Continuing on Book 4 (Gamma) of the Metaphysics. We discuss further the relations between the logical and metaphysical versions of the principle of non-contradiction and how Aristotle characterizes relativists like Protagoras who he claims violate non-contradiction. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.

Ep. 336: Aristotle on Being and Non-Contradiction (Part Two)

On Aristotle's Metaphysics, book 4 (aka Gamma) (ca. 340 BCE). What does studying "being" entail? It involves claiming that all beings are distinct individuals, as opposed to, for instance, an undifferentiated flux. They're thus subject to the law of non-contradiction, which Aristotle defends against objectors. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Get 50% off delicious, ready-to-eat meals at FactorMeals.com/pel50 (code pel50).

Ep. 336: Aristotle on Being and Non-Contradiction (Part One)

To celebrate the publication of the latest novel by one of our hosts, Sarahlyn Bruck, we bring back acclaimed actor/author Kathryn Leigh Scott to join Mark and Al. We discuss women's fiction as a marketing category, its relation to genres like romance and literary fiction, and the writing process. The books that we read for this are Sarahlyn's Light of the Fire and  Kathryn's September Girl (2019). For more, visit prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content at patreon.com/prettymuchpop or by subscribing via Apple Podcasts to the Mark Lintertainment Channel. Sponsor: Visit GoodChop.com/pretty120 and use code pretty120 to get $120 off four boxes of organic, sustainable meat and/or seafood.

PEL Presents PMP#168: Writing Women's Fiction w/ Kathryn Leigh Scott

Continuing on Aristotle's Metaphysics, book 1. We get seriously into Aristotle's four types of causation and how previous philosophers in leaving out one or most of these made a mistake. This includes a critique of Platonic forms, which as eternal, unchanging patterns can't actually explain why change occurs in the world. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content including a supporter-exclusive Closereads/part 3 drilling into the argument against Platonic forms in Aristotle's Metaphysics. Listen to a preview. Sponsor: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

Ep. 335: Aristotle on Fundamental Explanations (Part Two)

If people would be uniquely healed by your blood, how much would you charge for it? Would it make a difference if they were wealthy vampires? Bill entices Mark to join a cult. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions, a video version of the podcast, and other bonus stuff. You can watch video for this episode and hear the post-game talking gratis just by visiting our Patreon page.

PEL Presents PvI #71: The Cranio-Fascism Exchange

Coming from a family who played traditional cajun music in Louisiana, violinist Louis and his accordion-playing brother Andre have released nine albums (plus some live releases and EPs since 2001), winning two Grammy awards, plus Louis has had a couple of releases under the name Michot's Melody Makers, and he just released his first solo album. We discuss the title track (and listen at the end to "Ti Coeur Bleu" from Rêve du Troubadour, that 2023 solo album, plus "Marée Noire" from Mammoth Waltz (2012) and "Mexico One Step" from Bayou Perdu (2005). Intro: "Grand Marais" by Michot’s Melody Makers from Blood Moon (2018). Learn more at louismichot.com and lostbayouramblers.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Like our Facebook page. Support us on Patreon.

PEL Presents NEM#211: Louis Michot (Lost Bayou Ramblers) Evolves Cajun Music

On Aristotle's Metaphysics, book 1 (aka Alpha) (ca. 340 BCE). What constitutes a basic explanation of the universe? We talk about how mere practical knowledge of how things in fact work is not enough; there's greater wisdom in knowing the theoretical underpinnings. Various philosophers before Aristotle had given different kinds of explanations of what the universe is at bottom, but for a complete explanation, Aristotle says we'll need to include all four types of causation: material, formal, efficient, and final. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Try another scholarly and fun podcast: Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.

Ep. 335: Aristotle on Fundamental Explanations (Part One)

What is the self? For K. we are a tension between opposites: necessity and possibility, the finite and the infinite, soul and body. He thinks we're all in despair, whether we know it or not, because we wrongly think we're something we're not, or we reject what we are, or we just don't pay attention to this dynamic at all: we just go along with the crowd. So we need to keep self-examining and (he thinks) ultimately embrace our subservience to God. Given all this, is there anything one can get out of the text if you don't subscribe to K's Christianity? We're releasing this re-issue as a coda to our recent series on K. Get the rest of our paywalled, vintage episodes at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support, along with a steady stream of new bonus content. Sponsor: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel.

REISSUE-Ep. 29: Kierkegaard on the Self

We anticipate our upcoming series on Aristotle's Metaphysics by talking through some preliminary issues about the text including what translations we're reading. Is this book really "timeless," or is it like old, outdated science? Also, what kind of person becomes an ancient philosophy student? Plus (in the full discussion), we talk more about Mounk, Presidential disqualification, 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.

PREMIUM-PEL Long Winter's Nightcap (Jan-Feb 2024)

Continuing on "On the Ontological Mystery" (1933), we talk more about problems vs. mysteries: The latter implicate OURSELVES; we are not merely witnesses, but our involvement complicates things. Also, what makes Marcel an existentialist? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content including a supporter-exclusive Nightcap anticipating our upcoming series on Aristotle's Metaphysics. Listen to a preview.

