Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, magical thinking). Subscribe to Closereads (and get a link to this text to read along) 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.)

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, what version of the ontological argument for the existence of God does Hegel believe? We try to figure out what Hegel is praising in Kant's positing of synthetic a priori claims, and yet how he thinks Kant didn't understand the implications of this view. 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. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

Richard played with art-rock band Japan from 1975 through their five albums, then continued to collaborate with members of that group, releasing several increasingly atmospheric albums as Jansen-Barbieri, Jansen-Barbieri-Karn, Rain Tree Crow, et al. He joined Porcupine Tree in 1995 and has played on their 20+ albums, and began putting out ambient solo releases in 2004 (perhaps seven albums' worth to this point) while continuing to collaborate. We discuss "A New Simulation" from Hauntings (2026), "All Fall Down" from Stranger Inside (2008), and "Sleepers Awake" by Jansen-Barbieri from Stone to Flesh (1995). End song: "Waiting to Be Born" by Steve Hogarth and Richard Barbieri, recorded 2015 and released in 2023. Intro: "The Experience of Swimming" by Japan, from Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980). More at richardbarbieri.bandcamp.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

In light of the new, well-acted and well-shot BBC/Netflix adaptation, we discuss William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies and its previous (1963, 1991) adaptations. Featuring Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al. What do we think of the updates made for this retelling? Its pacing? Its repeated close-up shots of kids' silent faces? Is this per usual obviously inferior to the novel, or does it actually present deeper characters and a more visceral presentation of their degradation? Sponsor: Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp. Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

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 to merely applying to the realm of experience, which makes religion merely a subjective, insubstantial matter. Hegel thought he could do better. 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. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

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 this part of the discussion, sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support.  

We are REELING from our REDACTED episode, and so we talk about the lessons we learned from that and start thinking about what it is to be out of one's comfort zone: how do fear and ego issues interact? Is playfulness a lack of professionalism? Are both arrogance and humility products of fear? Plus, cutting-edge surgery reality shows, Schrödinger's hostile cat and Dr. Brenda's sentient food samples, Bishop Jim vs. Trudy the Innocent, and more! Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support.

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, whose dismissals of modernity Habermas thinks go too far. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. including a supporter-only part three to this episode. 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.

We discuss the career of Meryl Streep in light of The Devil Wears Prada 2, insofar as we (Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al) have a hold of it; she's been in over 65 films! Is she really the best actor on the planet? Did Prada need a sequel? We all brought in our own experiences with her catalog, touching on Sophie's Choice, Kramer vs. Kramer, A Cry in the Dark, Adaptation, The Iron Lady, Death Becomes Her, Postcards From the Edge, Doubt, The Laundromat, Let Them All Talk, Florence Foster Jenkins, et al. Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

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 constructively that a social element needs to be added this this, and how many other critics (e.g. Adorno, Nietzsche, and Foucault) instead argue more destructively against Enlightenment values like Truth, liberty, and justice. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Check out the Scribe Optimize Workflow AI platform at Scribe.how/PEL. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

Tom was an integral member of the Greenwich Village early '60s folk scene (playing originals regularly before Bob Dylan did). His tunes have been covered by Dylan, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Harry Belafonte, and many others. He received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2009. We talk about "Rebel Gal" from Together Again (2026) (a collaborative album with John McCutcheon), "If the Poor Don't Matter" from Redemption Road (2015), "Mr. Blue" from Morning Again (1968), and "The Death of Stephen Biko" (with Anne Hills and Bob Gibson) from Best of Friends (live in 1984, released in 2004; the song was originally recorded for Heroes, 1978). Intro: "I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound" from Rambin' Boy (1964). More at tompaxton.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

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 own vices. We talk about "trade idioms" (unethical practices that we consider normal), education, and music. How does this reading relate to Hegel (who quotes it directly)? 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. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

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 philosophical morality is problematic, and our imperative is prudence, which in Rameau's case involves a lot of clownish deception and (ironically) truth-telling. 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. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/pel.

