Events

We will continue with the book, Philosophy in the Flesh: the Embodied Mind & Its Challenge to Western Thought, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. This is a long book and the group has decided that they do not want to spend more than one or two additional sessions on it. So, for our March meeting…

Note that April 11 is not the second Wednesday of the month, the time we have been meeting recently. We will finish discussing the book, Philosophy in the Flesh: the Embodied Mind & Its Challenge to Western Thought, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. This is a long book and we hope that you have…

We will begin reading A History of Philosophy in the Twentieth Century (2001) by Christian Delacampagne. The paperback version retails for around $28 ($23 on Amazon), but there are used books available for less. There is no ebook edition for this title. For the 11th we will read through Part I. What is unique about this book…

We will continue reading A History of Philosophy in the Twentieth Century by Christian Delacampagne. For the 8th we will discuss chapters 2 and 3, in which the author covers the development of Western philosophy during the rise of Hitler and the Second World War. Interestingly, this seems to have influenced some philosophers.

We plan to conclude our discussion of A History of Philosophy in the Twentieth Century by Christian Delacampagne. Early in my study of philosophy I was told that if you really want to understand a philosopher, you need to understand who or what he or she is responding to. Delacampagne provides this in spades, sometimes to the…

For this meeting we are going to begin a discussion about distributive justice. First, we'll do an overview. Both the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy have articles on distributive justice. You can read either one or both of them for our next meeting. After that, we'll decide together what direction we want to go.…

We will discuss a paper by Nancy Fraser, “Social Movements vs. Disciplinary Bureaucracies: The Discourses of Social Needs” (1987) Center for Humanistic Studies Occasional Papers, Number 8, 3-37. For a copy of the paper, click here. Also, we are, actively looking for a good location to start in-person meetings again. If you know of a centrally located…

We will begin reading The Human Condition (1958) by Hannah Arendt. You can find a new paperback of this book for around $22 or an ebook for about $15. Since this is also one of Arendt's more popular and influential books there should be some used copies around. For the 9th we will read through Parts I…

We will continue our discussion of The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt by reading Parts III and IV. This is not a difficult book to read, but the arguments can be complex and even confusing. That, however, is no problem for us. We're as complex and confused as any group out there. Come and help us unravel…

We will finish up our discussion of Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition, covering Parts V and VI, in which she discusses action and the modern age, drawing her final conclusions concerning where we are now and the human condition as she perceives it. Have you come to different conclusions or have another interpretation of the…

For this meeting, rather than a book or other reading, we are going to assign a topic. The topic is Punishment. Both this meeting and our one in March will be in conjunction with the monthly general meeting of the Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum on March 25 in which one of our members will present…

We will read and discuss the Little Book of Restorative Justice (2015) by Howard Zehr. This is an inexpensive (less than $10), short book that we will cover in a single session. It is in conjunction with the following program on March 25, in which Jean Greenwood, one of our members, will give a presentation on restorative…

We will begin a discussion of the book When They Severed Earth from Sky: How the Human Mind Shapes Myth (2004) by Elizabeth Wayland Barber and Paul T. Barber. For the 12th we'll read the first ten chapters. This is a book about how myth operates in preliterate societies by taking advantage of aspects of the human mind…

  We will conclude talking about myth and the mind as presented in the book When They Severed Earth from Sky: How the Human Mind Shapes Myth by Elizabeth Wayland Barber and Paul T. Barber. By reading this book and participating in our discussion, you will feel the spirit of Socrates spread over you and begin to…