Episode 160: Orwell on Totalitarianism and Language (Part Two)
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
Mark Linsenmayer
4.6 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2017
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Continuing with 1984. How does the book relate to real-world politics? Is this something that we should actually be afraid our society will turn into? Was he predicting history, or was it satire, or what? We discuss the the realms of intimacy vs. surveillance, how a state might "contain" a mind that it controls, and "doublethink."
Listen to part 1 first, or get the ad-free Citizen Edition.
End song: "Civil Disobedience" by Camper Van Beethoven from New Roman Times (2004), written by Jonathan Segel as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music ep. 38.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The partial examine life depends on your support. |
| 0:02.8 | To find out how to do that in ways that are cheap or even free, go to partialexamenlife.com |
| 0:07.5 | slash support. |
| 0:17.0 | You're listening to the partial examine life episode 160 on George Orwell's 1984 and a couple of essays. |
| 0:25.0 | Last time we gave our outline of what this world that he's presented is how the party |
| 0:31.8 | defends itself through mind control and all these and degradation of the English language. |
| 0:38.0 | Alright, so what are we going to start? |
| 0:40.0 | So maybe we should talk about one of the things that Winston wonders at various points in the book |
| 0:47.0 | is, you know, well, ultimately what is the motive for all of this? |
| 0:51.0 | This is a very... |
| 0:52.0 | Yeah. |
| 0:53.0 | Why do people do this? |
| 0:54.0 | Why totalitarian regimes? |
| 0:57.0 | And then in this book, you know, we might think of this as sort of not even something it could |
| 1:01.0 | really come to pass. |
| 1:02.0 | It's sort of the ideal limit of totalitarianism, total totalitarianism. |
| 1:06.0 | It's what would happen if people could really fully control your minds. |
| 1:10.0 | But then the question is why do it? |
| 1:13.0 | And a Brian will tell him at the end why. |
| 1:16.0 | So this is on 336 on mine. |
| 1:18.0 | Obetience is not enough. |
| 1:20.0 | Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure he is obeying your will and not his own? |
... |
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