philosophy

On Robert M. Pirsig’s philosophical, autobiographical novel from 1974.

What’s the relationship between science and values? Pirsig thinks that modern rationality, by insisting on the fundamental distinction between objects (matter) and subjects (people), labels value judgments as irrational. Society therefore largely ignores aesthetic considerations in the buildings and machines that litter our landscape.

People rebel against this ugly commercialism by rejecting technology altogether, and Pirsig thinks this is a mistake. If we realize that value judgments (where we sense “Quality”) are fundamentally a part of experience, that they drive what what we consider “rational” (e.g. a “good” scientific explanation) in the first place, then we can stop with the hippie rebellion and more sensibly and peacefully co-exist with technology. Though the book is not about historical Zen, it is about keeping centered, connected, and in the moment.

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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Partially Examined Life

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On The Human Condition (1958), Prologue and Sections 1 and 2.

How has our distinction between the private and public evolved over time? Arendt uses this history, and chiefly the differences between our time and ancient Athens, to launch a critique of modern society. In thinking about public, practical necessities like the economy, we've lost sight of the distinction between labor (what we need to do to sustain ourselves), work (the creation of things that will last longer than our lifespan), and political action (which needs to involve a real dialogue among equals, not the rote party posturing driven by economic interests that we have now).

We've become a society of laborers, defining ourselves in terms of our jobs and looking at politics as chiefly tasked with economic administration, which is kind of like national housekeeping. ""The social"" has erased the distinction between public and private realms, crushing us with its demands for conformity and leaving the private realm as merely ""the intimate."" We need both robust political engagement and a space for deep, private contemplation in order to live fully and avoid catastrophic political blunders (e.g., creating technologies that will destroy us).

The fab four conducted this podcast live at the Pittsburgh Continental Philosophy Conference.

Hannah Arendt on the Private and Political (Part One)

On selected "moral epistles" (from around 65 CE) by Lucius Annaeus Seneca: 4. On the Terrors of Death, 12. On Old Age, 49. On the Shortness of Life, 59. On Pleasure and Joy, 62. On Good Company, 92. On the Happy Life, 96. On Facing Hardship, and 116. On Self Control. We're joined by Massimo Pigliucci of the How to Be a Stoic blog, who for a long time was on the Rationally Speaking podcast.

Back in ep. 124 we considered the Stoic Epictetus, but due to audience demand, we wanted a second and a third opinion: Seneca, unlike Epictetus, explicitly advocated a public life, and seemed to have less problem with deep friendships and other sorts of attachments, so long as these things are kept in perspective. Unfortunately, Seneca is very light on actual justifications for this perspective, and apparently sees knowing the ultimate truths of existence as a fairly simple matter, the trick being to really internalize these truths and let them guide your actions, especially when tragedy strikes. Life is a battle, says Seneca, and it's really better for us that it is, as a life without challenge would be a life without meaning.

Massimo, along with Tad Brennan's The Stoic Life: Emotions, Duties, and Fate (2007), provided a reality check for all of this, helping us to interpret the text charitably and see how ancient Stoic writings are integrated into modern practice. The key is that the only thing ultimately important is your own virtue, which is all you have control over. Other things can and should be "preferred," but aren't granted the status of moral goods. When you work hard toward a goal, it's not the goal that's good, but the working itself.

Massimo and Dylan read from this new translation: Letters on Ethics: To Lucilius (The Complete Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca), while Mark and Wes read this electronic version: Delphi Complete Works of Seneca the Younger, though during the recording we were reading some of these from Selected Letters (Oxford World's Classics), which you can read on the web.

Don't wait for part 2, get the Citizen Edition now by signing up with a $5 recurring donation. This will also enable you to participate in the Aftershow for eps. 131/132 on Aristotle's De Anima, taking place on Sunday, 1/31 at 6pm Eastern. Sign up here.

If you take the plunge and start a $50/year membership, we'll send you a coupon for $20 off our 2016 wall calendar, meaning that you'll pay only shipping! Everyone can still get a PEL Calendar for $5 off if you use the code "calendar5" at checkout. Get it at partiallyexaminedlife.com/store.

Living Stoically with Seneca and Massimo (Part One)

Continuing with Massimo Pigliucci on selected "moral epistles" by Seneca: 4. On the Terrors of Death, 12. On Old Age, 49. On the Shortness of Life, 59. On Pleasure and Joy, 62. On Good Company, 92. On the Happy Life, 96. On Facing Hardship, and 116. On Self Control.

With the preliminaries out of the way, we really get into the essays to see what Seneca has to say about love and other emotions, facing loss and other hardships, fear of death, desire, pursuing your goals, keeping company with ancient sages, and wearing nice clothes. Seneca, like Fritz Beer, thinks we're on a leash. All you have to do to be happy is have "a complete view of truth!" That's all!

Listen to part one first, or get the Citizen edition. Please support PEL!

End song: "I Lose Control" by The MayTricks from So Chewy! (1993), which you can listen to in full.

