Philosophy For The 99%

Greetings to my fellow philosophers!

Thank you for joining the Philosophy For The 99% meetup.  I am your organizer, Dan C., and I look forward to working with you to explore the world and try to understand it better.

A word at this point is directed to the previous organizers of this Meetup, Paul Van Fleet and Steven Easley.  Paul led an incredibly detailed and far-ranging exploration of the many aspects of the field of philosophy--including workshop outlines at every meetup!  Steven started this group, and credit should be given to him for his ambition and persistence in building the group over several years.  Props to both of you, Paul and Steven, and best of luck in your new ventures.  

The formats of this group will vary but some things will be consistent:  1) No topic is off the table.  2) I will be actively encouraging intellectual honesty.  No one person has exclusive access to the truth--smarter-than-thou academic posturing is a drag for those who have to listen to it.  It is wisest to admit that we are confused and struggling to understand the world.  "Enraged phenomena bear down // In overwhelming waves to drown".  And, at the same time, we all have our own ideas and beliefs to share, and I ask that we do so in the spirit of improvement and exploration, as opposed to "winning the argument."

So, let's jump into the subject matter with the knowledge that we are all philosophers, and that everything has some element of philosophy within it.  Thinking of the world in this way, living an examined life, we may hopefully achieve wisdom, resilience and equanimity.