We discuss Steven Knight's six-seasons-and-a-movie historical crime show Peaky Blinders, featuring Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al. Does the show live up to its initial excellence? It's got a great emotional premise (post-WWI PTSD), and there's a ridiculous amount of gravitas among the cast, but do the heists undermine this heft? It's OK if you haven't seen the show; we hold off on spoilers for quite a while and warn you when we reach that point. 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.

Alan released two albums with folk-rock band Knots and Crosses in the early 90s, put out one solo album, then became a recording engineer and earned a PhD in ethnomusicology. He released three albums between 2010-2019 fronting Birdsong at Morning and put out two more solo albums. We discuss "Just Like Water" (and listen at the end to "Somewhere There's a Train") from Floating on the Dreamline (2026), "The Great Escape" by Birdsong at Morning from A Slight Departure (2015), and the title track to Curve of the Earth (1993) by Knots and Crosses. Intro: "Neon Dreaming," originally from Evidence (1994). More at alanwilliamsevidence.com. Sponsor: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/nem. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

Concluding on "Culture and its Realm of Actuality," in Hegel's Phenomenology via sections 519-526. We get into some of the ironic psychology here: In giving loyalty to the king, the nobles actually boost themselves qua givers. They should be grateful to the king to get wealth back from him, but being dependent on the king makes them resentful. The result is duplicitous people resenting those they claim to esteem, and moral language that is thus used inconsistently (the king is "good" when praised by "bad" when resented), which encourages jaded moral nihilism. Sponsor: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.

BJ is an LA improviser/actor/TV host (who teaches wounded warriors among others), and he chats with Mark and Mary about migratory patterns, TV shows that date you, how to draw in students, the realness of birds, and playing unsafe characters. Scenes include a forced-Fargo college experience, improv class on the roof, spying on birds, and keyboard warriors. Plus Marge and Larry. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support.

We discuss the hard sci-fi film Project Hail Mary, which along with The Martian (2015) was based on a novel by Andy Weir and adapted by Drew Goddard. Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al consider how hard we actually like our sci-fi, the directors of these films (by Lord/Miller and Ridley Scott respectively), how the books got adapted, Weir's other work (Artemis, some webcomics, etc.), and more. How does Weir make a series of scientific problems into an actual, enjoyable plot? Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. Sponsor: Visit squarespace.com/PRETTY (code PRETTY) for a free trial and 10% off your first website or domain.

Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology, "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 511-526, which finishes off the sub-section of "Self-Alienated Spirit" called "Culture and its Realm of Actuality." Whereas in our last discussion, obeying the state (public power) ran counter to hoarding wealth (private power), at this stage, the two converge, because the state gets concentrated in a single monarch who both receives our power and doles out wealth to his supporters. So putting your effort into obtaining private wealth ironically requires surrendering your agency (and hence wealth) to the state. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Go to NerdWallet.com/PEL for trustworthy small business loans. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/pel.

Bill is a singer/songwriter who recorded five albums of catchy tunes between 1989 and 1991, then retired but came back a vengeance in 2014. He's now just released his 13th album, Haunted, and we talk about "Perpetual Tourist" and listen at the end to the title track from that, "Trentham" from A Trip to the Coast (2014) and "Pigalle on a Tuesday is Charming" from Parce Que (1988). Intro: "Tommy & Co," from Three Months, Three Weeks and Two Days (1989). More at billprichardmusic.com. Sponsor: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/nem. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

On an excerpt from Soren Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript (1846) that critiques Hegel's idea of logic (dialectic) and then argues for his own conception of "truth as subjectivity." Subscribe to Closereads (and get a link to this text to read along) 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 3-5 and everything else we've recorded. (Alternatively, support both PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife for a nice combo deal.)

Continuing on the "Spirit" chapter (more specifically. "Culture and its realm of actuality") in Hegel's Phenomenology, now covering sec. 490-510. How exactly does the process of acculturation work? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: 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.

In this pitched, high-stakes battle, your hosts have it out about astrological biases, doing offensive accents, letting go of control in an improv scene, and group-based restrictions on who you feel you date. Does Jesus have time to appear on your toast? Are all TV characters robots in a shared robot universe? Are zodiac signs based on serial killer characteristics? How does Pluto FEEL about not being a planet any more? So many vital questions definitively addressed in one meditation together... Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support.

