The Partially Examined Life

The Partially Examined Life

Official Logo for the Podcast, drawn by Ken Gerber
Presentation
Starring Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey
Genre Philosophy
Format Guided discussion / Informal conversation
Created by Mark Linsenmayer
Written by Various
Language English
Updates Periodic
Length 90 minutes - 130 minutes
Production
Theme music composed by Mark Linsenmayer
No. of episodes 111
Publication
Debut May 11th, 2009
Website http://www.partiallyexaminedlife.com

The Partially Examined Life is a podcast and downloadable audio series about philosophy.[1] It is self described at the beginning of many episodes as "A philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living, but then thought better of it." The most frequent participants are Mark Linsenmayer (Madison, WI), Seth Paskin (Austin, TX), Wes Alwan (Boston, MA), and Dylan Casey (Middleton, WI). The show also sometimes brings on experts to discuss particular topics.

History

The show came together as the brain child of Mark Linsenmayer who reached out to Seth Paskin and Wes Alwan to do the show in the format of a podcast. Mark, Seth, and Wes had been classmates at the University of Texas while earning their Master's degrees in Philosophy. The first full episode, "The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living," aired (become downloadable) on May 12, 2009. Dylan Casey later joined the program as a regular after previously having been a frequent guest. Dylan also manages The Partially Examined Life website and Facebook page.

Podcasters


The four main hosts of The Partially Examined Life are Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, and Dyaln Casey. The podcast also sometimes brings on guests who are subject matter experts or a suitable replacement for a regular when they cannot make the recording of an episode.

Mark Linsenmayer

Mark Linsenmayer is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Texas. He received his Masters in Philosophy from The University of Texas specializing in continental philosophy and explanations of consciousness. He has continued his pursuits in academia by teaching a course in ethics at Lakeland College in Madison, WI.

Mark has played in several bands and released a good deal of music. He resides in Madison, WI with his wife and two children.

Wes Alwan

Wes Alwan graduated from St. John's College and gained his masters in philosophy from The University of Texas with a focus on ancient philosophy, Kant, and Nietzsche. Wes was born in Savannah, GA and spent part of is life living in Ireland and the UK.

Wes lives in Boston, MA and works as a writer and media strategist

Seth Paskin

Seth attended Reed College in Portland, OR before working towards, but not completing, his Masters in philosophy at the University of Texas. Seth spent a much of this time in Germany studying Martin Heidegger and is fluent in German. He also spent a good deal of his graduate career yelling at friends about Spinoza's Ethics, an activity which he has come to regret.

Seth lives in Austin, TX where he is extremely active in the community. Seth previously served on the Board of Offender re-entry NGO and the African Leadership Bridge.

Dylan Casey

Dylan Casey received his undergraduate degrees in physics and political philosophy at Michigan State University before obtaining a master's degree high energy Particle Physics at the University of Rochester and a PHD in experimental particle physics, also from the university of Rochester. Dylan is currently on the faculty of St. John's College, but is on leave while researching radiation therapy in Madison, WI.

While at the University of Rochester Dylan worked on the Dzero Experiment at the Fermilab. He currently resides in Middleton, WI.

References To The Podcast and Famous Guests

The Partially Examined Life has been referenced and discussed in several outlets, including the publications of philosophers discussed on the show. One prominent example is a review of Episode 50 in the Onion's AV club.

References to The Partially Examined Life

List of Episodes

The following is a full list of complete, official episodes of The Partially Examined Life. The podcasters have also released music, pre-episodes ("Precognitions"), and other non "official episode" media. This list includes only the official, numbered episodes of the podcast.

