The Chicago Philosophy Meetup

August 2 - Now that we have read chapters 1–5 on what pleasure is, we are going to read chapter 6 (1176a30–1177a11) on what human flourishing is. In previous chapters Aristotle has debunked the views that (1) pleasure is the supreme good, that (2) pleasure is bad, and that (3) all pleasures are choiceworthy. Then he argues that (4) pleasure is an emergent activity in living life, and that (5) human pleasure originates in beautiful activities as selected by someone who can see what is humanly good.
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We are live-reading and discussing Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, book X, which is about pleasure and human flourishing.
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The prerequisite to this book is our answering for ourselves these questions from the prior books, to which we will briefly review:
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1. What is the full-time job of being a human being?
2. What is the systematic structure of the human potential?
3. What is a virtue of character {ēthikē aretē}?
4. How does one come to acquire any of it? (E.g. pride, ambition, bravery, gentlemanliness, generosity, candor, fairness, friendliness, …)
5. How does one formulate right desires?
6. How is one to recover from being bad to becoming a good person?
7. What is entailed in and what is required of being a friend?
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The project's cloud drive is here, at which you'll find the reading texts, notes, and slideshows.

Text links (Amazon):
Cottingham translation (Cambridge)
Cress translation (Hackett)
Heffernan translation (English/Latin, Notre Dame)

There is also a translation by Norman Kemp Smith, but it is out of print
Digital links:
Cottingham translation (Libgen, Cambridge)
Cress translation (Libgen, Hackett)
Latin text (Project Gutenberg)

(* 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.

Meeting link: https://meet.jit.si/moderated/843a4b060b244f4e96dbcf99236d87d8689124873e312bd8a8d20d6e30a65f19

We'll be covering Chapter III, Public Right Section I (443 - 481; 38 pages)

Note: Meetings focus on developing a common language and friendship through studying Kant. The host will provide an interpretation of Kant; other interpretations will not be discussed until later in the meeting. Additional interpretations, topics, and questions can be addressed through the Jitsi chat feature.

No prior experience with Kant is necessary.

Reading Schedule (pages are from Cambridge's Practical Philosophy collection):

Week 1 (29):
Preface, Introduction, Introduction to the Doctrine of Right (365 - 397; 32 pages)

Week 2 (30):
Private Right, Chapters I and II (401 - 443; 42 pages)

Week 3 (31):
Chapter III, Public Right Section I (443 - 481; 38 pages)

Week 4 (32):
Public Right Section II, III, and Appendix (482 - 506; 24 pages)

PDF: https://annas-archive.gl/md5/d7be559ff61b09b0a414875261a5ee60

There are numerous editions (and free translations available online), but this collection contains all of Kant's Practical Philosophy in translation:
http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Philosophy-Cambridge-Works-Immanuel/dp/0521654084/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445894099&sr=8-1