The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Ep. 396: Peirce on Knowledge (Part One) 20.07.2026 49min

On 1868 essays by Charles Sanders Peirce: "Questions Concerning Certain Faculties Claimed for Man" and "Some Consequences of Four Incapacities." Do we know when knowledge is intuitive? Is there any such thing as intuitive knowledge? Do we directly experience the self or anything introspective, or do we just infer facts about ourselves from external perspectives? Peirce provides counter-intuitive responses to all these questions. 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.

PEL Presents PvI#121: Meat Suit Dolls w/ Maddie Mutations 18.07.2026 53min

The LA-based clown, multimedia performance artist, and doll stylist (see maddiemutations.com) joins Mary and Mark to talk about her Doll Court show, clown types and the role of the fool, failing on stage, cities as women, silly villains, and more. Will Carol overcome her anxiety to go into the big meeting? Will Maddie keep all the nice dolls to herself? What should the demands of the LA doll union be? How edgy can a clown be? We wrap up with an exercise about numeric levels of joy. 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.

PEL Presents NEM#256: Bruce Soord (Pineapple Thief): Heartbreaking Prog by Ear 17.07.2026 1h 11min

Bruce started as guitarist for the '90s for Vulgar Unicorn and started Pineapple Thief as a solo project in 1999, though it quickly became a full band. He's released 16 studio albums with Pineapple Thief and four solo albums. More at brucesoord.com and pineapplethief.com. We discuss "Pillars" from Ghosts in the Park (his 2026 solo album) and some Pineapple Thief tracks: the title track from It Leads to This (2024), "Clapham" from 10 Stories Down (2005), remixed for 3000 Days (2008), plus to conclude "Alone at Sea" from Magnolia (2014). Intro: "Private Paradise" by from Abducted at Birth (1999, originally called Abducting the Unicorn). Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic, which will get you access to a bonus episode with Bruce from 2018.

Ep. 396: Peirce on Knowledge (Part Two for Supporters) 16.07.2026 53min

Continuing on "Questions Concerning Certain Faculties Claimed for Man" and "Some Consequences of Four Incapacities." We talk about inference, the self, introspection, willing, the limits on what kinds of terms can have meaning, and more.

Ep. 395: C.S. Lewis Argues for Christianity (Part Two) 13.07.2026 56min

Continuing on Mere Christianity (1952). We discuss his take on the problem of evil, how happiness is impossible without Christ, our potential to evolve from bios (biological nature) vs. zoe (spiritual nature), sexual morality, pride, and more. 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.

PEL Presents Closereads: Hegel on Faith vs. The Enlightenment (aka PEL#394 pt. 3) 12.07.2026 57min

PEL Presents PMP#225: Survivor the Constant (with Wes!) 11.07.2026 55min

Survivor has remained a top-rated show since its debut in 2000, and some of us (Sarahlyn and our guest Wes Alwan) have stuck with it throughout, Mark just watched when it came out and had to catch up, and some of us (Lawrence and Al) had not previously been on board at all. We talk through the evolution of the show, from torture exhibitionism to now lore-drenched soap-operatic beach games. Is this show designed to be watched in the background? What makes for a good player? What criteria to the jury members use to vote for a winner? What is the target audience for the show? Are the games well designed? How does the show deal with racism? Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Ep. 395: C.S. Lewis Argues for Christianity (Part One) 06.07.2026 48min

On Mere Christianity (1952), where Lewis presents the moral argument for the existence of God and present Christianity as uniquely solving the human conundrum that our moral phenomenology presents, i.e. that the moral law is real in us yet we can never fulfill it. Once you're on board with that reasoning, faith is a matter of sticking to your realization even though Christianity's moral rules are extremely stringent. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Don't miss the PEL Live show in Madison, WI on Saturday afternoon, July 11. See partiallyexaminedlife.com/live for details. Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel.

PEL Presents PvI#120: Mark and Mary in the Struggle Club 04.07.2026 53min

Your wise and authoritative hosts explore forms of respectful address, what counts as good philosophy, the holodeck full-contact Fantasy Island experience, status in economic transactions, Trek not War, default improv scenarios, fear of playfulness, philosophy or improv as education vs. doing philosophy or improv, and more. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support.

Ep. 394: Hegel on Faith vs. The Enlightenment (Part Two) 29.06.2026 54min

We conclude our treatment for the moment of the Spirit section of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, sec. 527-73. Hegel's diagnosis: The Enlightenment and faith only seem to be in conflict because they are two sides of "pure consciousness," i.e. thought as a retreat from the actual world. So yes, if you see faith as mere belief, as a thought about some unprovable matter of fact, that is not going to stand critical scrutiny. Hegel's conception of faith will instead be an involved, behavioral, social engagement with the world. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Don't miss the PEL Live show in Madison, WI on Saturday afternoon, July 11. See partiallyexaminedlife.com/live for details. Sponsors: Don't get caught running yesterday';s security on today's web: visit nordlayer.com/browser. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

PEL Presents NEM#255: Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies): Mellow But Energized 28.06.2026 1h 13min

Michael is the songwriter and guitarist for the Canadian band Cowboy Junkies (featuring two of his siblings and a childhood friend), with whom he's released 20+ studio albums and several live albums since 1989. We discuss "Throw a Match" from Such Ferocious Beauty (2023), "He Will Call You Baby" from More Acoustic Junk (2025), remade from One Soul Now (2004), and "Rock and Bird" from The Caution Horses (1990). End song: " Unanswered Letter" from The Wilderness-The Nomad Series, Vol. 4 (2012). Intro: "Misguided Angel" from The Trinity Session (1988). More at cowboyjunkies.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

PEL Presents PMP#224: Fantasy Novels Galore 26.06.2026 1h 5min

Mark and Al share their mutual interest in fantasy novels. Is "high fantasy" fundamentally different than what enjoyed as kids? Did Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and HBO's Game of Thrones show us that these big books are adaptable, or were they exceptions? We're anticipating the upcoming Mistborn/Cosmere adaptations, as we're both into Brandon Sanderson. We also talk about The Wheel of Time, Rings of Power, Earthsea, Shannara, Joe Abercrombie, Robin Hobb, Stephen R. Donaldson, Patrick Rothfuss, Tad Williams, and of course Harry Potter. Sponsor: Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp.

