What we’re about
The Austin Philosophy Discussion Group (APDG) offers many opportunities for discussions of philosophy and philosophical issues. No advance preparation or knowledge is required, unless stated in the meeting description. All our meetings are free of charge.
Click on "Meetups" just under the picture, above, to see details about upcoming meetups. The types of meetups that we have are:
- Weekly Lecture/Discussion groups, which offer free DVD lectures and discussions covering a wide range of philosophical topics.
- Special Events and Lectures covering topics of interest to our membership.
We are always open to new ideas, so come and share your thoughts at one of our meetings.
This group is a member of the Virtual Philosophy Network, a consortium of philosophy groups like ours in the U.S. and Canada. Now that Meetup events are virtual, we can discuss ideas with folks from all over the continent, and we have a broader range of topics to choose from. Go to https://sites.google.com/view/virtualphilosophynetwork to see all the Meetup groups in the network,
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Our web site also features lively discussions, within a culture that values civil discourse.
Here's what civil discourse is: Conversation intended to enhance understanding. It employs language of dispassionate objectivity. Civil discourse requires mutual respect of the participants. It neither diminishes the other's moral worth, nor questions their good judgment; it avoids hostility and direct antagonism. It requires an appreciation for the other participants' experiences.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/594932535
Private message me over meetup to get the password.
The attendee limit is 10 to allow easier discussion.
How the Medici Shaped the Renaissance | Wondrium
"Scholar William Landon leads you through the dazzling trajectory of the Medici, where you’ll trace the founding of the Medici dynasty as an economic powerhouse. Learn how the Medici played central roles in the preserving of classical texts and the commissioning of iconic works of art and architecture."
At each meeting, we watch / listen to a lecture together, and then discuss lecture together.
Typically, we cover one lecture per week. See the event’s title for what lecture is for that event.
Here is the full list of lectures for the course:
1 Florence at the Dawn of the Renaissance
2 The Foundations of Medici Greatness
3 The Godfather: Cosimo de’ Medici
4 The Gouty: Piero de’ Medici
5 Lorenzo the Magnificent
6 Magnificence Achieved
7 The First Collapse of the Medici Regime
8 Theocracy and Republicanism at Florence
9 The Medici Restoration
10 The Last Florentine Republic
11 The Black Prince: Alessandro de’ Medici
12 Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Marathon Saturdays!The Insomniac Philosophers in Pajamas ! and everyone else!Link visible for attendees
Camera & Mic Mandatory!
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Always expect a large group with us, cross posted.
********************************Can’t sleep?
Wondering what others talk about and you’re not ?!The global gossip?
Undiscovered thoughts unraveled only when the rest fall asleep?!
Falling on the path of another ambiguous beingthat could entertain your every cell of enthusiastic curiosity?* Worried if you fit in ? Thinking you’re not a philosopher?
Worry not!
We engage in life’s matters in productive comprehensive ways suitable for almost all curious.
If you enjoy analytical philosophy, you may join a breakout room with .. the other birds.. of a feather!You are one of us if you breath, think, eat and .. talk ! .. and then talk some more…
Philosophy is the oxygen for our concerned and concerning.. minds….************************************************
For the event calendar and zoom issues please see: https://www.meetup.com/mindshearts-without-borders/events/tdfdssydcfbqb/
************************************************ - Live-Reading Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics--American StyleLink visible for attendees
Let's try something new. We are going to live-read and discuss Aristotle's ~Nicomachean Ethics~. What is new and different about this project is that the translation, by Adam Beresford (2020), happens to be in standard 'Murican English.
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From the translator's "Note" on the text:
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"This translation is conservative in interpretation and traditional in aim. It aims to translate the text as accurately as possible.
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"I translated every page from scratch, from a clean Greek text, rather than revising an existing translation. ... I wanted to avoid the scholars’ dialect that is traditionally used for translating Aristotle.
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"I reject the approach of Arthur Adkins, Elizabeth Anscombe, and others who followed Nietzsche in supposing that the main elements of modern thinking about right and wrong were unknown to the Greeks, or known to them only in some radically different form. My view of humanity and of our shared moral instincts is shaped by a newer paradigm. This is a post-Darwinian translation. (It is also more in line with the older, both Aristotelian and Christian view of human character.)
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"Having said that, I have no interest at all in modernizing Aristotle’s ideas. All the attitudes of this treatise remain fully Greek, very patriarchal, somewhat aristocratic, and firmly embedded in the fourth century BC. My choice of dialect (standard English) has no bearing on that whatsoever. (It is perfectly possible to express distinctively Greek and ancient attitudes in standard English.) ... I have also not simplified the text in any way. I have translated every iota, particle, preposition, noun, verb, adjective, phrase, clause, and sentence of the original. Every premise and every argument therefore remains – unfortunately – exactly as complex and annoyingly difficult as in any other version in whatever dialect.
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"Some scholars and students unwarily assume that the traditional dialect has a special connection with Greek and that using it brings readers closer to the original text; and that it makes the translation more accurate. In reality, it has no special tie to the Greek language, either in its main philosophical glossary or in its dozens of minor (and pointless) deviations from normal English. And in my view it certainly makes any translation much less accurate.
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"I will occasionally refer to the scholars’ dialect (‘Gringlish’) and its traditional glossary in the Notes."
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Here is our plan:
1. Review the readings from the prior session.
2. Read a segment of the translated text.
3. Discuss it analytically and interpretively.
4. Repeat again from #2 for a few more times.
5. Discuss the segments evaluatively.
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The project's cloud drive is here, at which you'll find the reading texts, notes, and slideshows.