The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Episodes page 1 of 6

1. Ep. 403: Are LLMs Actually Intelligent? (Part One)

   26 Oct 2026 · 49 min

   On Raphaël Millière and Cameron Buckner's "A Philosophical Introduction to Language Models, Part I: Continuity With Classic Debates" (2023). Is the Large Language Model type of architecture currently in use by AIs a…

2. PEL Presents PMP#233: Not-Scary Carrie

   24 Oct 2026 · 55 min

   We discuss the new Mike Flanagan series adaptation of Stephen King's 1974 novel in comparison to the 1976 Brian De Palma film and the other adaptations (the 2013 film, the 2002 TV movie, and 1998's The Rage: Carrie 2).…

3. PEL Presents PvI#126: Waiting for Cluckman w/ Anthony LeBlanc

   23 Oct 2026 · 51 min

   Mark, Mary, and Jenny are joined by improviser Anthony to restore us to a 2 X 2 Team Play balance, again reading part of Martha Nussbaum's The Therapy of Desire as a way of exploring ancient traditions by which one…

4. Ep. 402: Plato Talks Homer: Hippias Minor and Ion (Part Two)

   19 Oct 2026 · 55 min

   Finishing up on Hippias Minor and moving on to the Ion, where Socrates convinces a rhapsode (someone who does public, dramatic readings of Homer and is a Homer scholar) that his talent is a matter of inspiration and…

5. PEL Presents NEM#262: Bruce Cockburn Expands Political/Spiritual Folk

   18 Oct 2026 · 1 h 07 min

   Bruce has released 34 solo albums between 1970 and the present. He's a very accomplished finger-picker and often plays entirely solo but has also written rock, jazz, Christian, and 80s syntho songs. We discuss "Louis…

6. PEL Presents PMP#232: Obsession (for Men?)

   16 Oct 2026 · 44 min

   On the 2024 low-budget horror blockbuster film by Curry Barker. Mark, Lawrence, and Sarahlyn are joined by feminist philosopher Jenny Hansen to talk about this peculiar film. Is it a feminist tract exposing "nice guys"…

7. Ep. 402: Plato Talks Homer: Hippias Minor and Ion (Part One)

   12 Oct 2026 · 47 min

   On two short Platonic dialogues, written perhaps around a decade after Socrates' death in 399 BCE. Hippias Minor, where Hippias is (like many of Socrates' interlocutors) a Sophist. In this case, this means that…

8. PEL Presents Closereads: Gilbert Ryle on Self-Knowledge (Part One)

   11 Oct 2026 · 58 min

   On The Concept of Mind (1949), Ch. 6, "Self-Knowledge." Ryle is arguing against a Cartesian take on mind that he sees as over-intellectualizing. In this case, it is not the case that every conscious act is itself an…

9. PEL Presents PvI#125: Mrs. Nussbaum's Credit Card

   9 Oct 2026 · 49 min

   The new official crew of Mark Linsenmayer, Mary Hynes, and "Jus' Jenny" Hansen kicks off our new endeavor to explore ancient self-help/psychologically therapeutic philosophical traditions via Martha Nussbaum's book…

10. Ep. 401: Mind/Brain Identity Theory (U.T. Place, J.J.C. Smart) (Part Two)

    5 Oct 2026 · 1 h 00 min

    Finishing up U.T. Place's "Is Consciousness a Brain Process?" (1956) and starting on J.J.C. Smart's "Sensations and Brain Processes" (1959). Place argues against the "phenomenological fallacy," i.e. the reality of the…

11. PEL Presents NEM#261: Joan as Policewoman's Living Growth

    3 Oct 2026 · 58 min

    Joan Wasser started as violinist/support member in the 90s for The Dambuilders and then for Mind Science of the Mind and Antony and the Johnsons. In the mid-90s, she co-led a band called Black Beetle that released…