We talk about the Scream meta-slasher film franchise, from the original Wes Craven /Kevin Williamson 1996 debut starring Neve Campbell, and Courtney Cox to the new one (#7), still with three out of four of those participants (Wes Craven being dead). Is the self-reflection about the horror genre in these films actually elevating, or just a permission structure to enjoy the base pleasure of seeing people murdered? Are these actually films that people who normally hate slasher movies still might enjoy? Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. Sponsor: Visit squarespace.com/PRETTY (code PRETTY) for a free trial and 10% off your first website or domain.

Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology, "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 484-510, which is the first part of "Self-Alienated Spirit. Culture." In Hegel's ongoing semi-mythical story about the development of the modern self and society, we're now at a point where people are "bare persons," legally recognized but not distinguished from each other. We thicken these thin selves using cultural contents: your profession, your group memberships, your style, etc. But this way of individuating is fundamentally self-alienating: these ways that we identify ourselves are foreign to our souls! Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.

Kavus began in dual-guitar London math-rock bands in the '90s, joined The Cardiacs for their final lineup. His band Knifeworld released the first of its four albums in 2009, he released solo albums in 2020 and 2024, and since 2014 he has released six albums with legacy prog-rock band Gong. He has also released four studio albums with electronica band The Utopia Strong since 2019. We discuss "Stars in Heaven" by Gong from Bright Spirit Haulix (2026), "Send Him Seaworthy" by Knifeworld from The Unraveling (2014), "You Broke My Fall" by Kavus Torabi from Hip to the Jag (2020), and "Wise Guy" by The Monsoon Bassoon, a 1998 single. Intro: "Ditzy Scene" by The Cardiacs, a 2007 single eventually released on LSD (2025). Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

Continuing on on sec. 469-483 of Hegel's Phenomenology, finishing the analysis of Antigone and bringing in Oedipus to say why the conflict between types of law is both criminal and destined. We then turn to the aftermath: a society alienated from law but with legally recognized self-conscious individuals. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/pel. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. Go to HelloFresh.com/pel10fm to Get 10 free meals + a free Zwilling Knife with your third box.

St. Lawrence philosophy prof Jennifer L. Hansen, one of the most frequent guest on Mark's podcasts and expert in feminist philosophy, here hits it off with our new host Mary. We act out vegan jerky time, snacktime at the all-girls clubhouse, and two gals getting pulled over by a cop. Does the "come debate me" style of philosophy include unnecessarily masculine tropes? How does this Charlie Kirk model relate to what Socrates was doing? What are alternative, fun ways to get students to talk in philosophy classes? Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support. Sponsor: Visit squarespace.com/LINSENMAYER (code LINSENMAYER) for a free trial and 10% off your first website or domain.

In light of Judd Apatow's HBO documentary The 99-Year-Old Man, we discuss the films of Mel Brooks, which were to varying degrees formative on us (i.e. Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al). Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. Sponsors: Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp. Visit squarespace.com/PRETTY (code PRETTY) for a free trial and 10% off your first website or domain.

Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology, "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 464-483, which are under the sub-headings "Ethical Action. Human and Divine Knowledge. Guilt and Destiny" and "Legal Status." After anticipating it in last episode, we get  Hegel's allegorical analysis of Antigone as a clash between two types of law that cooperate in a harmonious society. With this clash, both fail, leaving us with modernity where law is alienated from individuals. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Go to NerdWallet.com/PEL for trustworthy small business loans. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.  

On sec. 451-463 of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. We get into more detail on these passages about the way the two types of law (human and divine) interact, as well as how these play out in family roles and the responsibility to bury the dead. If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion, sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support.

Lande started in the 2010's in the British punk-pop group Muncie Girls, with six releases (mostly EPs), and began her solo career in 2019. We discuss "Coming Home" (and listen at the end to the title track) from her fourth solo album Lucky Now (2026), "80 Days of Rain" from Going to Hell (2011), and "Learn In School" by Muncie Girls from From Caplan to Belsize (2016). Intro: "Gay Space Cadets" from House Without a View (2022). Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. Sponsors: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/nem. Download the Gametime app and use code NEM for $20 off your first purchase of concert tickets.

