(sub)Text: Post-Doctoral Bedevilment in Christopher Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus” | The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast | A Philosophy Podcast and Blog (opens in new tab)

Dr. Faustus expected more from his education. After a lifetime of study, his professional options—philosophy, medicine, law, and theology—all seem disappointingly ordinary. He is of course not the first to have this experience. At a societal level, the promise of knowledge is power, especially once it has become technology. At an individual level, what education seems to make us is an insignificant part of a formidable machine. For Faustus, the only way to make book learning great again is to...