No. Title Participants Air date
0"Introduction To The Podcast"Mark LinsenmayerMay 11, 2009
1"The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living (released in two parts)"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanMay 12, 2009
2"Descartes's Meditations: What Can We Know?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanMay 13, 2009
3"Hobbes's Leviathan: The Social Contract"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanJune 7, 2009
4"Camus and the Absurd"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanJune 22, 2009
5"Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanJuly 16, 2009
6"Leibniz's Monadology: What Is There?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanJuly 31, 2009
7"Wittgenstein's Tractatus" What Is There and Can We Talk About It"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanAugust 19, 2009
8"Wittgenstein's Tractatus (and Carnap): What Can We Legitimately Talk About?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanSeptember 4, 2009
9"Utilitarian Ethics: What Should We Do?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanSeptember 18, 2009
10"Kantian Ethics: What Should We Do?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanOctober 19, 2009
11"Nietzche's Immoralism: What is Ethics, Anyway?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanNovember 10, 2009
12"Chuang Tzu's Taoism: What Is Wisdom?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanDecember 6, 2009
13"What Are The Metaphysical Implications of Quantum Physics?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, and Dylan CaseyJanuary 3, 2010
14"Machiavelli on Politics"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanFebruary 7, 2010
15"Hegel on History"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanFebruary 24, 2010
16"Danto on Art"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanMarch 4, 2010
17"Hume's Empiricism: What Can We Know?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanMarch 29, 2010
18"Plato: What Is Knowledge?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanApril 20, 2010
19"Kant: What Can We Know?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Azzurra CrispinoMay 14, 2010
20"Pragmatism - Pragmatism - Peirce and James"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan and Dylan CaseyJune 9, 2010
21"What Is The Mind? (Turing, et al)"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanJune 28, 2010
22"More James's Pragmatism: Is Faith Justified? What Is Truth?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanJuly 18, 2010
23"Rousseau: Human Nature vs. Culture"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanJul 29, 2010
24"Spinoza on God and Metaphysics"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanAugust 24, 2010
25"Spinoza on Human Nature"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanSeptember 10, 2010
26"Frued on The Human Condition"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanSeptember 25, 2010
27"Nagarjuna on Buddhist "Emptiness""Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, and Erik DouglasOctober 10, 2010
28"Nelson Goodman on Art as Epistemology"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan and Jay BaileyOctober 31, 2010
29"Kierkegaard on The Self"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan and Daniel HorneNovember 21, 2010
30"Schopenhauer on Explanations and Knowledge"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanDecember 19, 2010
31"Husserl's Phenomenology"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanJanuary 10, 2011
32"Heidegger: What is Being?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes AlwanFebruary 7, 2011
33"Montaigne: What Is the Purpose of Philosophy?"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyFebruary 18, 2011
34"Frege on the Logic of Language"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Matt Teichman (host of Elucidations)March 13, 2011
35"Hegel on Self-Consciousness"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Tod McDonaldApril 10, 2011
37"Locke on Political Power"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Sabrina WeissMay 6, 2011
38"Bertrand Russell on Math and Logic"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, John PeltonMay 25, 2011
39"Schleiermacher Defends Religion"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Daniel HorneJune 10, 2011
40"Plato's Republic: What Is Justice?"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyJuly 11, 2011
41"Pat Churchland on the Neurology on Morality (Plus Hume's Ethics)"Mark Linsenmayer, Dylan Casey, and Patrica ChurchlandJuly 18, 2011
42"Feminists on Human Nature and Moral Psychology"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey, Azzurra CrispinoSeptember 5, 2011
43"Arguments for the Existence"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Robert ScottOctober 11, 2011
44"New Atheist Critiques of Religion"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyOctober 29, 2011
45"Moral Sense Theory: Hume and Smith"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Getty LustilaSeptember 15, 2011
46"Plato on Ethics & Religion"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Matt EvansNovember 16, 2011
47"Satire and Consciousness and the Self"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyNovember 30, 2011
48"Merleau-Ponty on Perception and Knowledge"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyDecember 17, 2011
49"Foucault on Power and Punishment"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey and Katie McIntyreJanuary 11, 2012
50"Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey, David BuchananFebruary 3, 2012
51"Semiotics and Structuralism (Saussure, et, al)"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, C. Derick VarnFebruary 24, 2012
53"Philosophy and Race (DuBois Martin Luther King, Cornel West)"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Lawrence WareMarch 17, 2012
53"Buddhism and Naturalism with Guest Owen Flanagan"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Owen FlanaganMarch 26, 2012
54"More Buddhism and Naturalism"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey,April 6, 2012
55"Wittgenstein on Language"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Philosophy BroMay 2, 2012
56"More Wittgenstein on Language"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Philosophy BroMay 14, 2012
57"Henri Bergson on Humor"Mark Linsenmayer,Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Jennifer DziuraMay 31, 2012
58"What Grounds Ethical Claims? (Moore, Stevenson, Maclntyre)"Mark Linsenmayer,Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyJune 20, 2012
