The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

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.

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John has released at least fifteen albums, more than half of these under the name King Missile, but even this name covers three different bands, since John until recently didn't play any instruments, so his music is always collaborative with one or more music writers. Apart from his various musical projects, he's published around 50 books of poetry and publishes poems every day on his Facebook page.

We discuss "Her Cock is True" fr...

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.

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Jerome is an LA composer/director/screenwriter who is involved in a lot of musical improv, so Mary and Mark interview him about that and about the function of art, plus songs for pets, a support group for people who sing all the time, and more.

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When we don't know much about some genius playwright's life, why not make up some things based on the contents of his plays? Maybe put Shakespearean dialogue right in character's mouths, so the audience will say, "hey, I remember that line!"

Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk through the Chloe Zhao Oscar-bait historical drama, Hamnet, and its source, the 2020 novel by Maggie O'Farrell. Is the film great, or just "grief porn"? Pl...

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.

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Folky singer/songwriter and psychotherapist Robert started in the '80s but considers 1994 his professional debut and has now released his seventh album since then, The Space Between Us.

We discuss "Attic of Desire" (and the intro is "The Forest From the Tree") from that album, plus "Uncertain" from Beloved (2017), the title track from Earthside Down (1998). End song: "Rock A Bye" feat. Victoria Williams from Days Like These (1994)....

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.

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Vancouver philosophy prof Elijah was an evangelical Christian who turned liberal and then atheistic, and his latest book, "Unbelieving God: A Skeptics Guide," considers and debunks the various arguments for the existence of God.

Mark and Mary chat with him about his journey and about the degree to which we should care about others' beliefs in this area so as to engage them in debate. In the course of this, as you'd expect, God make...

We're discussing Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Comedy Central show that premiered in 1997 and has just finished its politically relevant 28th season, featuring the usual crew: Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al.

How can a show be so juvenile yet so apparently well thought out?e get into the evolution of the show,, the equal-opportunity offensive humor, the use of child characters to deliver it, their ambiguous politics, the quick turn...

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.

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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 hav...

To kick off 2026, Mark and Mary talk about memory: memory care for the elderly, the relation between things and memories, what professional activities are worth preserving (improv performances?), being the tchotchke, womb nostalgia, puppets and percussion, plus a visit from the future.

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Ontario guitarist Darren has released six albums of concise instrumentals since 2019, often using metal guitar tones and tropes, but with a great range of tones and often catchy melodies.

We discuss "The Day Beneath Yesterday" (and listen at the end to "Dangerous Curves") from Perpetual Night (2025), "Broken Glass and Disappointment" from Thoughts and Scares (2022), and "The Earth is B Flat" from Lifting the Curse (2019). Intro: Th...

The Netflix sci-fi/horror/teen series by the Duffer Brothers that started in 2016 has now finished with its sixth season, attempting to be both epic and sentimental. Who is this show actually aimed at? We talk about the initial appeal through various uneven seasons through the execution of the finale. Has the thing gone on so long that we can't make sense out of the continuity. Featuring, as usual, Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al.

On the second half of Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. We talk about the dual origins of group membership for Freud in personal love and in the supposed primitive society where a horde was led by a tyrannical father.

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Rich runs the Dare to Fail improv school and is author of Improv Made Easier. He joins Mark and Mary to discuss contexts of failure, failing to meet your goals vs. "objective failure," how to react in an improv scene to some topic that's too offensive for you, graveyard humor vs. reverence. Featuring Steaks You Deserve, Robo-Carson, cancer torture, interactive cemetery, Sounds of Failure, and open-sourced MST3K.

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