Ep. 394: Hegel on Faith vs. The Enlightenment (Part One) 22.06.2026 47min

On Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), sec. 527-73, i.e. "Faith and Pure Insight" and "The Struggle of Enlightenment with Superstition." Picking up where we left off in this book, an intangible part of us ("pure consciousness") escapes the attempts of culture to define us. This spiritual part has two sides: pure insight, which is the destructive critical faculty popularized by The Enlightenment which sees through all hypocricy and unwarranted belief; and faith, which Enlightenment either dismisses as superstition or chases into a little corner isolated from the real, empirical world. Eventually, the tension between these leads to a conception of faith that Hegel finds more congenial: Awareness of God is just a function of self-consciousness itself, though we don't typically recognize this. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Don't miss the PEL Live show in Madison, WI on Saturday afternoon, July 11. See partiallyexaminedlife.com/live for details. Sponsors: Don't get caught running yesterday's security on today's web: visit nordlayer.com/browser. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

PEL Presents PvI#119: Ms. Philosophy vs. Improv w/ Mary and Jenny 19.06.2026 58min

What would PvI be with zero masculine energy? This episode features your usual co-host Mary Hynes and our frequent guest Jennifer Hansen (philosopher at St. Lawrence University). They chat about being hot in a hostile world, interacting with AI, fighting with parrots, and they act out scenes involving the f*cks store and the actress who is too perfect. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support.

Ep. 394: Hegel on Faith vs. The Enlightenment (Part Two for Supporters) 17.06.2026 49min

We conclude our treatment for the moment of the Spirit section of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, sec. 527-73. Hegel's diagnosis: The Enlightenment and faith only seem to be in conflict because they are two sides of "pure consciousness," i.e. thought as a retreat from the actual world. So yes, if you see faith as mere belief, as a thought about some unprovable matter of fact, that is not going to stand critical scrutiny. Hegel's conception of faith will instead be an involved, behavioral, social engagement with the world. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.

Ep. 393: Kant vs. Hegel (Part Two) 15.06.2026 54min

Concluding our treatment of Ch. 2 of Hegel's Faith and Knowledge (1802). Hegel wants to connect various ideas in Kant: The idea of an "intuitive, achetypal intellect" which we have to refer to in explaining biology, the synthesizing imagination that makes experience possible, and the unknown agency that makes things-in-themselves suitable for processing by our knowledge faculties and vice versa. For Hegel, these things all point to Reason as both the way we know God and the activity of God Himself: Hegelian Reason is the bringing together of seemingly opposite things, and so underlying our minds must be some greater kind of mind that brings together mind and world to create experience. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Don't get caught running yesterday's security on today's web: visit nordlayer.com/browser. Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

PEL Presents NEM#254: Teddy Thompson Gets Off the Sofa 14.06.2026 1h 11min

The golden-voiced son on Richard and Linda is more tied to '50s/'60s rock and country than he his to his parents' folk influences, and he's recorded ten albums of tuneful, straightforward but highly idiosyncratic rock and country tunes since 2000. We discuss "Come Back" (and listen at the end to "So This Is Heartache") from Never Be the Same (2026), "Move At Speed" from Heartbreaker Please (2020), and "I Should Get Up" from Separate Ways (2006). Intro: "In My Arms" from A Piece of What You Need (2008). More at teddythompson.net. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

PEL Presents PMP#223: What Is Star Wars Now? 11.06.2026 55min

In light of The Mandalorian and Grogu (and the Disney+ Darth Maul cartoon), we (Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al) check back in with Star Wars. Is it now "just another franchise"? Does the movie meet expectations? What's the right volume of Star Wars media? Are the cartoons good? What variety of creators and genres is there room for? Should anyone bother with the books and comics? Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Ep. 393: Kant vs. Hegel (Part One) 08.06.2026 51min

Continuing on Ch. 2 of Hegel's Faith and Knowledge (1802) , plus some of the material being critiqued from Kant's Critique of Judgment (1790), chiefly sec. 76 and 77. Kant's third critique is not just about beauty but about apprehending nature, and he claims that as humans, we can only understand natural objects by seeing them as purposive (i.e. teleologically): An organism has a healthy state that it is designed to aim at. While Kant can't use the classical Design argument to thus argue that we know that God exists qua designer, he argues that as a practical matter, we must regard such a designer as present. Hegel argues that this is one of many points where Kant should stop dithering and just admit that his project involves Reason actually knowing theological facts. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Learn about PEL Live in Madison July 11 at partiallyexaminedlife.com/live.

PEL Presents PvI#118: Aphoristically w/ Andrea Roccella 07.06.2026 50min

Mark and Mary are joined by Andrea, an Italian teacher with a broad performing background who's written a book of philosophical, poetic aphorisms called Think Town: self-help reflections and directives about fear, ego, happiness, etc. There's a long history of aphorisms in philosophy, and philosophy invented the self-help genre, but how does philosophy work given the lack of argumentation? We explore the monster under the bed, AI agents, making philosophy personally applicable, being receptive, DOT ego secretions, and more. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support.