Not School Digest: Asimov, Camus, Jaspers, Brecht, Peirce, Historical Jesus
Summary: Discussion clips covering topic we haven't had time to cover on the podcast proper. Brief yourself on these topics via the enclosed 10–15 minute bursts, or <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/membership-options/" target="_blank">become a PEL Citizen</a> to listen to these bonus discussions in their full length. Mark is joined by Nathan Hanks to tell you how to get involved in a discussion yourself.<br> First, learn about Isaac Asimov's story, "The Last Question" (1956) (his own favorite among his stories!) about the semi-existential dilemma whereby we recognize that the universe will end eventually due to entropy and worry about that. You can actually <a href="https://youtu.be/R3U30wSAV4Q" target="_blank">listen to Asimov read the story</a>. <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2015/09/04/not-school-fiction-group-isaac-asimovs-the-last-question-phi-fi-15/" target="_blank">Get the full discussion recording</a>. Featuring Nathan with Daniel Cole, Cezary, Mary, and Laura: the current core of the <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/groups/worlds-of-wordcraft-1118274316/" target="_blank">Philosophical Fiction group</a>.<br> Next, Mark led a group (featuring Michael Burgess, Marilynn L., Nick Halme, and Heath Adams) to continue PEL's exploration of Karl Jaspers (from <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2015/01/19/episode-109-jasperss-existentialism-with-guest-paul-provenza/" target="_blank">ep. 109</a>), via the 1947 book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0808403036/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0808403036&linkCode=as2&tag=theparexalif-20&linkId=NZ7RUHVDGOBJZBW4" target="_blank">Truth and Symbol</a>. We discuss what a religious symbol is to Jaspers: it doesn't refer to something in the world, and dwelling on it correctly is supposed to help achieve Jaspers's recommended existential attitude. <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2015/03/11/jasperss-truth-symbol/" target="_blank">Read more about it</a>. <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2015/02/28/not-school-karl-jasperss-truth-and-symbol/" target="_blank">Get the full discussion</a>.<br> Third, we hear from the long-running Philosophy and Theater group (Daniel Cole, Philip Cherny, and Carlos Franke), discussing the great playwright Bertold Brecht's essay "<a href="http://artsites.ucsc.edu/faculty/Gustafson/FILM%20162.W10/readings/pleasure%20and%20instruction.pdf" target="_blank">Theatre for Pleasure or Theatre for Instruction</a>" (ca. 1936) about "epic theater," which is supposed to get rid of the false distinction between an amusing theater experience and an instructive one. <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2014/05/14/not-school-discussion-on-bertolt-brecht-posted/" target="_blank">Read more about it</a>.<br> Next, another group led by Mark, this one following up on our <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2015/04/06/ep113-jesus-parables/" target="_blank">Jesus episode</a> by tackling Thomas Sheehan's Historical Jesus Stanford lectures. <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2015/05/07/bonus-recording-the-historical-jesus/" target="_blank">Read more about it</a>. <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2015/04/26/not-school-thomas-sheehans-historical-jesus-stanford-lectures/" target="_blank">Get the full discussion</a>.<br> Then David Prentiss, Tim Clark, and Peter Oppenheim discuss Charles Sanders Peirce's essay "The Fixation of Belief" (an explicit follow-up on our <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2010/06/09/ep20-pragmatism-citizen/" target="_blank">episode 20 on pragmatism</a>; if you're not a Citizen, you can hear a preview <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2010/06/09/episode-20-pragmatism-peirce-and-james-2/" target="_blank">here</a>). Peirce is a father of pragmatism, and is interested here in scientific inquiry as opposed to other ways of dispelling doubt. <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife."></a>
