The Partially Examined Life Philosophy PodcastPhilosophy

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast


The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part Two)

Mon, 21 Sep 2026

Continuing on Consciousness Explained, ch. 12-14, especially responding to Dennett's discussion of Nagel's "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" which which gets us in a whole conversation about animal consciousness. What is it like to be any languageless creature? How is the debate relevant to ethical issues?

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PEL Presents Closereads: Late Dennett on Consciousness (Part One)

Sun, 20 Sep 2026

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.

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PEL Presents PMP#230: Gettin' Furious

Fri, 18 Sep 2026

To begin our new season, we're up to the moment covering the first season of Elizabeth Meriwether's Hulu crime drama Furious, about an abused detective pursuing, and ultimately relating to, an abused revenge killer. The first half is spoiler free!

How does this relate to other revenge fantasy films (e.g. Kill Bill) or other shows where we're supposed to be attracted to a female killer (Killing Eve)? It it good in the manner of The Wire? We talk a lot about casting, the showrunner, and especially decisions made in ending the season. Would this have been much better as a mini-series than as something that will now have a second season that may well jump the shark?

Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part One)

Mon, 14 Sep 2026

We focus on the final chapters of Dan Dennett's Consciousness Explained, where he confronts various views, figures, and thought experiments that contend that he's failed to explain the essence of consciousness: the "what it's like" element of any conscious experience that is distinct from a mere judgment or processing of information. One could imagine a being that organizationally matches Dennett's multiple drafts model, acts just like an intelligent person, and yet lacks consciousness. Dennett denies this.

Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.

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PEL Presents NEM#260: Jacqui Hunt (Single Gun Theory) Now Master of Her Synth Domain

Sat, 12 Sep 2026

Jacqui rose to fame with the Australian electronic dance band Single Gun Theory (three albums '87-'94), did some one-off collaborations, and released her first solo album in 2008. After an album as CiiVE and some solo singles, she's now released her second solo album, Desiderium.

We discuss "Planet" and listen at the end to "Cycles" from that new album, plus "Myriad" from Auraphonic (2008), and "The Sea of Core Experience" by Single Gun Theory from Flow, River of My Soul (1994). Intro: "Take Me Back" by Single Gun Theory from Millions, Like Stars in My Hands, The Daggers in My Heart Wage War (1991). More at jacquihunt.net.

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