Continuing on the "Spirit" section of The Phenomenology of Spirit, giving a sort of social metaphysics, wherein the ethical life of a society is analyzed into two complementary types of law, human (explicit laws but also customs) and what Hegel calls "divine" (a subconscious ethical sense represented by the home and women). Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: 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.

What is it worth raising an objection over, and how hard do you fight? We hear (and act out) Mary's roommate-searching trauma, plus Mary for President, curiosity about bellicose Twitter, respect vs. reverence, rationality and religion, dealing with QAnon believers, family Thanksgiving, giving someone else a name, vegetarianism, and the angel of philosophy. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support. Sponsor: Visit squarespace.com/LINSENMAYER (code LINSENMAYER) for a free trial and 10% off your first website or domain.

In light of the now-completed black history month and the upcoming Oscars, we consider the "Oscars So White" issue that was a hot topic about a decade ago. We all tried to watch some of the Oscar-nominated films by black creators, like Twelve Years a Slave, Moonlight, Judas and the Black Messiah, Boyz in Da Hood, et al. What makes for a critically lauded drama in this genre? Does a film have to have black creators (not just stars) to be an authentically black film? Are such films destined for a niche audience? Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al discuss. Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop for only the tiniest per-month financial pledge, or you can sign up directly with Apple Podcasts for a subscription for ad-free and bonus material for three of Mark's podcasts together on the Mark Lintertainment Podcasts Channel. Sponsors: Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp. Visit squarespace.com/PRETTY (code PRETTY) for a free trial and 10% off your first website or domain.

On. G.W.F. Hegel's The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), sec. 438-463. What constitutes society?  We're beginning a multi-episode arc here on the "Spirit" chapter of the book, so we learn what Spirit actually is and how it relates to individuals. We also talk about the two layers of law that make up society and how these can be in or out of harmony. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/pel. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

In our continuing Q&A with Graham, we engage him about Kantian Things-In-Themselves, complex things (that if divided, must be cut at the joints) vs. mere heaps, fact ontology, natural kinds, fictional objects, why philosophy is not knowledge, and philosophical style. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Go to NerdWallet.com/PEL for trustworthy small business loans. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. Go to HelloFresh.com/pel10fm to Get 10 free meals + a free Zwilling Knife with your third box.  

An interview with Graham in light of his new book, Waves and Stones: On the Ultimate Nature of Reality, which elaborates and adds to issues that the gang previously studied in Object-Oriented Ontology. Graham argues that in addition to objects (which have parts), there are continua, such as space and time, and these continua are the links that allow otherwise forever separated objects to touch each other. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Go to NerdWallet.com/PEL for trustworthy small business loans. Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

We consider chapter 2, "Aesthetics Is the Root of All Philosophy," where Harman describes how art can help us see behind the veil to things-in-themselves. Art is "theatrical" in that it's really the spectator who is standing in like an actor for the object encountered in art. 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.

Continuing on Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything (2018), finishing up ch. 1 (discussing what's so bad about reductionism) and moving to ch. 4, "Indirect Relations," which is about causality. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

We're within the Self-Consciousness chapter of The Phenomenology of Spirit, specifically starting at sec. 206 on the Unhappy Consciousness. This comes after the famous Master-Slave section as well as sections about Stoicism and Skepticism, and it depicts a dividedness within the self stemming from a faulty view of the relation between self and world. Subscribe to Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy; follow us there via the free tier to get episodes like this ad free, or pay us to get future installments in this series and everything else we've recorded. (Alternatively, support both PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife for a nice combo deal.)

On Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything (2018). What counts as an entity in the world? Harman includes not just physical objects, but fictional objects, "sensual objects," and even events, which you might have thought were the alternative to objects. With this promiscuous ontology comes a strange theory of causality whereby no real object touches another real object, and an epistemology that involves us having no knowledge of real objects at all, though Harman's theory art gives us a back-door to make up for this deficiency, and philosophy itself ends up sharing in these properties of art. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. Go to HelloFresh.com/pel10fm to Get 10 free meals + a free Zwilling Knife with your third box.