logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2023
49m 18s

Ep. 319: Schiller on Experiencing Beauty...

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

Starting with letter 20 in On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), we tell more of the story of how art is supposed to get us from sensation to thinking.

Aesthetic perception ends up being essential to any conceptualization (thinking) whatsoever!

Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and a supporter-exclusive part three to this discussion.

Up next
Today
Ep. 374: Discussing Liberalism (Lincoln, et al) with Walter Sterling (Part One)
What's the crisis of liberal democracy? Dylan, Wes and Seth are joined by St. John's College President J. Walter Sterling to discuss Abraham Lincoln's "On the Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions" (1838) plus the beginnings of Steven Pinker's Enlightenment Now (2018), Patri ... Show More
46m 38s
Yesterday
PEL Presents Closereads: Peter Railton's "Moral Realism" (Wrap Up)
We are concluding our treatment of Peter Railton's "Moral Realism" (1984), and given that you likely haven't listened to the seven preceding parts, this discussion can serve as a standalone summary of not only Railton's view, but of the best efforts of Mark and Wes to actually fi ... Show More
58m 5s
Aug 21
Announcement: Mark's "Foundational Political Philosophy Texts" Fall 2025 Class
I bet you’d like to have an excuse to read some Aristotle, and Locke, Rousseau, Simone Weil, and other fun texts. Well, go read about this opportunity at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class, and then follow the link to enroll. Not sure? Watch a sample (a full seminar from last semest ... Show More
4m 44s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2014
Episode #039 ... The Limits of Empiricism
On this episode of the podcast, we explore the idea of reality and how our senses prevent us from perceiving its true nature. First, we launch a smear campaign against human eyes and their limitations. Next, we discuss the difference between deductive reasoning (the kind you see ... Show More
26m 57s
Oct 2023
Episode 233: Your Brain On Sex (Essential Listen)
As I look back on all of the amazing guests and conversations we’ve had on this show, I’ve begun to curate a list of ”essential listens.” These are the shows that are often a sexual revelation because they get people to think about or understand their own sexuality in a new way. ... Show More
30m 48s
May 2014
Episode 47: Schooled By Our Listeners
Tamler and David leech off of their listeners and dedicate an episode to their favorite comments, questions, and criticisms from the past few weeks (but not before Tamler goes on a rant about bicycle helmets). Included in this episode: Does doing research on hypothetical moral di ... Show More
1h 2m
Nov 2023
Episode 271: Concept-Con 2023
It’s the first annual “Concept-Con” – a not at all cringe episode where David and Tamler apply the methods and rigor of analytic philosophy to dissect not one, not two, but four new concepts. We start out with a Gen-Z special “mid” and then after a break we analyze the concept “c ... Show More
58m 53s
Mar 2022
Episode 232: Mind Over Matter
It’s the topic voted on by our beloved Patreon patrons, panpsychism! David and Tamler delve into the resurgent debate over whether consciousness is the fundamental stuff that makes up the universe. We hoped we might be entering Miyazaki land - river spirits, benevolent radishes, ... Show More
1h 39m
Sep 2023
The Psychology and Aftermath of Auditions
For the FULL story, preorder my memoir “Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything” here: https://bit.ly/semiwelladjustedTW: Simulating Trauma. Out of 500,000 hopeful artists, only 205 will make it. Everyone else will face repeated rejection at auditions. So, what does a chi ... Show More
35m 10s
Jun 2024
Episode 303: Common Things We Get Wrong About Sex (Essential Listen)
It turns out that many of the things we think we know about sex aren’t entirely true. So let’s set the record straight and explore what we do and don’t know about sex and the human body. For today’s show, we’re revisiting one of my favorite conversations of all time, my interview ... Show More
50m 26s
Dec 2023
Episode 275: The Ineffable Center (Borges' "The Aleph")
An episode interesting from every point of view, we train our eyes on Jorge Luis Borges’ “The Aleph.” The first segment wins the kudos of the learned, the academician, the Hellenist, as we talk about the favorite things we saw this year. The second segment — baroque? decadent? th ... Show More
1h 34m
Sep 2022
#295 — Philosophy and the Good Life
Sam Harris speaks to Kieran Setiya about the relevance of philosophy to living a good life. They discuss the existence of objective moral truths, being happy vs living well, our response to grief, the difference between "telic" and "atelic" activities, the power of reframing, FOM ... Show More
44m 17s
Jan 2024
Oikeiôsis: The Stoic Opposite of Selfishness
In today's episode, I'm discussing Oikeiôsis, an essential part of Stoic philosophy and a cornerstone for developing a virtuous character. I'll revisit Hierocles' Circles of Concern, illustrating our interconnectedness with family, community, humanity, and the biosphere, and intr ... Show More
31m 37s