Living Stoically with Seneca and Massimo (Part Two)

A Valentine's Day special topic! What is love, really? This psychoanalyst of the Frankfurt school thinks that real love is not something one ""falls"" into, but is an art, an activity, and doing it well requires a disciplined openness and psychological health. Love is the answer to the deep human need to rid ourselves of isolation, but a mere sexual union won't provide real intimacy. To connect the center of your being with the center of another's being, you need to really know yourself and know the other, and this knowing requires an overall openness that amounts to a love of humanity, a feeling of oneness with nature, and an overall orientation toward the good, which is what he considers a mature take on ""love of God,"" which doesn't imply, e.g., a belief in a judging deity, which would be a mature imposition into nature of insecurities about the conditional love of one's father.

So yes, this is replete with psychoanalytic weirdness (and without any clinical basis presented), and very much reflects its time (prurient, sexist, homophobic), but Fromm also puts forward a Marxist social commentary that's very much in line with our New Work and Hannah Arendt episodes, i.e., we need to remake society into the kind of place where loving can be the rule and not the exception, as our current society steers us to treat others and ourselves like commodities to be used, and romantic love as likewise trying to score the best deal, find the best love object and make yourself the most desirable (attractive, successful), none of which adds up to intimacy. Oh, and also, stop watching so much TV!

This recording features the core four: Mark, Seth, Wes, and Dylan.

Recommended prerequisites: Ep. 26 on Freud's Civilization and its Discontents, Ep. 100 on Plato's Symposium. We've also discussed this issue of others' recognition of you on many episodes starting with Ep. 36 on Hegel, but perhaps the clearest statement, most relevant to this episode is Ep. 71 on Martin Buber.

Erich Fromm on Love as an Art (Part One)

Continuing on Fromm's The Art of Loving (1956).

In this second half of our discussion, we talk about love as requiring knowledge: as "knowing the secret" of humanity or at least being interested. This is related to sadism. Is there a difference between motherly and fatherly love? Fromm thinks so. He also talks about different degrees of maturity in one's belief in God, the best being like Spinoza's, where God is not an entity, but is the equivalent to the world and love of God is love of humanity, i.e., general orientation toward the good. Finally, we get Fromm's social recommendations: How could we reform society's structures and norms so that healthy love as he's describing it can be the norm instead of the purview of only those rebellious enough to reject the consumerist outlook? Hint: He likes Marx, though he argues that no allegedly Marxist actual state comes anywhere close to what Marx was after in terms of letting people live free, unalienated, fulfilling lives.

Listen to part 1 first or get the ad-free Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!

End songs: "Kimmy" (recorded 1995), from Mark Lint's Black Jelly Beans & Smokes. Listen to the album free. Also its sequel, "Kimmy 2002 (Mommy)."

Erich Fromm on Love as an Art (Part Two)

Welcome to Burn Your Draft, a new podcast about the Reed College senior thesis experience. Each episode features an interview with a student or alum about their thesis experience. The first episodes launch on August 31st, 2020, and new episodes will release every other Monday.

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In this special episode we hear from Seth Paskin '90, Reed alumnus and co-founder of Burn Your Draft, on the motivation behind the podcast. We’ll also hear about his own experience as a co-founder and co-host of the podcast, The Partially Examined Life, and his time thesising at Reed as a philosophy major.
This live interview was recorded during the 2020 Paideia week on January 25th in the living room of Prexy, a building on the Reed College campus that housed presidents of the college in the early days of Reed. It’s now the home of the Center for Life Beyond Reed and Alumni Programs.

#0: Burn Your Draft Live Debut Event with Seth Paskin '90, Philosophy

You don’t have to look beyond Portland to see the topic of this thesis. Today we will be hearing from Economics/Mathematics Reed graduate, Ryan Kobler '20, about her thesis on land pricing in Portland.

Reed community members can read Ryan's thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/5cf0fb28-87b4-42e6-86dc-0493bbae04d5

#1: Land Pricing in Portland with Ryan Kobler '20, Econ/Math

I’m sure you've read joke books, but have you read ancient joke books? Let’s go back to our comedic roots with Jake Buck and his translation of one of the oldest Chinese joke books.

#2: Translating Ancient Chinese Jokes with Jake Buck '20, Chinese

Make sure to grab your tin foil hats for this episode of Burn Your Draft and get ready to hear from Molly Johnson on the sociological aspects of UFO subculture. Seth Paskin '90 hosts this episode.

#3: UFOs and the People Who Love Them with Molly Johnson '19, Sociology

Is history repeating itself? Today we will hear from Soha on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (which is often described as the 21st century silk road), and its effect on foreign investment in sub-saharan Africa.

Reed community members can read Soha's thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/c/etheses/s/r?_pp=20&query=soha%20ahmed&s=cba1d9f104c81a09b4c2739df6299fa52165a034&p=1&pp=1

#4: China's New Silk Road with Soha Ahmed '20, Economics

Quarantine has created an atmosphere for a lot of difficult conversations with friends and especially families. Today we will hear from Jade about her research study on gender and pronouns amongst Reed students.

Reed community members can read Jade's thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/d704b617-47e4-4300-bb0b-cf209765f3b3

#5: Gender Pronoun Use at Reed with Jade Fung '20, Psychology

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 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.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Partially Examined Life

Partially Examined Life

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