12. PEL Presents PMP#231: Euphoric Teens

    1 Oct 2026 · 53 min

    We discuss high school drama TV shows and films in light of the genre-breaking, star-birthing teen drama Euphoria. Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al touch on Riverdale, Skins, Degrassi, John Hughes films, Buffy, Saved By…

13. Ep. 401: Mind/Brain Identity Theory (U.T. Place, J.J.C. Smart) (Part One)

    28 Sep 2026 · 50 min

    On U.T. Place's "Is Consciousness a Brain Process?" (1956) and J.J.C. Smart's "Sensations and Brain Processes" (1959), w/ guest Chris Heath. Is there some a priori reason for denying that the mind can actually be the…

14. PREMIUM-Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part Three)

    26 Sep 2026 · 11 min

    Mark and Seth rejoin to complete our treatment of Consciousness Explained, focusing on Dennett's responses to Frank Jackson's Mary the Color Scientist thought experiment, Searle's Chinese Room, inverted qualia, and…

15. PEL Presents Philosophy vs. Theater w/ David Epstein

    25 Sep 2026 · 1 h 02 min

    As an interlude between our Philosophy vs. Improv seasons, here's an interview left over from July with Mark's former classmate, actor/director/writer David, who runs Actor Class on Times Square. We talk about his…

16. Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part Two)

    21 Sep 2026 · 52 min

    Continuing on Consciousness Explained, ch. 12-14, especially responding to Dennett's discussion of Nagel's "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" which which gets us in a whole conversation about animal consciousness. What is…

17. PEL Presents Closereads: Late Dennett on Consciousness (Part One)

    20 Sep 2026 · 56 min

    On "Are We Explaining Consciousness Yet" (2001), an article published with and commenting on papers by psychologists, neurologists, etc. on the state of consciousness studies at the time, featuring his newer metaphor…

18. PEL Presents PMP#230: Gettin' Furious

    18 Sep 2026 · 49 min

    To begin our new season, we're up to the moment covering the first season of Elizabeth Meriwether's Hulu crime drama Furious, about an abused detective pursuing, and ultimately relating to, an abused revenge killer.…

19. Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part One)

    14 Sep 2026 · 52 min

    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…

20. PEL Presents NEM#260: Jacqui Hunt (Single Gun Theory) Now Master of Her Synth Domain

    12 Sep 2026 · 1 h 04 min

    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…

21. PEL Presents PvI#124: Navel Evaluation (Our Season 5 Finale)

    12 Sep 2026 · 54 min

    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…

22. Ep. 399: Dan Dennett's Model of Mind (Part Two)

    7 Sep 2026 · 51 min

    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…

23. PEL Presents Closereads: Donald Davidson on Self-Knowledge (Part One)

    5 Sep 2026 · 55 min

    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.…

24. PEL Presents PMP#229: What's Spider-Man Up To?

    4 Sep 2026 · 49 min

    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…

25. Ep. 399: Dan Dennett's Model of Mind (Part One)

    31 Aug 2026 · 48 min

    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…

26. PREMIUM-PEL Sunami Nightcap August 2026

    30 Aug 2026 · 10 min

    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…

27. PEL Presents NEM#259: Glenn Morrow (Bar/None): Songwriting Re-Emergence

    28 Aug 2026 · 1 h 02 min

    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,…

28. Ep. 398: Donald Davidson on Mind vs. Body (Part Two)

    23 Aug 2026 · 54 min

    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…

29. PEL Presents Closereads: Peirce's New Categories (Part One)

    21 Aug 2026 · 1 h 01 min

    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…

30. Ep. 398: Donald Davidson on Mind vs. Body (Part One)

    17 Aug 2026 · 52 min

    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…

31. Ep. 397: Federalist Papers LIVE (Part Two)

    10 Aug 2026 · 52 min

    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…

32. Ep. 397: Federalist Papers LIVE (Part One)

    3 Aug 2026 · 1 h 03 min

    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,…

33. Ep. 396: Peirce on Knowledge (Part Two)

    27 Jul 2026 · 55 min

    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…

34. PEL Presents Closereads: Galen Strawson on Panpsychism (Part One)

    27 Jul 2026 · 57 min

    On "Realistic Monism: Why Physicalism Entails Panpsychism" (2008). Strawson argues that physicalism should not just be taken as matter in motion. Instead, the physical is a broader category that includes not just…

