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Current PEL Episode

Ep. 399: Dan Dennett’s Model of Mind (Part One)

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content.

On Daniel C. Dennett’s Consciousness Explained (Ch. 1, 5), featuring guest Mark, Seth, Dylan, and guest Chris Heath.

What is the mind? Dennett puts forth his “multiple drafts” model against the centralization that he characterizes as the “Cartesian Theater.” Dennett claims that there is no central place in the brain, or (more controversally) no central processing center in experience, that receives data from the senses and then initiates action (and memory, and other post-experiential processing). How counter-intutitive is this, exactly?

Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel.

Plus: Ep. 223: Guest Ned Block on Consciousness (Part One)
Featuring: PREVIEW-Episode 21: What Is the Mind? (Turing, et al)

Pretty Much Pop

PMP#229: What’s Spider-Man Up To?

September 1, 2026 By Mark Linsenmayer

It's been 2019 since our last Spider-Man episode, so what's with the new film (Brand New Day), and  Continue Reading …

Nakedly Examined Music

NEM#259: Glenn Morrow (Bar/None): Songwriting Re-Emergence

August 24, 2026 By Mark Linsenmayer

Glenn was a central figure in the Hoboken punk scene, fronting the band "a" in the late '70s (no  Continue Reading …

Philosophy vs. Improv

PvI#123: Brain Spritzing w/ Bill Arnett and Jenny Hansen

August 20, 2026 By Mark Linsenmayer

Future co-host philosophy Jenny joins past co-host improviser Bill along with the usual rabble (Mark  Continue Reading …

Closereads

Closereads: Donald Davidson on Self-Knowledge (Part One)

September 2, 2026 By Mark Linsenmayer

Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get previous and future installments  Continue Reading …

(sub)Text

(sub)TEXT: A Map-Like Imagination in the Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop (“The Moose”)

August 19, 2026 By Mark Linsenmayer

A poem about a map opens North and South, the first collection of the great twentieth century poet  Continue Reading …

PEL Supporter Content

PEL Nightcap

PEL Sunami Nightcap August 2026

August 22, 2026 By Mark Linsenmayer

Recorded 8/18/26. Chris Sunami, the editor of the PEL book, joins Mark, Wes and Seth as part of the  Continue Reading …

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Ep. 399: Dan Dennett’s Model of Mind (Part Two for Supporters)

August 29, 2026 By Mark Linsenmayer

Continuing from part one on Consciousness Explained, ch. 5, with some reference to ch. 12. Dennett seemed to be  Continue Reading …

Exclusive Content

Ep. 391: Habermas Defends Modernity (Part Three for Supporters)

May 17, 2026 By Mark Linsenmayer 

Concluding our treatment of Habermas’ The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, lectures 1, 2, and 5, now without our  Continue Reading …

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On Nightcap, listen to the guys respond to listener email and chat more casually about their lives, the making of the show, current events and politics, and anything else that happens to come up.

Why Are We Here?

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don't have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we're talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion.

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About The Partially Examined Life

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

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