The Chicago Philosophy Meetup

(* 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 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 engagements 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.

Meeting link: https://meet.jit.si/CPM-Kant-Wednesdays

Our Kant reading continues with the Critique of Practical Reason. We'll be covering Book II (Dialectic)
pp 226 - 258 (Gregor, Cambridge Practical Philosophy)
pp 137 - 186 (Pluhar)
pp 5:107 - 148 (Complete Works)

Note: Meetings focus on developing a common language and friendship through studying Kant. The host will provide an interpretation of Kant; other interpretations will not be discussed until later in the meeting. Additional interpretations, topics, and questions can be addressed through the Jitsi chat feature.

No prior experience with Kant is necessary.

Reading Schedule:

Week 1:
Preface and Introduction
pp 139 - 149 (Gregor, Cambridge Practical Philosophy)
pp 3 - 25 (Pluhar)
pp 5:3 - 16 (Complete Works)

Week 2:
Book I (Analytic) - Chapter I
pp 153 - 186 (Gregor, Cambridge Practical Philosophy)
pp 29 - 77 (Pluhar)
pp 5:19 - 57 (Complete Works)

Week 3:
Book I (Analytic) - Chapters II and III
pp 186 - 225 (Gregor, Cambridge Practical Philosophy)
pp 77 - 135 (Pluhar)
pp 5:57 - 106 (Complete Works)

Week 4:
Book II (Dialectic)
pp 226 - 258 (Gregor, Cambridge Practical Philosophy)
pp 137 - 186 (Pluhar)
pp 5:107 - 148 (Complete Works)

Week 5:
Doctrine of Method
pp 261 - 271 (Gregor, Cambridge Practical Philosophy)
pp 189 - 205 (Pluhar)
pp 5:151 - 163 (Complete Works)

There are numerous editions (and free translations available online if you search), but this collection contains all of Kant's Practical Philosophy in translation:

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Philosophy-Cambridge-Works-Immanuel/dp/0521654084/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445894099&sr=8-1

Meeting link: https://meet.jit.si/CPM-Kant-Wednesdays

We'll be continuing our reading from the beginning of lecture 2, "Overinterpreting texts", on page 45.

Eco attempts to sail between Scylla and Charybdis: is interpretation completely open-ended, or must we connect things to the "author's intent"?

We'll read at least Eco's lectures in the collection. We may determine later if we want to read some of the other collected responses.

Our surface goal of this meeting is to understand the author (rather than criticize). Our secondary goal is to formulate a rough "theory" of interpretation that can be applied to any other reading we do.

PDF: https://annas-archive.org/md5/5b2a48f56279dfe34078d7ba4ae842a7

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Interpretation-Overinterpretation-Tanner-Lectures-Values/dp/0521402271/

Note: Kant FTΦ (Friends Through Philosophy) is a group of individuals who have connected over reading Kant (and other philosophers).

This meeting will focus on regular attendees' interests. We will frequently reference Kant and other philosophers. Discussions may involve shared notions that have developed over time. If you are not a regular attendee and feel lost in the conversation, it may be a byproduct of being newer to the meetings: don't hesitate to ask for clarification.

[*In 1999, the BBC ran a poll-based series, “Greatest ___ of the Millennium.” When the blank was filled as “Thinker,” Karl Marx came out on top. Click this link to see the full list—then ask yourself why Marx alone always comes with such grave warning. There must be some reason for this …]

With this lecture, Lavine finally comes fully home and changes her shoes like Mr. Rogers, and invites us into her private bathroom, deep in the HQ of philosophical explanation, where she does her finest expositing. We are in hyper-excellence territory now, a place so saturated with understanding and clarity that the pastries are baked inside your stomach (in the kitchen behind the bathroom).

Here is the finest overview of Marx’s thought-and-life ever committed to human speech, according to everyone who’s listened to it.

There are many surprises along the way. One is that you will meet someone you’ve never met before—Karl Marx. Yes, Marx himself will present live this week, so bring the questions and complaints you’ve had about the fantasy version of Marx so you can enjoy quality time with the real Marx as he agrees and laughs alongside you.

I think everyone can agree that understanding the striving drive of the greatest person who ever lived is a good idea. So bring your family and even your imaginary friends. Because these placeholders are precisely the voids that Marx’s striving drive yearns to fill.

This outline ought to give you a taste of just how nourishing Lavine’s presentation is:

I. Opening Provocation: What Is the Power of Marxism?
II. Early Life and Formative Influences
A. Trier: Middle-Class Origins, Jewish Enlightenment
B. Berlin University and Intellectual Awakening
III. The Young Hegelians and the Dialectic of Criticism
1. Key Hegelian Ambiguities Exploited by the Young Hegelians
— a. State Absolutism vs. Dialectical Change
— b. Authority vs. Freedom
— c. God as Absolute vs. God as Human
— d. “The real is the rational / the rational is the real”
2. The Three Central Doctrines of the Young Hegelians
— a. Criticism as Weapon
— b. Human Divinity
— c. World Revolution
IV. Feuerbach's Influence (The Great Inversion)
A. Religion as Projection
B. Materialism and Humanism
V. Career Shift: From Philosopher to Revolutionary
A. Journalism and Censorship
B. Paris Years (1843–1845)
VI. The Two Burning Questions in Paris (1844)
Why did the French Revolution fail?
What is the historical role of the Industrial Revolution?
VII. The 1844 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts
VIII. Marx the Exile: The Refugee Trail Begins

METHOD

Please watch the tiny 27-minute episode before the event. We will then replay a few short clips during the event for debate and discussion. A version with vastly improved audio can be found here:

• Thelma Lavine: From Socrates to Sartre

Summaries, notes, event chatlogs, episode transcripts, timelines, tables, observations, and downloadable PDFs (seek the FSTS Book Vault) of the episodes we cover can be found here:

• THORR (The High Ontology Reading Room)

ABOUT PROFESSOR LAVINE

Dr. Lavine was professor of philosophy and psychology as Wells College, Brooklyn College, the University of Maryland (10 years), George Washington University (20), and George Mason University (13). She received the Outstanding Faculty Member award while at the University of Maryland and the Outstanding Professor award during her time at George Washington University.

She was not only a Dewey scholar, but a committed evangelist for American pragmatism.

View all of our coming episodes here.