35. Ep. 396: Peirce on Knowledge (Part One)

    20 Jul 2026 · 49 min

    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…

36. Ep. 395: C.S. Lewis Argues for Christianity (Part Two)

    13 Jul 2026 · 55 min

    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…

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

    12 Jul 2026 · 57 min

    On Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, sec. 551-559, which are sections assigned for but not actually covered on PEL #394. We get more info on how The Enlightenment supposedly mischaracterizes faith, but also how faith…

38. Ep. 395: C.S. Lewis Argues for Christianity (Part One)

    6 Jul 2026 · 47 min

    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…

39. Ep. 394: Hegel on Faith vs. The Enlightenment (Part Two)

    29 Jun 2026 · 54 min

    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…

40. Ep. 394: Hegel on Faith vs. The Enlightenment (Part One)

    22 Jun 2026 · 46 min

    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…

41. Ep. 393: Kant vs. Hegel (Part Two)

    15 Jun 2026 · 54 min

    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,…

42. Ep. 393: Kant vs. Hegel (Part One)

    8 Jun 2026 · 51 min

    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…

43. PEL Presents Closereads: Horkheimer and Adorno on The Odyssey (Part One)

    5 Jun 2026 · 1 h 00 min

    We read part of The Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944), specifically the parts about Homer's epic as an allegory for the merely apparent triumph of modernism (capitalism, instrumental reason) over myth (savagery,…

44. Ep. 392: Early Hegel Elevates Reason (Part Two)

    1 Jun 2026 · 49 min

    Continuing on Faith and Knowledge (1802), Ch. 1 and 2. We start off by discussing how beauty might give us a window into things-in-themselves according to the Romantics, who were in part following Kant's lead. Also,…

45. Ep. 392: Early Hegel Elevates Reason (Part One)

    25 May 2026 · 53 min

    On Faith and Knowledge (1802), Ch. 1 and 2. Famously, Kant critiqued Reason to effectively forbid theology and metaphysics, and a young G.W.F. Hegel was not happy about that. He argues against the reduction of Reason…

46. PREMIUM-Ep. 391: Habermas Defends Modernity (Part Three)

    24 May 2026 · 9:43

    Your four hosts review the critiques of modernity, try to figure out where Kant fits in, and then discuss Habermas' characterization of Nietzsche's anti-Enlightenment project. If you're not hearing the full version of…

47. Ep. 391: Habermas Defends Modernity (Part Two)

    18 May 2026 · 58 min

    Continuing on on The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, Ch. 1, 2, and 5 with guest John Ganz. We further discuss Habermas' characterizations of Hegel's take on modernity and eventually get to Adorno and Horkheimer,…

48. Ep. 391: Habermas Defends Modernity (Part One)

    11 May 2026 · 52 min

    On Jürgen Habermas' The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity (1985), featuring guest John Ganz. Habermas defines modernity as Enlightenment ideals, discusses what's wrong with them (subjectivity), how Hegel argues…

49. Ep. 390: Diderot Debates a Cynic (Part Two)

    4 May 2026 · 51 min

    Continuing on Rameau's Nephew, getting further into Rameau's philosophy and practices and trying to figure out what this anti-hero can tell us about ethics, given that he displays the virtue of being candid about his…

50. Ep. 390: Diderot Debates a Cynic (Part One)

    28 Apr 2026 · 50 min

    On Denis Diderot's Rameau's Nephew, a dialogue written in the 1760s. Is virtue necessary for happiness, or in the real world, is vice necessary to get by? Diderot's character Rameau argues the latter: that…