What we’re about
We're a community that practices and discusses philosophy, being free and open to all levels and backgrounds. We offer seminars, a variety of discussion formats, and the occasional lecture / guest speaker.
Many meetings will have fewer RSVPs than people who actually attend. This is because overtime people stop making use of Meetup.com and instead communicate with their groups via Discord, Slack, Zoom, E-mail, or similar You can think of the list of events hosted on this Meetup as advertisements for groups seeking new participants.
Our philosophy offerings are organized and facilitated by volunteers. If you have a philosophy offering - or an offering that compliments the study of philosophy, such as in literature, the sciences, and so on - that you'd like to advertise through this Meetup, please contact the organizer. We're grateful to those who want to enrich Seattle with study and discussion!
Participants must speak, write, and act in a considerate, professional, and respectful manner, and be prepared for the meetings that they attend, having reviewed the materials to the degree necessary to participate. If you haven't reviewed the materials but still wish to attend an event, please consult the event facilitator regarding the best manner for you to be present.
We look forward to studying philosophy together!
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Aristotle's On Interpretation - Live-Reading--European StyleLink visible for attendees
September 16 - We continue reading chapter 14, the last chapter of On Interpretation. It is roughly about knowing the knowable through belief. Up until now, Aristotle has been focusing on the relationship between the knowing and the things that are known. Now, in the final chapter, he turns his attention toward the relationship between the knowing and the beliefs we craft so as to lasso-grasp the things that are known. Presently, the issue is, which belief is more opposite to the belief "A is B"; is it "A isn't B" or is it "A is C" (in which B and C are contrary concepts)? The bookmark is set at Bekker line 23b33.
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George will read and invite us to interpret the new section.
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The chapter review most relevant to where we are is chapter 6. Here is my review of it. https://mega.nz/file/anJBwDZZ#MKELep93ey2WkvPXkMx42dbpPL5Exa0lAs1DnYLqGek
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Join the meeting, keep pen and notepad at the ready, and participate.
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Organon means "instrument," as in, instrument for thought and speech. The term was given by ancient commentators to a group of Aristotle's treatises comprising his logical works.Organon
|-- Categories ---- 2023.02.28
|-- On Interpretation ---- 2023.12.12
|-- Topics ---- 2025.??
|-- On Sophistical Refutations
|-- Rhetoric*
|-- Prior Analytics
|-- Posterior Analytics(* Robin Smith, author of SEP's 2022 entry "Aristotle's Logic," argues that Rhetoric should be part of the Organon.)
Whenever we do any human thing, we can either do it well or do it poorly. With instruments, we can do things either better, faster, and more; or worse, slower, and less. That is, with instruments they either augment or diminish our doings.
Do thinking and speaking (and writing and listening) require instruments? Yes. We do need physical instruments like microphones, megaphones, pens, papers, computers. But we also need mental instruments: grammar, vocabulary words, evidence-gathering techniques, big-picture integration methods, persuasion strategies. Thinking while sitting meditatively all day in a lotus position doesn't require much instrumentation of any kind, but thinking and speaking well in the sense of project planning, problem-solving, negotiating, arguing, deliberating--that is, the active doings in the world (whether romantic, social, commercial, or political)--do require well-honed mental instruments. That's the Organon in a nutshell.
Are you an up-and-coming human being, a doer, go-getter, achiever, or at least you're choosing to become one? You need to wield the Organon.
Join us.
- FTI: Universal Basic Income: Would it be a Smart Safety Net or Costly Mistake?Link visible for attendees
Universal Basic Income (UBI) proposes giving every citizen a guaranteed minimum income—no strings attached. Some argue it could end poverty and prepare us for an automated future. Others warn it could discourage work and bankrupt governments.
In this session, we’ll explore:- What real-world experiments in UBI (like in Finland or Alaska) have shown.
- Whether UBI could replace—or complement—existing welfare programs.
- The economic, ethical, and political arguments on both sides.
Whether you see UBI as a bold solution or a dangerous gamble, join us for a balanced discussion where conservatives, liberals, libertarians, and independents alike can explore the facts and debate what’s best for society.
Format: Lecture and discussion
Note: social time for our community 15 minutes before the presentation.
To get familiar with our past events, feel free to check out our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zgAfter registering via zoom, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We publish our event recordings on our Youtube channel to offer our help to anyone who would like to but can’t attend the meeting, so we need to give this clause. If you don’t want to be recorded, just remain on mute and keep your video off.
Here’s our legal notice: For valuable consideration received, by joining this event I hereby grant Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns, the irrevocable and unrestricted right to use and publish any and all Zoom recordings for trade, advertising and any other commercial purpose, and to alter the same without any restriction. I hereby release Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns from all claims and liability related to said video recordings.
- Is there a self? PLEASE READ FULL EVENT DESCRIPTION and RSVP INSTRUCTIONS BELOWLink visible for attendees
Please go to Philosophy of Value meetup page via the link below, join Philosophy of value group and RSVP to this event there.
Do not RSVP here. If you RSVP here you just get put on waitlist - please go to the link below and RSVP there.
https://www.meetup.com/philosophy-of-value-workshops/
# Is there a self? Or are we just bundles of thoughts, feelings and values?
Workshop # 21, The Self, Series 10,
This event begins at 7.30 pm S'pore & WA time, 12.30 pm UK, 7.30 am NY.You will need to view the relevant podcast below on YouTube before joining the meeting in order to participate in the discussion.
https://youtu.be/N3dTJsWSg60I know it's stupid, but please click 'like', as it promotes circulation.
Join this group at meetup.com/philosophy-of-value-workshops
The workshops include of a prior presentation of the topic by myself on YouTube. The meeting itself consists of a brief review of the topic followed by questions and discussion. The weekly topic is posted a week before the event, together with a suggested reading from my work The Pursuit of Value, available through Amazon Books or myself. Transcripts of the Youtube presentation are available by email.THIS WEEK:
The notion of a ‘self’ is an ancient and intuitively compelling idea. But it has been challenged by existentialism and postmodernism, and denied by philosophers like Hume, Dennett, Galen Strawson and Thomas Metzinger. Yet these philosophers are also sceptical about the related concept of consciousness, which is also a contentious concept that has been neglected. And as both these concepts are often approached through pre-suppositional assertions, their definition — as in the question of a ‘self’— is the paramount task that prefigures any arguments for or against a ‘self’. Reading: The Pursuit of Value; Ch. 6, Secn. i.
