The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Ep. 324: Plato's "Cratylus" on Language (Part One)

On Plato's mid-period dialogue from around 388 BCE. How do words relate to the things they represent? Socrates first argues that words represent things, and so doing etymology is a way of learning philosophical truths, then seemingly reverses himself. Get more at <a href="https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/">partiallyexaminedlife.com</a>. Visit <a href="https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/support" rel="noopener" target="_blank">partiallyexaminedlife.com/support</a> to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion, including a supporter-exclusive part three to this episode coming out next week. Sponsors: Visit <a href="https://greenchef.com/60pel" rel="noopener" target="_blank" title="">GreenChef.com/60pel</a> (code 60pel) for 60% off and free shipping for the #1 Meal Kit for Eating Well. Maximize the power of your charitable giving at <a href="https://givewell.org/" rel="noopener" target="_blank" title="">GiveWell.org</a> (choose PODCAST and enter Partially Examined Life at checkout). Check out the U. of Portsmouth's <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/podcasts/life-solved" rel="noopener" target="_blank" title="">Life Solved podcast</a>.

The Partially Examined Life is a 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 short 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. For links to the texts we discuss and other info, check out www.partiallyexaminedlife.com.

We also feature episodes from other podcasts by our hosts to round out your partially examined life, including Pretty Much Pop (prettymuchpop.com, covering all media), Nakedly Examined Music (nakedlyexaminedmusic.com, deconstructing songs), Philosophy vs. Improv (philosophyimprov.com, fun with performance skills and philosophical ideas), and (sub)Text (subtextpodcast.com, looking deeply at lit and film). Learn about more network podcasts at partiallyexaminedlife.com.