Free Daily Podcast Summary
The Partially Examined Life: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Mark Linsenmayer
The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy 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 text and chat about it with insight and flippancy. You don't have to know any philosophy or even have read the text we're talking about to follow and enjoy the discussion.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- Yesterday50 min
PEL Presents PvI#127: Naturally Intelligent Mushmouth
Mark, Mary, and Anthony continue to chat about Ch. 1 of The Therapy of Desire by Martha Nussbaum (aka Noose Bomb). We talk and/or act out mush-mouth characters, "acting naturally," human-object hybrids, AI, plus puppetry, being on hold, how to take notes on philosophy, Elf Ron Hubbard, and more. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyimprov.
- 6 days ago53 min
Ep. 403: Are LLMs Actually Intelligent? (Part Two)
Continuing on Raphaël Millière and Cameron Buckner's "A Philosophical Introduction to Language Models, Part I: Continuity With Classic Debates." We go through the various arguably important features for intelligence, including particular ways of learning and comprehending language, being able to generalize from the data set, and to use a world model to navigate problems. Can something have intelligence without having intentions, and do programmed goals count as intentions? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Go to Quince.com or download the Quince app for free shipping on high-quality, affordable clothes and more. Let them know you heard about them from The Partially Examined Life.
- 6 days ago55 min
PEL Presents Closereads: David Lewis on Mind-Brain Identity (Part One)
On "An Argument for the Identity Theory" (1966), which unlike U.T. Place who merely argued that minds could be brains, argues that minds must be brains, in all possible worlds. The argument appears functionalist: mental states are defined by their causal roles, and causality is naturally the realm of the physical, so mental causality makes most sense if it is a way of talking about physical causality. Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy; follow us there via the free tier to get many other episodes like this one ad free, or pay us to get part 2 and everything else we've recorded. (Alternatively, support both PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife for a nice combo deal.)
- 1 weeks ago1h 6m
PEL Presents NEM#263: Dan Cuddy (Hypnolovewheel, The Special Pillow)
Dan played bass for and co-fronted NYC band Hypnolovewheel, with six releases 1987-1993. Since 1994, he has fronted Hoboken's The Special Pillow, with nine releases to date. We discuss "Fond and Foggy" from The Special Pillow Meets the Space Monster (2024 EP), I Woke Up, also by The Special Pillow, from World's Finest (2020), and "Wow" by Hypnolovewheel from Angel Food (1992). End song: "Automatic Doom" from Inside the Special Pillow (2003). Intro: "Sabrina (Open Your Window)" by Plastic Device (1983), unreleased until E Pluribus Plastic (2019). To hear more, look up these bands on bandcamp.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. Visit Tidal.com/NEM to create an account and start uploading your music for free.
- 1 weeks ago49 min
Ep. 403: Are LLMs Actually Intelligent? (Part One)
On Raphaël Millière and Cameron Buckner's "A Philosophical Introduction to Language Models, Part I: Continuity With Classic Debates" (2023). Is the Large Language Model type of architecture currently in use by AIs a legitimate basis for intelligence? M&B explain the technology and run through arguments for and against, with the conclusion that while current LLMs are not properly intelligent, there's no in principle reason why they could become so. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.
- 2 weeks ago54 min
PEL Presents PMP#233: Not-Scary Carrie
We discuss the new Mike Flanagan series adaptation of Stephen King's 1974 novel in comparison to the 1976 Brian De Palma film and the other adaptations (the 2013 film, the 2002 TV movie, and 1998's The Rage: Carrie 2). Featuring Mark, Lawrence, Al, and spanked-in-school Sarahlyn. What does the story say about human nature? How much agency does Carrie have? Was the new version just a fundamentally different story grafted onto this basic framework of a psychic girl destroying the prom? Does it totally ruin the premise to try to turn this into a multi-season series? Is it destined to devolve into the X-men if this continues? 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.
- 2 weeks ago51 min
PEL Presents PvI#126: Waiting for Cluckman w/ Anthony LeBlanc
Mark, Mary, and Jenny are joined by improviser Anthony to restore us to a 2 X 2 Team Play balance, again reading part of Martha Nussbaum's The Therapy of Desire as a way of exploring ancient traditions by which one might use philosophy for self-improvement. We act out and/or discuss vacation portal polyamory, voluntarily living in dangerous places, life return bureaucracy, risk bricks, connecting the classroom to the real world, and the first weekly check-in of the robots' revolution scheduling society. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyimprov.
- 2 weeks ago55 min
Ep. 402: Plato Talks Homer: Hippias Minor and Ion (Part Two)
Finishing up on Hippias Minor and moving on to the Ion, where Socrates convinces a rhapsode (someone who does public, dramatic readings of Homer and is a Homer scholar) that his talent is a matter of inspiration and not knowledge. So how does this relate to Plato's dismissal of poets in the Republic? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: If you're ready to launch your business before Black Friday, go to Shopify.com/pel to start your free trial.
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About The Partially Examined Life
The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy 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 text and chat about it with insight and flippancy. You don't have to know any philosophy or even have read the text we're talking about to follow and enjoy the discussion.
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