The Dallas Examined Life Philosophy Group Monthly Meetup

TOPIC:

Equality and Freedom

Here in the USA, we like to think that we are defined by our commitment to both equality as well as personal liberty. However, how do these two concepts interact? Surely absolute freedom would treat everyone equally, but would quickly lead to vast inequality. Similarly, if complete equality were to be enforced, then it would infringe on even our most basic freedoms. In fact, this little ideological tug of war is part of what defines classical liberal vs libertarian political policies. Because of this, it seems obvious that understanding these two concepts, and how they relate to one another, will shed some light on a corner of the political environment we currently find ourselves in. Think of this as a discourse between the philosophies of John Rawls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rawls) and Ayn Rand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand#Philosophy).

Questions:

1. Defining our Terms. What is freedom? What is equality?
2. Reasonable limits and accommodations. What are reasonable limits on our freedom? What are reasonable accommodations for equality?
3. Balance. How do we priorities these values and where? Which is more important, or are they equally important? How do they intersect and interact?

Location and Price:

This meetup will be just outside the cafe inside Half-Price Books (near the fish tank and crystal display). There is also a suggested (but by no means mandatory) $2 donation to help cover the cost of maintaining this meetup group.