
The Partially Examined Life is a podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a short text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don't have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we're talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion. For link... more
| Publishes | Daily | Episodes | 860 | Founded | 17 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | Society & CulturePhilosophy | |||

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 ... more
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... more
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 tex... more
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 parti... more
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This is my favorite podcast of all time. I always learn something from PEL. All of the participants are excellent and super knowledgeable, and Mark especially has a great entertaining personality. Love PEL - thank you all!
Although they try and make a good show of it these guys are outside of the mainstream of philosophy and have not the time to actually go deep into the texts they approach.
Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan take great philosophical works and discuss them in a digestible and entertaining way. I highly recommend doing the reading before listening. Or listen, then read, then listen again like I do. Whatever works! I particularly enjoy the episode on the Phaedo.
Never heard this podcast before. Put the Slow Horses episode onto the queue for my walk. Gave up after five minutes of people shouting across each other and laughing inanely at each other’s “banter.” Guys, you aren’t funny. Cut to the chase. I wish people making podcast would learn to edit.
Really cool diversity of viewpoints and texts, and serious yet engaging debate and analysis. They have a cool listener community going and a stellar back catalogue.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
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Apple Podcasts | #87 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
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The podcast engages with philosophical texts and ideas while balancing scholarly insight with informal discussion, making complex themes accessible to a broader audience. Each episode features the hosts conversing about selected readings, often employing humor and personal anecdotes to facilitate understanding and stimulate thought. It taps into a variety of philosophical inquiries, covering topics like object-oriented ontology, skepticism, musical improvisation, cultural commentary, and emotional expression through art. Notably, the format encourages listener engagement, allowing individuals unfamiliar with the philosophy to find enjoyment and insight from the content. Unique to this podcast is its exploration of lighter, often humorous ta... more
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this podcast launched 17 years ago and published 860 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
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Recent guests on this podcast include:
1. Jenny Hansen
2. Lande Hekt
3. John S. Hall
4. Jerome Kurtenbach
5. Graham Harman
6. Robert Deeble
7. Elijah Dann
8. Rich Baker
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