60"Aristotle: What's the best Form Of Government"Mark Linsenmayer,Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyJuly 22, 2012
61"Nietzsche on Truth and Skepticism"Mark Linsenmayer,Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, and Jessica BerryAugust 15, 2012
62"Voltaire’s Novel “Candide”"Mark Linsenmayer,Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, (recorded together in Madison, WI)September 5, 2012
63"Existentialist Heroes in Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men”"Mark Linsenmayer,Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Eric PetrieSeptember 21, 2012
64"Celebrity, with guest Lucy Lawless"Mark Linsenmayer,Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Lucy LawlessOctober 6, 2012
65"Then Federalist Papers"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyOctober 27, 2012
66"Quine on Linguistic Meaning and Science"Mark Linsenmayer,Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Matt TeichmanNovember 21, 2012
67"Carnap on Logic and Science"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Matt TeichmanDecember 7, 2012
68"David Chalmers Interview on the Scrutability of the World"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey,December 21, 2012
69"Plato on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey,January 12, 2013
70"Marx on The Human Condition"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan,January 30, 2013
71"Martin Buber’s “I and Thou”"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Daniel HorneFebruary 15, 2013
72"Terrorism with Jonathan R. White"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Jonathan R. WhiteMarch 9, 2013
73"Why Do Philosophy? (And What Is It?)"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyMarch 22, 2013
74"Jacques Lacan’s Psychology"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyApril 3, 2013
75"Lacan & Derrida Criticize Poe’s “The Purloined Letter”"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Dylan CaseyApril 19, 2013
76"Deleuze on What Philosophy Is"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey, Daniel CoffeenMay 14, 2013
77"Santayana on the Appreciation of Beauty"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey,June 9, 2013
78"Ayn Rand on Living Rationally"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey,July 1, 2013
79"Heraclitus on Understanding the World"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Eva BrannJuly 15, 2013
80"Heidegger on our Existential Situation"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey,August 8, 2013
81"Jung on the Psyche and Dreams"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan,August 29, 2013
82"Karl Popper on Science"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseySeptember 24, 2013
83"New Work with Guest Frithjof Bergmann"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Frithjof BergmannOctober 10, 2013
84"Nietzsche’s “Gay Science”"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyNovember 11, 2013
85"Rawls on Social Justice"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyDecember 7, 2013
86"Thomas Kuhn on Scientific Progress"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyDecember 24, 2013
86"Thomas Kuhn on Scientific Progress"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyDecember 24, 2013
87"Sartre on Freedom and Self-Deception"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyJanuary 1, 2014
88"G.E.M. Anscombe: Should We Use Moral Language?"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Philosophy BroFebruary 18, 2014
89"Berkeley: Only Ideas Exist!"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey,March 12, 2014
90"Sci-Fi and Philosophy with Guest David Brin"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey, Brian Casey, David BrinMarch 26, 2014
91"Transhumanism (Plus More on Brin)"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Brian Casey,March 29, 2014
92"Henri Bergson on How to Do Metaphysics"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Matt TeichmanApril 11, 2014
93"Freedom and Responsibility (Strawson vs. Strawson)"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Tamler SommersMay 2, 2014
94"Schopenhauer on Reading, Writing, and Thinking"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyMay 22, 2014
95"Gödel on Math"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Adi HabbuJune 16, 2014
96"Oppenheimer and the Rhetoric of Science Advisers"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin Dylan Casey, Lynda WalshJuly 1, 2014
97"Michael Sandel on Social Justice and the Self"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey,July 19, 2014
98"Guest Michael Sandel Against Market Society"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Michael SandelJuly 26, 2014
99"Looking Back on 100 Discussions and 5+ Years"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Daniel HorneAugust 11, 2014
100"Plato’s Symposium Live Celebration!"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Daniel Horne, Philosophy BroAugust 15, 2014
101"Maimonides on God"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Danny LobellSeptember 1, 2014
102"Emerson on Wisdom and Individuality"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseySeptember 19, 2014
103"Thoreau on Living Deliberately"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyOctober 14, 2014
104"Robert Nozick’s Libertarianism"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Stephen MetcalfOctober 27, 2014
105"Kant: What Is Beauty?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey,November 15, 2014
106"Pyrrhonian Skepticism According to Sextus Empiricus"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Jessica BerryDecember 4, 2014
107"Edmund Burke on the Sublime"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey, Amir ZakiDecember 19, 2014
108"Dangers of A.I. with Guest Nick Bostrom"Mark Linsenmayer, Dylan Casey, Nick Bostrom, Luke MuehlhauserJanuary 6, 2015
109"Jaspers’s Existentialism with Guest Paul Provenza"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Paul ProvenzaJanuary 19, 2015
110"Alfred North Whitehead: What Is Nature?"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyFebruary 2, 2015
111"Gadamer’s Hermeneutics: How to Interpret"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyMarch 2, 2015
112"Ricoeur on Interpreting Religion"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan Casey, Lawrence WareMarch 16, 2015
113"Jesus’s Parables"Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Lawrence WareApril 6, 2015
114"Schopenhauer: “The World Is Will”"Mark Linsenmayer, Seth Paskin, Wes Alwan, Dylan CaseyApril 27, 2015

References