PEL Presents PvI#114: Earning Crazy Town w/ Jenny Hansen

PEL Presents PvI#114: Earning Crazy Town w/ Jenny Hansen

Author: Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey March 22, 2026 Duration: 46:38

St. Lawrence philosophy prof Jennifer L. Hansen, one of the most frequent guest on Mark's podcasts and expert in feminist philosophy, here hits it off with our new host Mary. We act out vegan jerky time, snacktime at the all-girls clubhouse, and two gals getting pulled over by a cop.

Does the "come debate me" style of philosophy include unnecessarily masculine tropes? How does this Charlie Kirk model relate to what Socrates was doing? What are alternative, fun ways to get students to talk in philosophy classes?

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What if philosophy wasn't an intimidating subject reserved for academics, but a lively, accessible, and sometimes messy conversation among friends? That's the space occupied by The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast. Hosted by Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, and Dylan Casey-a group who once pursued philosophy professionally before taking a different path-this podcast approaches big ideas with a rare blend of genuine curiosity and informal camaraderie. Their discussions are grounded in actual philosophical texts, which they break down in each episode, but you absolutely don't need a degree or even prior reading to jump in. The charm lies in hearing their real-time reactions, debates, and occasional tangents as they wrestle with concepts that shape our society and culture. Listening feels like pulling up a chair at a pub with remarkably well-read friends who are just as likely to crack a joke as they are to land a profound insight. This isn't a lecture; it's an invitation to a collective, partially examined life, where the journey through a thinker's argument is often more revealing than any polished conclusion. You'll find yourself thinking along with them, questioning your own assumptions, and discovering how centuries-old ideas pulse through our modern dilemmas. Tune in for a uniquely human and engaging take on the discipline that asks the biggest questions.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 782

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
Podcast Episodes
PREMIUM-PEL Sentimentalism Nightcap 2025 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:39
We put our recent episodes on moral phenomenology into perspective, anticipating our upcoming Hume discussion and going through some other options to enrich this study of sentiment vs. rational intuition. Plus, more pote…
Ep. 366: Edith Stein on Empathy (Part One) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:27
On The Problem of Empathy (1917). What is empathy, and what is its significance? Stein pictures empathy as a dynamic process that involves what Scheler called sympathy but goes beyond this. Your don't just take the other…
Ep. 365: Scheler on Love (Part Two) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:55
We conclude our treatment of Max Scheler's The Nature of Sympathy (1922), getting further into the Part II of the book about love and hatred and grappling with the puzzles about what exactly it is we love about someone (…
Ep. 365: Scheler on Love (Part One) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:12
On The Nature of Sympathy (1922), Part II: "Love and Hatred." What is love, and how does it relate to ethics and to sympathy? For Scheler, love is a primitive, spontaneous movement from lower to higher values: We see the…
Ep. 364: Max Scheler on Sympathy (Part Three) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:23
Mark, Wes, and Dylan reconvened for one more hour on Part I, "Fellow Feeling" (ch. 3-4) in The Nature of Sympathy (1913/1922). We continue to try to figure out the razor's edge of "fellow feeling proper" that does not re…
Ep. 364: Max Scheler on Sympathy (Part Two) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:11
Continuing on The Nature of Sympathy (1913/1922), Part I: "Fellow Feeling," Ch. 1-4. We look more closely at the text, getting further into how fellow feeling relates to ethics, and why the moral sentimentalists (like Hu…
Ep. 364: Max Scheler on Sympathy (Part One) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:57
On The Nature of Sympathy (1913, expanded 1922), Part I: "Fellow Feeling," Ch. 1-4. What is it to feel sympathy (aka "fellow feeling") for another person? It is NOT to "identify" with that person; ethics requires that th…
PEL Presents Closereads: Husserl on Perceiving Minds [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:21
On Edmund Husserl's Ideas, Vol. 2 (1928), Section 3, "The Constitution of the Spiritual World," Ch. 1, "Opposition Between the Naturalistic and Personalistic Worlds." Given Husserl's method of "reduction" whereby he sets…
Ep. 363: Franz Brentano's Moral Epistemology (Part Two) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:56
Continuing on "The Origin of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong" (1889), getting into how we measure the comparative value of things. While Brentano does observe actual practices in these areas, his phenomenology detects m…
Ep. 363: Franz Brentano's Moral Epistemology (Part One) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:45
On "The Origin of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong" (1889). What justifies basic moral facts? Brentano claims that right there in our experience, we can rationally sense with complete certainty that certain kinds of pref…