logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2021
40m 9s

Ep. 284: Mark Twain's Philosophy of Huma...

Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey
About this episode

On "What Is Man" (1905). Twain describes a person as a machine. We have no free will and always act to win our own self-approval. This was a bleak enough picture that the essay was not printed until after Twain's death.

Part two of this episode is only going to be available to you if you sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support or via Apple Podcasts.

Up next
Yesterday
Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part One)
We focus on the final chapters of Dan Dennett's Consciousness Explained, where he confronts various views, figures, and thought experiments that contend that he's failed to explain the essence of consciousness: the "what it's like" element of any conscious experience that is dist ... Show More
52m 17s
Sep 12
PEL Presents NEM#260: Jacqui Hunt (Single Gun Theory) Now Master of Her Synth Domain
Jacqui rose to fame with the Australian electronic dance band Single Gun Theory (three albums '87-'94), did some one-off collaborations, and released her first solo album in 2008. After an album as CiiVE and some solo singles, she's now released her second solo album, Desiderium. ... Show More
1h 4m
Sep 12
PEL Presents PvI#124: Navel Evaluation (Our Season 5 Finale)
We wrap up Mary's first year with the podcast, and changes are afoot for our upcoming season, but why? Let's explore to the point of physical discomfort! We act out an odd annual employee review, a dramatic pitch for a new play, and the navel-gazing club. Hear more at philosophyi ... Show More
53m 51s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
Episode 288: The Despised Foot (The Denial of Death Pt. 2)
<p>David and Tamler conclude their discussion of Ernest Becker's <em>The Denial of Death</em>. We talk about Becker's philosophy of science (does he have one?), his sweeping explanations for strongman leaders, neuroses, mental illness, sexual fetishes, and the refreshing absence< ... Show More
1h 30m
Apr 2023
The Soft Life of a Black Man
One of the key tools of oppression is labor exploitation. That we would be worked to death. Can our life exist not purely for what we produce but for who we are and whose we are? Support this podcast at patreon.com/PassTheMic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a ... Show More
35m 33s
Jul 2024
The Light of Being Shines Through Our Humanness
In this podcast Eckhart talks about bringing together the human and the being aspects of ourselves. He says we would be consigned to a miserable fate if all we were was human because being trapped by a limited identity there would be no possibility of self-transcendence. Eckhart ... Show More
26m 25s
Jun 2023
Beyond Good and Evil #3: One Ruling Thought (I.17 - II.25)
<p>In this next episode on Beyond Good &amp; Evil, we discuss the simplification of the world out of a psychological need, and the ways in which we have sought for “Being” in the soul, the ego, the will, and in the materialistic atom. All were expressions of the ”one ruling thoug ... Show More
1h 57m
Mar 2021
#241 — Final Thoughts on Free Will
Sam Harris presents his full argument on the illusoriness of free will—and explores its ethical and psychological implications. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe. 
43m 55s
Jan 2016
4 - The illusion of the ego
This episode explores the topic of the ego. What is ego? What part of me is really me? When we view ourselves and others as independent and permanent, we tend to view ourselves as finished products rather than works in progress. The reality is that the sense of self is an illusio ... Show More
28m 59s
Dec 2024
Solipsism: This Is All In My Mind?
As the philosophical holds, there’s a chance you don’t exist, that not only you, but this episode, the podcast, and the entire universe are only projections of Josh or Chuck’s mind. If so, then recording this episode was a waste of time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in ... Show More
35m 43s
Aug 2012
Episode 1: Brains, Robots, and Free Will (Free Will and Morality Pt. 1)
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">Dave and Tamler start out talking about the new wave of skepticism about free will and moral responsibility in the popular press from people like <a href= "http://www.samharris.org/">Sam Harris</a> and <a href= "http://whyevolutionistrue.wordp ... Show More
1h 10m
Mar 2022
Survivor’s Remorse
They say, when you’re up, your friends know who you are, but when you’re down you know who your friends are. The burden of being the one who made it is heavy, and in this episode, the Ellises talk about what it’s like to carry the weight. Dead ass. Learn more about your ad-choice ... Show More
47m 34s
Sep 2025
Episode 315: Ceaseless Striving (Schopenhauer's Pessimism)
David and Tamler tackle the topic chosen by our beloved Patreon supporters in the first VBW madness tournament – Schopenhauer. We discuss his essays "On the Sufferings of the World" and "The Vanity of Existence," their strikingly modern perspectives on human life and behavior and ... Show More
1h 30m
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami