Podcast Episodes

Ep. 295: Kant on Preventing War (Part One)

On Immanuel Kant's essay "Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch" (1795).

Do nations have the "right" to go to war? What principles ground just international relations, and are there structures and…

Published on 3 years, 6 months ago

PREMIUM-Ep. 294: Quine on Science vs. Epistemology (Part Three)

Concluding on W.V.O. Quine's "Epistemology Naturalized" (1969).

We talk more about the attempt to found epistemology on psychology. 

If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discu…

Published on 3 years, 6 months ago

(sub)Text: Escape into Art in Keats’s "Ode to a Nightingale"

Second in our series on the odes of John Keats is Ode to a Nightingale, in which Keats imagines a journey into the realm of negative capability, a concept introduced in our previous episode on Ode to…

Published on 3 years, 6 months ago

Ep. 294: Quine on Science vs. Epistemology (Part Two)

Continuing on "Epistemology Naturalized" (1969), we work further through the text, getting into what this new psychology-rooted epistemology might look like and how Quine changed empiricism. Plus, mo…

Published on 3 years, 6 months ago

Pretty Much Pop #124: What Is Batman?

In light of the recent release of Matt Reeves' film The Batman, we consider the strange alternation of darkness and camp that is Batman. Is he even a super hero? What's with his rogues' gallery? What…

Published on 3 years, 6 months ago

Ep. 294: Quine on Science vs. Epistemology (Part One)

On W.V.O. Quine's "Epistemology Naturalized" (1969). What justifies scientific theory?

Not theory-free observations, as Quine shows us by considering how we figure out foreign languages. Instead of …

Published on 3 years, 6 months ago

Philosophy vs. Improv #32: "On the Standard of [Bad] Taste" w/ Babette Babich

Babette teaches at Fordham and recently edited the collection "Reading David Hume's 'On The Standard of Taste,'" which Mark made use of for PEL#289. So, more philosophically beefy than our typical Pv…

Published on 3 years, 6 months ago

PREMIUM-Ep. 293: Donna Haraway on Feminist Science (Part Two)

Continuing on "Situated Knowledges" and other essays with guest Lynda Olman. We try to get at the practical import of Olman's scheme and get further into her use of metaphors and what those mean for …

Published on 3 years, 7 months ago

Pretty Much Pop #123: We Are All Jackass

Mark is joined by comedian Matty Goldberg; filmmaker/podcaster Rolando Nieves; and comedy juggler Josh Casey to discuss the franchise that began in 2000 in light of the new film Jackass Forever. This…

Published on 3 years, 7 months ago

Ep. 293: Donna Haraway on Feminist Science (Part One)

On "Situated Knowledge" (1988), "A Cyborg Manifesto" (1985), etc. featuring guest Lynda Olman.

What is scientific objectivity? Haraway rejects both relativism and traditional, "god's eye" objectivis…

Published on 3 years, 7 months ago