meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Episode 206: Lucretius's Epicurean Physics (Part One)

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Mark Linsenmayer

Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.62.3K Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2018

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On Lucretius's poem about Epicurean science: On the Nature of Things a.k.a. De Rerum Natura from the 1st century BC.

How does the world work? Lucretius presents a system that is surprisingly modern, and raises philosophical issues that are still on point today: What are the basic building blocks of the universe? How could these give rise to minds? What ethical views does a mechanistic world-view imply?

Continued on part two, or get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition, as well as the Citizen-only follow-up discussion. Please support PEL!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

You are listening to the partially examined life, a podcast by some guys who had one point

0:11.9

said on doing philosophy for living with them thought better of it.

0:15.0

Our question for episode 206 is something like how does the world work?

0:19.1

And we read Lucretius' poem about Epicurean science on the nature of things, or Derer

0:25.4

Mnattura in the first century BC.

0:28.2

More information and link to the text please visit partiallyexaminedlife.com.

0:31.8

This is Mark Clinton Meyer.

0:33.2

My voice crafted to delight you with its smooth and roly-poly atoms in Madison, Wisconsin.

0:38.9

This is Seth Paschinen and Austin, Texas.

0:41.3

This is Wes Allen, a Foppish casual dance of atoms in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

0:47.2

This is Dylan Casey's Spicing All with the Grace of Poetry in Madison, Wisconsin.

0:52.3

Hey, how's it going?

0:56.3

Fantastic.

0:57.3

That's the new intro is to need to do more cash.

1:00.8

Not try to grip the rain so much and make the conversation go a certain way.

1:04.3

We're just going to be cash today.

1:05.6

At least I'm going to be cash.

1:07.0

I think we should mount an effort to change from the old fashioned word,

1:12.2

groovy to swirvy.

1:15.2

Everything should be swirvy.

1:17.3

It has the freedom to slightly change the causal order.

1:22.0

That's good.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Mark Linsenmayer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Mark Linsenmayer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.