About us
The Existentialist Society is for those who question whether life has a meaning and a purpose. And for those who despairingly ponder whether one can live without self-deception or without hedonistic escapism. Yet who, despite the anguish of life's futility and meaninglessness, still seek purpose and an authentic existence.
The Existentialist Society is for those who are fascinated by the ideas of Simone de Beauvoir, Nicholas Berdyaev, Martin Buber, Rudolph Bultmann, Albert Camus, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Viktor Frankl, Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, Franz Kafka, Nikos Kazantzakis, Soren Kierkegaard, R.D. Laing, Gabriel Marcel, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Max Stirner, Paul Tillich, Colin Wilson, etc.
'Existentialism' is an umbrella term covering diverse and often conflicting schools of thought. Consequently we are not agreed on who or what is an Existentialist; we simply agree to disagree.
Inspired by the Student Revolt of the late Sixties, the Existentialist Society commenced in 1971.
LECTURES take place at 2pm on the first Saturday of the month.
All are welcome. Participation is free.
NOTE: Due to the pandemic, our physical in-person Meetups and lectures were cancelled. All the lectures are now online via Zoom. This enables participation by those interstate and overseas.
Following our monthly lecture, during the extended question and discussion period, additional comments are encouraged from those of our participants who might have more knowledge than the speaker on particular aspects of the topic, as well as from those who have an alternative viewpoint.
Sometimes our lecture topics have no direct bearing upon Existentialism. The speakers on such topics may or may not be conversant with Existentialism.
The Existentialist Society has no formal membership, so there is no membership fee.
See the Existentialist Society website for future lectures, past transcripts and videos etc: www.existentialistmelbourne.org
Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@existentialistsociety8453
Facebook: Please feel free to comment on the lectures: - www.facebook.com/Existentialist-Society-866984573402226/
Upcoming events
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Escaping the Gospels.
·OnlineOnlineEXISTENTIALIST MEETUP - Melbourne, Australia.
Our monthly online series on the History of Religion.
The presentations are followed by questions, comments and discussion.
All viewpoints welcome.Early Religion: An Alternative History
What do the historians and archaeologists think of the veracity of religious legends? Legends are an amalgamation of history and mythology. But how much of each?"ESCAPING THE GOSPELS."
If Saint Paul seems not to know of so many of the events listed later in the Gospels, does it mean that those events never occurred?
David Miller will present the topic and lead the discussion.
For those interested:
YouTube on Bart Ehrman's Is Paul the Founder of Christianity?
And Paul and Jesus at OddsWikipedia's entry on Prof. George Wells
The Zoom Link will appear for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 875 6504 9250 - - Passcode: 12132713 attendees
The things that you're liable to read in the Bible - it ain't necessarily so!
·OnlineOnlineSEA OF FAITH IN AUSTRALIA (SoFiA) - Melbourne.
Some of us are participating in SoFiA's online event.
"The things that you're liable to read in the Bible,
- it ain't necessarily so!"Dr. Paul Tonson will present the topic and lead the discussion.
The ZOOM LINK will appear on this page for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 883 2028 5113 - - Passcode: 448712~ SoFiA promotes the open exploration of religion, spirituality and the search for meaning. They welcome ALL viewpoints, including Atheism.~
Facebook: 'Sofiatalk' - Please join their ongoing discussions.
21 attendees
From Einstein to the Law: Reclaiming the First Person in Science and Life.
·OnlineOnlineEXISTENTIALIST SOCIETY - Melbourne, Australia.
An online presentation, followed by discussion. All viewpoints welcome.
Remco Van Santen will present the topic and lead the discussion.
"From Einstein to the Law:
- Reclaiming the First Person in Science and Life"Remco will explore how modern culture has drifted from lived experience toward abstraction, and what that loss costs us in education, science, and law. It will begin with existential learning, arguing that meaning cannot be delivered from the outside. Learning happens when free agents meet, uncertainty is allowed, and understanding is authored rather than transferred, as being evolved in Finland.
This pattern of third person dominance appears starkly in physics where labels like “particle”, “wave”, or “energy” are shown to be practical tools, not final truths.
Remco then draws a parallel with law where modern courts still operate within a Newtonian frame, seeking certainty by excluding interior life and context. Legal processes focus on observable actions while fear, motive, grief, and lived meaning are ruled inadmissible. The result is a dehumanised search for truth that replaces understanding with procedure.
The presentation concludes that many contemporary crises share a single root cause: the systematic exclusion of the first-person perspective. It will be argued that reclaiming that will not abandon rigour but will restore completeness.
NOTE: The photo is of Niels Bohr (Danish Physicist) and Albert Einstein.
The ZOOM LINK will appear for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 817 3439 9821 - - Passcode: 753569Existentialist Society's Website - - - Youtube - - - Facebook
28 attendees
Can Value Theory Ethics supersede all other Theories of Ethics?
·OnlineOnlineAGNOSTICS GROUP - Melbourne, Australia.
Some of us are participating in their online event.
"Can Value Theory Ethics supersede all other Theories of Ethics?"
Derek Mazzone will present the topic and lead the discussion.
Please view Derek's YouTube video on the subject as the presentation will be brief.
"We need a ‘value theory ethics’ because other theories based on foundations such as nature, reason or disposition are seriously flawed, have problems with the fact-value and is-ought distinctions, with determining moral action and explaining moral error.
But ‘value theory’ has internal criteria that makes ethics its own foundation, as called for by Nietzsche, Bernard Williams and Ronald Dworkin.That is, morality can be defined as a process of reflecting value back onto the agent, determined by his actions, their status, and alignment with principles such as the ‘will to value’, which offers a means of engaging the moral will.
Other advantages are that it can evade the fact-value and is-ought problems by making value internal to selection processes which offers a means of engaging the moral will, while offering normative values constrained by reference to the agent, as well as being able to explain moral error which Kant and Mill can’t due to their necessities of reason and pleasure, respectively."
Derek is the Organiser of the Singapore-based Philosophy of Value Workshops.
~The Agnostics Group discusses the pros and cons of Agnosticism.
They welcome ALL viewpoints, including criticism of Agnosticism~Agnostics Group Facebook
The ZOOM Link will appear for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 861 3434 1640 - - Passcode: 9031567 attendees
Past events
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