Phi Fic

Phi Fic

By 'Philosophical Fiction' from The Partially Examined LifeArtsFiction
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Phi Fic episodes

  • Episode 170: Guy Debord's "Society of the Spectacle" (Part Two)

    More on the 1967 Situtationist book. Do we buy Debord's critique? Is any merely partial critique (i.e. no revolution) just more spectacle? Is technology inherently dehumanizing? Don't these passivity/anti-technology arguments even apply to books? Could Debord's model of authenticity catch on in society as a whole?

    Start with part 1, or get the Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!

    End song: "Millionaire" by The Mekons (1993); Jon Langford appears on Nakedly Examined Music #22.

    1 hr 14 min
  • Episode 170: Guy Debord's "Society of the Spectacle" (Part One)

    What is culture? In modern capitalism, Debord’s 1967 book describes it as all about the economy. It’s not just our jobs that keep us trapped, but our life outside of working hours is also demanded by “the system” via our activity as consumers, and this commoditization infiltrates every corner of our lives. Debord wants us to WAKE UP, break our chains, and live lives of immediacy, vitality, and authenticity.

    Continue with part 2 or get your unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition now. Please support PEL!

    56 min
  • PEL Special: Combat & Classics on Rousseau's "Discourse on the Arts and Sciences"

    A new podcast for the PEL Podcast Network! Meet Jeff, Lise, and Brian, who are joined by Wes and Dylan to discuss Rousseau's claim that the arts and sciences lead to "moral corruption." Get more C&C on the PEL site or at combatandclassics.org.

    Become a PEL Citizen to attend a C&C online seminar on Nietzsche's ”Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense” on Aug. 14, 8pm EST. Your support for PEL helps the PEL network!

    Visit bombfell.com/pel for $25 off your first clothing order. Get in on fall online courses starting Aug. 28 at the New School opencampus.newschool.edu. Get 20% off your first pair of underwear plus free shipping meundies.com/pel.

    54 min
  • Episode 169: Analyzing Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (Part One)

    On the 1958 film and articles including Laura Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (1975) and Robin Wood's "Vertigo" (1965). What's the nature of love/lust? Are we really just loving an image we've built while remaining fundamentally isolated? And is it just an illusionary social construct that keeps us all from feeling fundamental vertigo? Lacan, existentialism, and more!

    Part 2 is for supporters only! It won't be on the public feed next week, so get the full discussion now at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife or through a PEL Citizenship.

    49 min
  • Episode 168: Darwin's "Origin of Species" (Part Two)

    More on Darwin's famous book. Why does it matter for philosophy, beyond providing an alternative to intelligent design? Is it really anti-religious? How can well tell if it's really a scientific theory? Talking about a species evolving trait X to enable survival sounds teleological; is it really, and is that bad? Why would the mind develop through natural selection?

    Continues from part 1, or just get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!

    End song: "I Live" by Jason Falkner, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #47.

    Go to blueapron.com/PEL for three free meals with free shipping. Enroll in The New School's Open Campus for the term starting Aug. 28 at opencampus.newschool.edu. And check out the St. John's College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi.

    1 hr 7 min
  • Phi Fic #15 “The State of the Art” by Iain M. Banks
    This time, we talk about a novella in the late, great Iain M. Banks’s famed Culture sci-fi series, which is centered around a utopian, post-scarcity society that spans various planets (and other habitats) within the Milky Way galaxy.
    They have hope. The Culture has statistics.
    So says Linter, one of the chief protagonists in The State of the Art. In the story, a group of Culture members—mostly humanoids—venture to Earth to study its inhabitants and decide whether to induct them into the fold. A crisis occurs when one of the group—Linter, who has spent a considerable amount of time on-planet—wants to “go native” rather than return to the ship and his life in the Culture.
    We’re the ones who’re different, we’re the self-mutilated, the self-mutated. This is the mainstream; we’re just like very smart kids; infants with a brilliant construction kit. They’re real because they live the way they have to. We aren’t because we live the way we want to.
    Linter’s shipmate and friend, Diziet Sma, gives her best arguments to try to urge Linter to return, highlighting Banks’s fascinating examination of Earth’s human inhabitants as seen through the eyes of a far more advanced civilization. What they observe is a relatively barbaric species consumed by materialism, violence, and spiritual uncertainty, along with feats of astonishing creativity, depth, and beauty.
    Within our discussion, Nathan contrasts Linter’s statement that “the stakes are higher on Earth” to the Culture’s belief that our civilization is brutal and wild. Cezary notes the similarity between the Culture’s attitude and that of hunter-gatherer tribes in the Amazon that avoid contact with the West, as once you do there’s no going back. Daniel wonders about the frictionless lives of Culture citizens, and what they sacrifice in never experiencing true pain and suffering. Laura questions the lack of hope in the Culture, and Mary says that it might be hard to imagine a post-scarcity existence, but it’s sure fun to dream of it.
    Disclaimer: Banks created a rich, dense fictional world in the Culture series, which might make this discussion a little tough to follow for folks who aren’t familiar with it. Plus, this is one of our older discussions, so there are a few glitches in the recording. That said, we had a good talk and Iain Banks was a great writer, well worth talking about, so please join us.
    Listen to a dramatization by Paul Cornell from BBC Radio 4 on youtube.
    Thanks to Christopher Nolen for our music.
    If you have thoughts, recommendations, or questions that you want to send our way, please do via [email protected].
    Hear more Phi Fic.



    1 hr 19 min
  • Episode 168: Darwin's "Origin of Species" (Part One)

    On Charles Darwin's 1859 book, ch. 1-4, 6, and 14. What are the philosophical ramifications of Darwin's theory of evolution? We go through Darwin's arguments, compare his views to other theories of evolution like Lamarck's, and talk about how an evolutionary way of looking at things has influenced philosophers.

    50 min

About Phi Fic

From the publisher's feed

Dicussions of literature from a philosophical perspective.