov. Sponsor: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code IMPROV at oneskin.co/IMPROV.
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  Announcement: Mark's "Key Ideas in the Philosophy of Mind" Fall 2026 Class 07.08.2026 1λ

  Enrollment is now open for our new online class. It will be nine 75 min sessions, running from late Aug. to mid Dec., starting with Aristotle and Descartes but then spending the rest of the time on the most influential texts in this area since 1950: Alan Turing, Thomas Nagel, David Chalmers, John Searle, Hilary Putnam, etc. We're offering sections to fit the various time zones and work schedules: Saturday mornings, Monday mid-day, Wednesday evenings, or just purchase the recordings of these sessions to take them in at your own pace. Read more about it at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class, or go ahead and sign up via partiallyexaminedlife.com/enrollment.
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  Ep. 397: Federalist Papers LIVE (Part One) 03.08.2026 1ώ 3λ

  To celebrate our nation's 250th birthday, we gathered in front of a lovely audience near Madison WI to discuss Federalist Papers 70, 78, 39, 54, 10 by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison from 1787-1788, Anti-Federalist Papers 78-80 (aka Brutus 11 and 15), and Frederick Douglass' Fourth of July Speech (1852). Is the American experiment working out as planned? We talk about the Founders' arguments regarding the unitary executive, the independence of the judiciary, factionalism, the 3/5 compromise for representing slaves, and finally, whether slavery corrupted the whole thing. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health. Learn about Mark's fall philosophy of mind class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class.