Phi Fic

Looking for the meaning of life? You and me both, my friend. And so is Binx Bolling, protagonist in The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Join us as Mary and Daniel praise this story for its examination of the existential crisis presented in beautiful language and Southern charm, and as Nathan salutes Bolling’s view of life's preciousness. So step away from the dishes to be washed and the beds to be made and listen to Binx explain: "What is the nature of the search? you ask. Really it is very simple; at least for a fellow like me. So simple that it is easily overlooked. The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life."

Join Nathan Hanks, Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Mary Claire.

Worth mentioning; The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami, The Sunset Limited by Cormac McCarthy, and "My unbelief was invincible from the beginning"–The Moviegoer.

Write us with recommendations or what have you, [email protected]

Thanks to Christopher Nolen for music.

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On Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism (1981) and Black Looks: Race and Representation (1992, Intro, Ch. 3, 11). How do these pernicious forces interact? hooks describes black women as having been excluded from both mainstream historical feminism (led by white women) and black civil rights struggles (permeated with patriarchy), and this "silencing" creates challenges for self-actualization and social justice. The solution: media critique of stereotyped images and personally connecting to a historical narrative of liberation. With guest Myisha Cherry, host of the UnMute Podcast.

End song: "Stories" by Mark Lint and Steve Petrinko (2011).

Are we guilty from the first moment of life? Is the machine Franz Kafka devised not merely a metaphor for how we live our lives, but “actually here, all around…”? That’s what Kafka Tamura says in Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami, and what Daniel says here in our discussion on In The Penal Colony by Franz Kafka when he cites our failing bodies, our internal machines, that “attrition occurs, cogs wear out.” We are the machine. Join us as we discuss this fascinating book and its mysterious meaning for all of us.

The first "official" episode of the new Phi Fic podcast! (What used to be the Partially Examined Life Not School Philosophical Fiction group, now gone public.)

Join Nathan Hanks, Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Mary Claire. This first episode was recorded a few weeks after a conversation we had about Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (which we also talk about a bit in the beginning). Worth mentioning: "Tarantino could do the adaptation," the Salinger documentary is not recommended, The Trial by Franz Kafka, and PEL ep. #96: Oppenheimer.

Thanks to Christopher Nolen for music.

If you have thoughts, recommendations, or questions that you want to send our way, please do via [email protected].

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We talk about the novel Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy with Nathan Hanks, Jordan Payne, and special guest Dylan Casey from the Partially Examined Life Podcast. This origin/zero-episode is taken from an older (2013) recording of the Philosophical Fiction group, before our current group of readers got together.

Worth Mentioning: No Country for Old Men/The Crossing/Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy, and Paradise Lost by John Milton, PEL ep. #63: No Country for Old Men.

Thanks to Christopher Nolen for music.

If you have thoughts, recommendations, or questions that you want to send our way, please do via [email protected].

Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

We interview John about Seeing Things As They Are (2015). What is perception? Searle says that it's not a matter of seeing a representation, which is then related to things in the real world. We see the actual objects, with no mediation. But then how can there be illusions? Well, it's complicated, but not too complicated, just some funny terminology that this episode will teach you.

Searle lays out his theory for us and amusingly dismisses much of the history of philosophy in the first half, and then Mark, Wes, and Dylan continue the discussion to make sure we understood what was just said and chase down some threads of the conversation.

End song: "Flesh and Blood" from The MayTricks' Happy Songs Will Bring You Down (1994).

We interview John about Seeing Things As They Are (2015). What is perception? Searle says that it's not a matter of seeing a representation, which is then related to things in the real world. We see the actual objects, with no mediation. But then how can there be illusions? Well, it's complicated, but not too complicated, just some funny terminology that this episode will teach you.

On Pierre Bourdieu's Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (1979), introduction, ch 1 through p. 63, conclusion, and postscript. How do our tastes in music, art, and everything else reflect our social position? This philosophically trained sociologist administered a few detailed questionnaires in 1960s France and used the resulting differences in what people in different classes preferred and how they talked about these preferences to theorize about the role that taste plays in our social games. Featuring guest Tim Quirk of Too Much Joy and recent guest on Mark's Nakedly Examined Music podcast #8. 

End song: "When She Took Off Her Shirt" from Tim's band Wonderlick's Topless At The Arco Arena (2005).

On Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception" from Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944), plus Adorno's "Culture Industry Reconsidered" (1963). How does the entertainment industry affect us? Adorno (armed with Marx and Freud) thinks that our "mass culture" is imposed from the top down to lull us into being submissive workers.

End song: "All Too Familiar," from around 1992 with all instruments by Mark Linsenmayer, released on The MayTricks.

A whole second discussion on G.F.W. Hegel's Encyclopedia Logic, hitting sections 78–99 on the dialectic and Understanding vs. Reason. Hegel thinks we can use Reason to objectively come up with basic metaphysical categories, but can we really? With guest Amogh Sahu.

This continues ep. 134. PEL Citizens can listen to the Aftershow.

End song: "Flow" by Gary Lucas and Mark Lint. Listen to Gary interviewed about this instrumental on Nakedly Examined Music #7.

On G.F.W. Hegel's The Science of Logic (1812–1816), §1–§129 and The Encyclopaedia Logic (1817) §1–§25. "Logic" for Hegel is about how thought interacts with the world. Our thoughts about fundamental metaphysical categories bear the same relations to each other as the the categories themselves do. Just take Hegel's many, many words for it! With guest Amogh Sahu.

End song: "Procrastination" by Steve Petrinko from The MayTricks' Happy Songs Will Bring You Down (1994). Hear Mark interview Steve on Nakedly Examined Music.

Welcome to Nakedly Examined Music, our first spin-off of PEL. Hear more at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com or find it via iTunes. Mark interviews songwriters about why and how they do what they do. Think of it as applied philosophy. Four episodes are now posted; this cross-post of our pilot features David Lowery of Camper van Beethoven and Cracker talking through three of his songs. He's as well-spoken and full of ideas as many a decent philosopher, so sit back and turn on your active listening function!