Subjects in Process

Jonathan and Jeff are finally back with a conversation that picks up the threads that were left in the previous episode's topics of Daoist philosophy and technology. Jeff asks Jon if he's seen Spirited Away and tries to make a connection without revealing too much (since as of the time of the recording, Jon had no seen it). They discuss their mutual friend Troy. Digging into their admittedly surface-level understanding of Daoism, they discuss some key themes as they relate to our desire and...

Jonathan and Jeff continue their discussion of technology and the dilemma of how technology makes things easier, which simultaneously undermines the activities that lead to meaning (e.g., habit-building, etc.). Building off of Alan Jacobs's essay that we raised last time, they discuss the Hong Kong-Berlin philosopher, Yuk Hui, and his idea of cosmotechnics. They discuss the nefarious efforts of technology to capitalize on our fascination with The New; the history of Diet Coke (it's related...

Jeff and Jonathan open this next episode in their miniseries on technology by talking about an article by Alan Jacobs that recently appeared in The New Atlantis. The subtitle of this article is: "Neil Postman was right. So what?" Is there a way beyond critique, without losing the true and accurate observations of Postman and others? Jonathan mentions the dark place the technology question has led him to, citing Nietzsche's adage: "the measure of a person is how much truth they can handle."...

Jeff and Jonathan are back with season two of Subjects in Process. Starting off with a series on technology, in this first half of the episode, Jeff and Jonathan attempt to summarize what they think they know, their sources and where they are coming from, and what questions they want to investigate about what Martin Heidegger called “the question concerning technology”. In the second half of the episode – recorded two weeks later – they go into more of their assumptions and lay the...

In this final episode of Season 01, Jonathan and Jeff wrap things up by establishing their definitive positions on all of the topics discussed over the previous 14 episodes. Just kidding! Instead, they reflect on what they discussed, what were the questions raised, and what contributed to the conversational paths they meandered along. They touch on the value of paying kids to do huge, non-utilitarian projects that they express interest in. They discuss the challenge of coming up with...

Jonathan and Jeff continue their discussion about the name of this very podcast by talking about the idea of the Subject, but not before trying to discern their apostolic succession to famous philosophers of the past. (It is a bit of a stretch, actually.) But once they get back on to that topic, they explore where philosophy gets the necessary kick in its pants to dig into the subject of the Subject, especially via the Masters of Suspicion (Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche). (The discussion of...

Jeff and Jonathan switch gears in this episode to talk a bit about the context of the name of the podcast. Reflecting on the experience of being an English student and a Philosophy student, they talk through what they remember about literary and critical theory, before veering into a deep dive on the differences between and backgrounds of Continental and Analytical philosophy -- "One of them cares about Truth, whether or not it is interesting; the other cares about being interesting, whether...

In this final episode discussing Derek DelGaudio's In and Of Itself, Jonathan and Jeff talk about the difference between living to achieve something and living to be consistent, what it might mean to find deep satisfaction in life, and if living in the here-and-now and living an eternal kind of life are the same thing. They also talk about what shapes and makes us, and if stories and careful attention to the world, ourselves and what is true can transform and redeem our hurts and our...

In this episode, Jeff and Jonathan continue their conversation about Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself to talk about the power of being recognized, the generosity of inclusion, and how a new context can open us up to significant experiences. This includes some pondering of WandaVision, how children fit in our society, the impact of westernized, eastern religious practices in the workplace, and who’s more embarrassed by touchy feely stuff. The conversation then turns to the significance of the...

Jonathan and Jeff continue their conversation on the philosophical magic show, Derek DelGaudio's In & Of Itself -- and this time they spend more than five minutes talking about it! While this episode doesn't contain spoilers from the show, we would highly recommend watching it first if you are able! This time around, they spend a lot more time talking about the show itself. They talk about Jeff's disappointment with magic shows in general and what that feeling might signal. Does it signal a...

After several episodes discussing more-or-less one subject, Jonathan and Jeff are moving on to something else! Maybe this really is subjects-in-progress after all! Using Derek DelGaudio's philosophical magic show, In and Of Itself, as a springboard (and avoiding spoilers), Jonathan and Jeff walk through a very high-level history of philosophy (Heraclitus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, and a sprinkling of others) and discuss the pursuit and discovery of meaning. The conversation is...

In today’s episode, Jeff and Jonathan discuss if the economic concept of "barriers to entry" might be useful for articulating concerns beyond the market. The conversation considers if upbringing, access to capital, supportive relationships and community, or personal principles could be thought of as "barriers to entry" that should be considered when considering if markets are running fairly and effectively. They touch on statistical trends related to the concentration of wealth through...

Jonathan and Jeff continue looking at some of the ground-level issues that relate to the experience of capitalism: this week they look at "barriers to entry". Barriers to entry is a term that economists use to talk about obstacles that new firms can encounter when they attempt to enter the market. The conversation careens between discussions of patents to economies of scale to the benefits of competition to the Housing First initiative to Medicine Hat and Rudyard Kipling to copyright to beer...

Jeff and Jonathan discuss Marx's idea of alienation, and try to better understand it by sidestepping theory to talk more about Dairy Queen. They explore questions like: What kind of work is meaningful? What deprives us of pride in our work? Does modern work interfere with the best parts of being human? Is management theory itself evidence alienation or does it aim to alleviate it? Are metrics part of the problem or a cure? Are we more mind or body, and what role does our "creatureliness"...

Jeff and Jonathan continue their long-winded/long-winding discussion on capitalism. They explore a number of questions, including: How do we get from where we are to what's next? Do we have to address all the ills of the past or can we start from where we are at? They touch on Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, the literal definition of capitalism, exploitation and the rules of capitalism, externalities, the Rocky Mountains, the ubiquity of lies, Will Smith, Uber supply and demand, and...

We discuss Scott Alexander's 2018 post comparing "mistake theorists" and "conflict theorists" in order to try to understand what contributes to polarization (like those surrounding the question of capitalism). Is this typology useful? Maybe we need to add an axis? What about Shane Claiborne? The conversation proceeds to cover William Blake, Walter Wink, some more Adam Smith, Noam Chomsky, and more. The episode culminates with a sweet 2x2 matrix that takes Scott Alexander's binary and propels...

Continuing our conversation on capitalism, Jonathan kicks off this episode with a discussion of one of the fathers of capitalism, Adam Smith. Both Jon and Jeff reveal their Hegelian leanings. From there, we talk about some of the differences between Smith and Marx. Needle factories also come up much more often than one might typically expect in a podcast (at least these days). We discuss history and the value of widening our "temporal bandwidth" (to borrow Alan Jacobs's / Thomas Pynchon's...

In this episode, Jonathan and Jeff continue their rambling and insufficiently informed discussion of capitalism by talking about language — and also two Jacqueses (Derrida and Lacan), Benoit Mandelbrot, the bullsh*t asymmetry principle, quantum mechanics, Zeno’s paradox, and that’s just in the first fifteen minutes! Want to chime in? Email us at: subjectsinprocesspodcast@gmail.com Show Notes: "Happiness" (https://youtu.be/e9dZQelULDk) Music: Theme Music: "What u Thinkin? (Instrumental)"...

In this episode, Jeff talks to Jonathan about what he's gleaned so far from reading the first half of historian Eugene McCarraher’s book, "The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity." The book critiques capitalism from a "left romanticism" perspective and provides a way to discuss what matters for living well; the nature, limitations, opportunities, and failures of our modern situation; and how political and economic structures shape the human experience. In...