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Closereads: Philosophy with Mark and Wes: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Mark Linsenmayer and Wes Alwan
A philosophy podcast by the hosts of The Partially Examined Life
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- 4 days ago55 min
Closereads: David Lewis on Mind-Brain Identity (Part One)
On "An Argument for the Identity Theory" (1966), which unlike U.T. Place who merely argued that minds could be brains, argues that minds must be brains, in all possible worlds. The argument appears functionalist: mental states are defined by their causal roles, and causality is naturally the realm of the physical, so mental causality makes most sense if it is a way of talking about physical causality. Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy; follow us there via the free tier to get many other episodes like this one ad free, or pay us to get part 2 and everything else we've recorded. (Alternatively, support both PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife for a nice combo deal.) The post Closereads: David Lewis on Mind-Brain Identity (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.
- 3 weeks ago57 min
Closereads: Gilbert Ryle on Self-Knowledge (Part One)
On The Concept of Mind (1949), Ch. 6, "Self-Knowledge." Ryle is arguing against a Cartesian take on mind that he sees as over-intellectualizing. In this case, it is not the case that every conscious act is itself an object of an act of consciousness: Not all consciousness is self-conscious, and introspection itself must involve a layer of mentality (the act of self-consciousness) that is not itself the object of an act of consciousness. Read along with us, starting on p. 136 (PDF p. 199). Subscribe to Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy; follow us there via the free tier to get many other episodes like this one ad free, or pay us to get subsequent parts to this and everything else we've recorded. (Alternatively, support both PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife for a nice combo deal.) The post Closereads: Gilbert Ryle on Self-Knowledge (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.
- Sep 20, 202655 min
Closereads: Late Dennett on Consciousness (Part One)
On "Are We Explaining Consciousness Yet" (2001), an article published with and commenting on papers by psychologists, neurologists, etc. on the state of consciousness studies at the time, featuring his newer metaphor for consciousness, "fame in the brain." Follow along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy; follow us there via the free tier to get many other episodes like this one ad free, or pay us to get part 2 and everything else we've recorded. (Alternatively, support both PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife for a nice combo deal.) The post Closereads: Late Dennett on Consciousness (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.
- Sep 2, 202654 min
Closereads: Donald Davidson on Self-Knowledge (Part One)
On "First Person Authority" (1984). What warrants our superior knowledge of our own mental states, as oppose to those of others? Why is this not obvious? Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy; follow us there via the free tier to get many other episodes like this one ad free, or pay us to get part 2 and everything else we've recorded. (Alternatively, support both PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife for a nice combo deal.) The post Closereads: Donald Davidson on Self-Knowledge (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.
- Aug 19, 20261h 2m
Peirce's New Categories (Part One)
How shall we break down the universe into basic types of things? Peirce has an idiosyncratic way of thinking about this problem and coming up with his division, revolving around the steps and presuppositions involved in predicating something. Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get part 2 and all our episodes ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Aug 19, 20261h 1m
Closereads: Peirce’s New Categories (Part One)
How shall we break down the universe into basic types of things? Peirce has an idiosyncratic way of thinking about this problem and coming up with his division, revolving around the steps and presuppositions involved in predicating something. Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video. Subscribe to Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy; follow us there via the free tier to part two and many other episodes like this one ad free, or pay us to get parts 2-5 and everything else we've recorded. (Alternatively, support both PEL and Closereads at patreon.com/partiallyexaminedlife for a nice combo deal.) The post Closereads: Peirce’s New Categories (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.
- Jul 27, 202657 min
Closereads: Galen Strawson on Panpsychism (Part One)
On "Realistic Monism: Why Physicalism Entails Panpsychism" (2008). Strawson argues that physicalism should not just be taken as matter in motion. Instead, the physical is a broader category that includes not just chairs and molecules, but also "my experience of red." Yet he's not trying to say that experiences are just brain states; they clearly include qualia (what it's like to experience red). And he's also not just trying to solve the problem by redefining "physical" to include "mental" (though he is doing that). Instead, he's claiming that we have no warrant to claim that the properties of the physical are exhausted by what third-person science can investigate, and that we can't solve the mind-body problem unless we posit that (at least some) physical objects have a mental aspect. Sounds like Spinoza to us! Read along with us. Get subsequent parts of this ad-free at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy. You can choose to watch this on unedited video. The post Closereads: Galen Strawson on Panpsychism (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.
- Jul 21, 202658 min
Galen Strawson on Panpsychism (Part One)
On "Realistic Monism: Why Physicalism Entails Panpsychism" (2008). Strawson argues that physicalism should not just be taken as matter in motion. Instead, the physical is a broader category that includes not just chairs and molecules, but also "my experience of red." Yet he's not trying to say that experiences are just brain states; they clearly include qualia (what it's like to experience red). And he's also not just trying to solve the problem by redefining "physical" to include "mental" (though he is doing that). Instead, he's claiming that we have no warrant to claim that the properties of the physical are exhausted by what third-person science can investigate, and that we can't solve the mind-body problem unless we posit that (at least some) physical objects have a mental aspect. Sounds like Spinoza to us! Read along with us. Note: This feed is likely going away soon. To keep getting your Closereads, entirely free and now ad-free, go sign up and get your private URL from patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy. You can choose to watch this on unedited video. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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About Closereads: Philosophy with Mark and Wes
A philosophy podcast by the hosts of The Partially Examined Life
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