Ep. 334: Gabriel Marcel's Christian Existentialism (Part Two)

Discussing "On the Ontological Mystery" (1933) about our need for meaning. Marcel asserts that our need for "mystery" is much more primal than the scientific, technical point of view that breaks down problems into component parts for easy analysis. In fact, this more modern-seeming way of looking at the world presupposes and relies on the more originary position. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Get 50% off ready-to-eat meal delivery at FactorMeals.com/pel50 (code pel50). Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/PEL.

Ep. 334: Gabriel Marcel's Christian Existentialism (Part One)

Bruce is best known for his first album The Way It Is (1986), but has come light years since then through 18+ albums, experimenting with different styles, playing over 100 shows with the Grateful Dead, and scoring numerous projects for Spike Lee. He's won three Grammys and recorded with music royalty including Elton John, Ornette Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, etc. We discuss "Sidelines" (feat. Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend) from 'Flicted (2022), "My Resolve" (feat. James Mercer of The Shins) from Non-Secure Connection (2020), and a new live version of "Shadow Hand" from the 25th Anniversary Edition of Spirit Trail. End song: "Cast-Off" (feat. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver) from Absolute Zero (2019). Intro: "The Way It Is" (Live from Köln, 2019). More at brucehornsby.com Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Like our Facebook page. Support us on Patreon. Sponsors: Visit GreenChef.com/60Nakedly (use code 60Nakedly) to get 60% off your first box from America's #1 Meal Kit for eating clean (plus 20% off for the next two months) Get the ultimate gift: A custom-written song from Songfinch. Use songfinch.com/NEM to get free Spotify streaming for your song.  Listen to the song Mark commissioned.

PEL Presents NEM#209: Bruce Hornsby Is a Lifelong Student

Continuing on Kierkegaard's perhaps most famous book, this time focusing largely on "Problem One: Is There a Teleological Suspension of the Ethical?" Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content including a supporter-exclusive episode of Closereads that connects Kierkegaard to the Sermon on the Mount. Listen to a preview. Sponsors: Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/PEL. Check out the Conflicted history podcast.

Ep. 333: Kierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling" on Faith (Part Two)

To wrap up our coverage of Kierkegaard, we consider his religious stage of development through this 1843 text analyzing the Biblical story of Abraham. Can we understand, much less admire, an attitude whereby you think God has commanded you to kill your son and you gladly go along with it? How does this sort of "greatness" relate to ethics? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/PEL. Check out AncientHistoryFanGirl.com. Sign up for Mark's Core Texts in Philosophy at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class.

Ep. 333: Kierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling" on Faith (Part One)

Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan set ourselves as part of our ongoing Kierkegaard reading to re-listen to our 2010 episode 29 on Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death. This leads us to our personal histories regarding faith and how the idea of faith intersects with our philosophy studies. If you're not hearing the full version of this discussion, sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support.

PREMIUM-PEL Winter Nightcap (Concluding 2023)

Concluding our discussion of Either/Or, still this time considering "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" on how the ethical helps us to develop a self. What is this ideal self that Kierkegaard wants us to aim for, but yet which is within us as individuals already? How can each of us merge with the universal ethically yet assert our individuality? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content including a supporter-exclusive, Kierkegaard-related Nightcap. Listen to a preview. Sponsor: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at shopify.com/pel. Learn about Mark's Spring Core Texts in Philosophy Class at  partiallyexaminedlife.com/class.

Ep. 332: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Ethical Self (Part Two)

On the second half of "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" from Vol. 2 of Either/Or (1843). How do we "absolutely" form a coherent self by embracing ethical conventions like marriage, friendship, and having a job? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Get two memberships for the price of one at MasterClass.com/PEL. Have your donation matched up to $100 to a top-performing charity at GiveWell.org (enter "The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast" at checkout). Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/PEL.

Ep. 332: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Ethical Self (Part One)

Mark and Wes talk in more details about the "stages of despair" Kierkegaard lays out in “The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality” from Vol. 2 of Either/Or. 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.

PREMIUM-Ep. 331: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Ethical Life (Part Three)

Continuing on "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality," with a critique of (Hegelian) philosophy and concrete advice for how to build yourself in an optimal way. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content including  a supporter-exclusive part three to this discussion. Listen to a preview. Sponsors: Learn about St. John's College Winter Classics, starting this January, at sjc.edu/winter. Check out the Go Fact Yourself podcast at gofactyourpod.com. Learn about Mark's Core Texts in Philosophy class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class.

Ep. 331: Kierkegaard's "Either/Or": The Ethical Life (Part Two)

Part 4 of Wes & Erin's discussion of Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale." Thanks to our sponsor for this episode, HelloFresh. Go to HelloFresh.com/subtextfree and use code subtextfree for free breakfast for life.

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