A philosophy podcast by @MarkLinsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, @DylanPEL who were set on doing philosophy for a living, but then thought better of it.
Madison, WI
Joined February 2010
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New episode — Ep. 403: Are LLMs Actually Intelligent? (Part One)
Are large language models just autocomplete? New episode: what LLMs mean for old debates about thought.
Nietzsche asks you to say yes to living your life over and over, forever. Dylan has a list of things he would rather not repeat — and the examples get grim fast.
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 214: More Nietzsche’s Zarathustra
Why does Plato argue for something absurd? To prove its opposite.
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 402: Plato Talks Homer: Hippias Minor and Ion (Part Two)
Hopefully clearer: 1) Suppose it were possible to knowingly do injustice. 2) This requires knowledge of what is just and unjust. 3) If I accidentally do something wrong, it suggests I don't know as much about right and wrong as the person who can unerringly and intentionally do what is wrong; the wrongdoer would, if they chose, do a much better job at being just; in a sense, they are better at justice than the person who does something wrong unintentionally, in the way that an expert tennis player who throws a game to a beginner is still better at tennis than the beginner 4) the person who intentionally does injustice is therefore better in this domain (more just) than the person who accidentally does it. And murder is less blameworthy than manslaughter. 5) since (4) is a result we cannot accept, then we must reject (1). This reductio involves some logical fallacies, but we really do have to reject the notion that virtue is merely a capacity or form of technical expertise, in tavor of supposing that it is also a disposition (the just person is disposed to do what is right). - Wes
Plato argues the better man is the one who does wrong on purpose. The steps get sillier as they go.
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 402: Plato Talks Homer: Hippias Minor and Ion (Part Two)
Wonder Woman 1984 as a thought experiment in personal identity: her dead lover returns in another man's body, and all she sees is 'the you that I love.' Which raises a question the movie does not ask.
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 261: Derek Parfit on Personal Identity…
Better to teach people to choose their own culture than to control it from above. But isn't teaching itself top down?
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 402: Plato Talks Homer: Hippias Minor and Ion (Part Two)
"There's no reason a busboy should make less money than me." Say that to your leftist friends and watch what happens. Wes on what people who climb the hierarchy think they're really being compensated for — reading Simone Weil on force and power.
The Partially Examined Life ·…
Should a great performer feel every emotion they convey? Plato's Ion says yes. Mark and Wes disagree.
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 402: Plato Talks Homer: Hippias Minor and Ion (Part Two)
Squirrels only have to be faster than other squirrels. Humans have to get inside each other's heads. Michael Tomasello on the problem of cooperation — and the one-line summary a French seminar gave him.
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 326: Guest Michael Tomasello on the…
Plato calls the sophist a magician. One translation says "enchanter." The Partially Examined Life on why that word is better — and why nobody working children's birthday parties uses it.
The Partially Examined Life · Episode 143: Plato’s “Sophist” on Lies, Categorization, and…
Listen to the episode: partiallyexaminedlife.com/20…
Susanne Langer thought the first words weren't names for things — they were interjections shouted during a ritual. Here is that theory of the origin of language, reconstructed entirely out of the word "booyah."
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 290: Susanne Langer on Our…
Listen to our discussion: partiallyexaminedlife.com/20…
Aristotle noticed something strange 2,300 years ago: the corpse that repels you in life gives you pleasure as a picture. "That's a mind blowing insight." On the Poetics.
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 243: Aristotle’s “Poetics” on Art and Tragedy
Listen to the episode: partiallyexaminedlife.com/20…
The Wizard of Oz quietly contains one of the great thought experiments in philosophy of mind. The Tin Woodman chopped himself to pieces one limb at a time — and stayed himself.
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 222: Debating Functionalism (Block, Chalmers)
Listen to the episode: partiallyexaminedlife.com/20…
New episode — Ep. 402: Plato Talks Homer: Hippias Minor and Ion (Part Two)
Socrates asks which wrestler is better: the one who takes a fall on purpose, or by accident? Depends which kind of wrestling.
You can picture a bronze statue sprouting wings and flying off — so it's logically possible, right? Brian Ellis says no: your imagination only reaches as far as your eyes do.
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 340: Brian Ellis on the Implications of Essentialism (Part One)
Our treatment of Ellis' book starts here: partiallyexaminedlife.com/20…
Does a critic need to know about fishing to judge Homer? Does a TV writer need to know how courts work?
The Partially Examined Life · Ep. 402: Plato Talks Homer: Hippias Minor and Ion (Part Two)