The Examined Life with Phil Kallberg

Jul 25 2021 95 ep. 68 mins 42
The Examined Life with Phil Kallberg Podcast artwork

The Examined Life is a show in which host Phil Kallberg applies the methods, logic, and rationality of rigorous philosophy to the problems and issues of society, life, the universe, and everything.

  Society & Culture
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Episode 94: Deconstructionism and Postmodernism (July 25, 2021)

Jul 25 2021 46 mins  
In this episode, Phil Kallberg explains what Deconstructionism and Postmodernism are as they relate to stories. He also draws a distinction between the soft applications of these ideas and hardDeconstructionism and Postmodernism. While the soft variants of these ideas can at times be useful the hard variants are incoherent. (July 25, 2021)

Episode 93: Why Aliens are almost certainly Demonic (July 3, 2021)

Jul 03 2021 59 mins  
In this episode of The Examined Life, Phil Kallberg speaks in light of the US government's report on UFOs/UAPs, explaining why it's highly likely that many of the reported encounters with aliens are just encounters with demonic entities. If you already have a worldview that allows for belief in the demonic, then demons make more sense of these phenomena than extraterrestrial beings

Episode 92: Why You Should Take the Vaccine (May 28, 2021)

May 29 2021 69 mins  
In this episode of The Examined Life, Phil Kallberg explains why you should take the COVID vaccine. He gives a practical and a moral argument for taking the vaccine and explains where some of the common objections people give to getting vaccinated go wrong. (May 28, 2021)

Episode 91: Thought Experiments and Stories (April 30, 2021)

May 01 2021 58 mins  
In this episode of The Examined Life, Phil Kallberg gives a very brief overview of thought experiments and explains how they demonstrate that one of the purposes of good stories is to train us to be better people. He also gives out a face palm and sigh award for cherry picking from the Bible. (April 30, 2021)

Episode 90: Types of Criticism (April 19, 2021)

Apr 19 2021 47 mins  
In this episode of The Examined Life, Phil Kallberg explains the general ideas behind the types of criticism that are used in literature, film, and other types of media. When criticism is done well, it illuminates aspects of stories and media that we will otherwise not see. Also he recommends the book "The Genealogical Adam and Eve" by S. Joshua Swamidass. (April 19, 2021)

Episode 89: The Philosophy of Story: Archetypes (April 5, 2021)

Apr 05 2021 44 mins  
In this episode of The Examined Life, Phil Kallberg continues discussing the philosophy andtheory behind stories with the theory of archetypes. He explains the theory of archetypes, goes over some criticism of the theory, and discusses if the theory can apply to the real world as well as to stories. (April 5, 2021)

Episode 88: How Not to Argue for Anything: George Stephanopoulos and Rand Paul (March 5, 2021)

Mar 06 2021 68 mins  
In this episode of The Examined Life, Phil Kallberg devotes a whole episode to exploring the many errors in reasoning and argumentation that both George Stephanopoulos and Rand Paul committed during a recent interview. While they both lowered the bar of discourse, dissecting and analyzing their exchange can help us learn how to reason and engage with people in more constructive way

Episode 87: The Monomyth (January 18, 2021)

Jan 18 2021 52 mins  
In this episode of The Examined Life, Phil Kallberg talks about the monomyth, the idea that all stories follow the same universal pattern. He further argues the reason this pattern is universal is that it is a reflection of the story of Christ's saving of humanity and other stories cannot help but use that pattern. I conclude by covering some criticism of the monomyth. (January 18,

Episode 86: Philosophy of Story: Introduction (December 11, 2020)

Dec 12 2020 70 mins  
In this episode of The Examined Life, Phil Kallberg introduces the topic of engaging with stories philosophically. He explains what he thinks makes a good story, four of the different ways of looking at stories, and how some stories work well in some media and not in others. (December 11, 2020)

Episode 85: An Episode of Segments (November 27, 2020)

Nov 27 2020 43 mins  
In this episode, Phil Kallberg catches up on some segments he has been putting off for the last few months. He gives out a face palm and sigh award, explain why the claim "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" is wrong, and go through a listener's feedback. (November 27, 2020)