Episode 160: Orwell on Totalitarianism and Language (Part One)
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
Mark Linsenmayer
4.6 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 13 March 2017
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On the novel 1984 (1949) and the essays "Politics and the English Language" (1946) and "Notes on Nationalism" (1945). What's the relation between language and totalitarianism? Orwell shows us a society where the rulers have mastered the art of retaining power, and one element of this involves "Newspeak," where vocabulary is limited to prevent subversive speech, and ultimately thoughts. Do our linguistic habits and the Orwellian lies of our leaders point to a slippery slope toward the world of 1984?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Partially exam in life relies on your support. |
| 0:02.3 | To find out how to help in ways that are cheap or even free for you, check out partiallyexaminalife.com |
| 0:07.3 | slash support. |
| 0:08.8 | You're listening to the partially examined life. |
| 0:17.9 | I podcast by some guys who at one point were sat on doing philosophy for living with |
| 0:21.4 | and thought better of it. |
| 0:23.1 | Our question for episode 160 is something like, what's the relationship between language |
| 0:28.9 | and totalitarianism. |
| 0:29.9 | And we read George Orwell's 1984 from 1949 and his essays of politics in the English |
| 0:36.5 | language from 1946 and notes on nationalism from 1945. |
| 0:41.6 | To get the reading and more information, please check out partiallyexaminalife.com. |
| 0:45.7 | My name is Mark Linson-Meyer, double plus good in Madison, Wisconsin. |
| 0:49.3 | This is Seth Pascon, resisting thought crime in Houston, Texas. |
| 0:52.9 | This is 6-080-1W. |
| 0:56.8 | Belly feeling full-wise, double plus good, anti-duck-speakful pro-feed in bicycle lane 1, |
| 1:03.0 | Oceania. |
| 1:04.0 | Bicycle lane 1 is just Cambridge. |
| 1:05.6 | Sorry, I had to write something in Newspaper. |
| 1:08.6 | This is Dylan Casey in Middleton, Wisconsin, remembering reading 1984 and 1984. |
| 1:15.0 | Whoa. |
| 1:16.0 | Hey, I've got a question about that, Wes. |
| 1:19.6 | So is there an actual dictionary or lexicon of Newspaper out there somewhere? |
... |
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