The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

On selections about virtue and moral action from the Summa Theologica (1268). Aquinas defines virtue, tells us how it metaphysically fits us into the universe, and discusses how it actually works in us to make us perform moral acts.

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

Sponsors: Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at rula.com/pel. Get $45 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat electronic picture frame at auraframes.com and use promo code PEL at checkout. Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health.

Interested in Mark's spring Continental Philosophy class? Check partiallyexaminedlife.com/class for the latest.

Erin just published her first book, "Avail," which you can order here: https://www.pauldrybooks.com/products/avail

"Avail" features a long prose-poem which titles the book and winds through sections of lineated, often formal poems. The prose-poem comprises a series of lyric meditations on the image of the veil—from religious and cultural veils, to veils imbedded in idiom and metaphor, to veiled women in art and classic films, to veils drawn and parted by illness and death—which slowly divulge the harrowing details of the poet's blood disorder.

Throughout, allusions to classic film, literature, and art serve as the "veils" with which the poet attempts to obscure the self-estrangement and vulnerability her illness has induced—insecurities which follow her long after her recovery. In a poem about a break-up set during her career as a jazz singer and against the backdrop of a 1930s screwball comedy, she longs "to shake life by the martini (but stay self- / possessed), to star in the movie of myself / instead of playing second lead." During a visit to Naples, Mt. Vesuvius becomes "a Crawford eyebrow / arched over the bay." And in California, after a trip to the Getty Villa, she recalls Sontag's "missive on allusion, that no part / of any work is new, that all is reproduction." By the end of the collection, O'Luanaigh has fashioned from the sum of these various allusions her own poetic identity, unveiled in the poems themselves.

Corey has released many of zydeco music since 2004, and mixes his dedication to tradition (even recording a recent album in Louisiana Creole) with his love of many types of music.

We discuss "J'ai Parti dans la Campagne" (and listen at the end to "Outro") from his new release, Live in Alaska; "That Girl Wanna Dance" from the Grammy nominated Nothin' But the Best (2012); and "Way Back Home," a Jazz Crusaders (Wilton Felder) cover recorded for 3 Years 2 Late (2003). Intro: "Boudin Man (Remix)" from Destiny (2013). More at coreyledet.com.

Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

Sponsor: Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance; connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at rula.com/nem.

More on The Problem of Christianity, discussing how communities relate to history, how individuals relate to communities, and what's unique about Royce's ideal Christian world community.

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

Sponsors: Get an exclusive 5% discount on NordProtect plans. Go to nordprotect.com/pel and use the code pel at checkout. Get $45 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat electronic picture frame at auraframes.com and use promo code PEL at checkout. Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health.

Interested in Mark's spring Continental Philosophy class? Check partiallyexaminedlife.com/class for the latest.

Seth is an improviser and aspiring professional "muse," which is a type of life coach that hangs out with you to see where you could be more in touch with your humanity so that you can then work out a coherent plan for your adult life. He discusses with Mary and Mark the conflict between authentic individual humans and a social structure filled with oppressive systems.

Should we "deprogram" ourselves from our standardized upbringing? Is there actually an authentic core we would uncover if we do so, or just a void ready to be filled with the promises of self-help gurus? We act out the personality store, the physically safe space, vulnerability coaching, ankle removal consideration, and more.

Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at philosophyimprov.com/support.

Sponsor: Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at rula.com/improv.