What we’re about
P&G is more than just a group of people. It is a community. A community of philosophers, thinkers, book readers, paper readers, and folks that ask the foundational questions. What is the meaning of life? How do we know what we know? What makes us human? These are some of the questions that P&G members explore together through lively discussions and debates. But P&G is not only about intellectual pursuits. It is also a community of thoughtful people coming together to hike, and hangout. Whether it's enjoying the beauty of nature, sharing a meal, or playing games, P&G members bond over their common interests and values. P&G is a community where you can find friends who challenge you to grow and support you along the way.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Short Meditation then ChatLink visible for attendees
This is a secular group but we do a short meditation via Buddhist monk Professor B Alan Wallace then we discuss the monkey mind etc.
You can just listen in, don't have to share.
Excellent free resources
https://soundcloud.com/emotionalbalance/sets/alan-wallace-guided-practices
https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/SC3D92926?share_id=440D041D
https://beherenownetwork.com/joseph-goldstein-insight-hour-ep-216-satipatthana-sutta-series-pt-13-mindfulness-of-mind/
excellent resources here with weekly group lessons
https://member.coreyjackson.com.au/share/ZYZLarLoPH8Fu3Ak?utm_source=manual - Jonathan Schaffer | Is There a Fundamental Level, ContinuationLink visible for attendees
Reading for this meeting is
https://opaque-artichoke-859.notion.site/Jonathan-Schaffer-Is-There-a-Fundamental-Level-Part-2-20f2a602b2fc8053b655cc18962abe30?source=copy_linkJoin our newsletter: By simply adding your email to our form, you'll be subscribed to P&G's weekly philosophy reading materials. You can expect to receive next week 's read on Tuesday PTS-time, with the reading materials sent via email immediately after you enter your email.
https://forms.gle/biYrDyLPa8xZHvo96The Readings we have done so far and other past meetings:
https://opaque-artichoke-859.notion.site/Phil-Gamblers-Events-Reading-List-a8ec151f63c045808c5faa4f25aeb554?pvs=4Our Discord Group:
https://discord.gg/Ee6FwrNmjaPodcast:
You can also learn about this paper using our podcast.There will be a review of page 1-15 before the meeting. So... incentive to come early.
Last time, we explored the opening of Jonathan Schaffer’s provocative paper “Is There a Fundamental Level?”—a challenge to the deeply ingrained metaphysical picture that reality has a base layer. In this next session, we dive deeper into Schaffer’s core arguments.
We’ll pick up at page 14 and continue through page 20, where Schaffer examines several traditional motivations for believing in a fundamental level—such as the avoidance of infinite regress, the appeal to scientific reduction, and structural simplicity. He then introduces his own “priority monism”: the idea that the whole cosmos is more fundamental than its parts.
Expect a close reading and an open discussion. We’ll ask:- Is infinite descent in the grounding chain really so problematic?
- How does Schaffer reinterpret scientific reductionism?
- Can the world itself—not atoms or fields—be the most basic entity?
This is for anyone interested in metaphysics, the philosophy of science, or just curious about the deep structure of reality. All are welcome—even if you didn’t attend part one. Just read or skim pages 7–20 beforehand!
- Aristotle's On Interpretation - Live-Reading--European StyleLink visible for attendees
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
|-- Prior Analytics
|-- Posterior Analytics
|-- Topics
|-- On Sophistical Refutations
|-- Rhetoric*(* 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.
