Oct 4

PEL Presents PvI#102: Pit of Despair w/ Seth Paskin

Mark's Partially Examined Life co-host Seth joins us (i.e. Mark and Mary) to introduce Seth to improv and continue introducing philosophy to Mary. We discuss Seth's attraction to depressing texts, act out couples' therapy and monster beauty parlor, and open up a few philosophical ... Show More

47m 57s

Oct 6

Ep. 377: Emil Cioran's Pessimism (Part One)

On A Short History of Decay (1949), a pessimist/existentialist somewhat text from the most famous Romanian philosopher. Cioran's short essays touch on art, humor, God, salvation, time, nostalgia, mourning, death, disease, suicide, revolt, freedom, Buddhism, Daoism, and the role o ... Show More

52m 2s

Sep 28

PEL Presents PMP#206: Abbott Elementary w/o Emmys

For our Emmys/back-to-school episode, we cover the pinnacle of the current network sitcom landscape: The six-time 2025 Emmy nominated 4-year-old sitcom Abbott Elementary. Yes, it lost this year but has won in the past. Mark, Lawrence, Al and West-Philly-resident Sarahlyn discuss ... Show More

53m 13s

Sep 2011

HoP 044 - The Goldilocks Theory - Aristotle's Ethics

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics on happiness and virtue

20m 23s

Feb 2011

HoP 019 - Know Thyself - Two Unloved Platonic Dialogues

Virtue and knowledge in Plato's Charmides and Euthydemus

18m 23s

Sep 2022

Ep 148: Memetics

Rational and anti-rational memes. Static and dynamic societies. Diversity of ideas and individuality. Credit: "The Beginning of Infinity" by David Deutsch

6m 50s

May 2011

HoP 031 - Wings of Desire - Plato's Erotic Dialogues

Love, friendship and philosophy in the Symposium, Phaedrus and Lysis

21m 59s

Oct 2010

HoP 003 - Created In Our Image - Xenophanes Against Greek Religion

The gods in Homer and Hesiod, and the critique of Xenophanes

19m 18s

Sep 2011

HoP 046 - Dominic Scott on Aristotle's Ethics

Dominic Scott discusses Aristotle's method in his Nicomachean Ethics

28m 31s

Nov 2022

Virtue Ethics and The Quest for Character

Massimo Pigliucci, philosophy professor and author, joins Breht once again, this time to discuss his newest book "The Quest for Character: What the Story of Socrates and Alcibiades Teaches Us about Our Search for Good Leaders". Topics include: Ethical theories in philosophy, stoi ... Show More

1h 5m

Jun 2011

HoP 036 - A Principled Stand - Aristotle's Epistemology

Knowledge according to Aristotle's Posterior Analytics

20m 14s

Feb 2024

85: Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks, pt. 1 - Thales, Anaximander, Heraclitus

Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks is one of the more obscure texts in Friedrich Nietzsche’s corpus. There are many good reasons for this: it is unfinished, and ends abruptly; it was never published; and it concerns subject matter that is not as immediately accessible as ... Show More

1h 26m

PREMIUM-Episode 24: Spinoza on God and M...