What we’re about
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
Facebook: Please feel free to comment on the lectures: - www.facebook.com/Existentialist-Society-866984573402226/
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Zarathustra's influence on the Abrahamic Religions.Link visible for attendees
EXISTENTIALIST MEETUP - Melbourne, Australia.
Our monthly online Meetup presentation 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?"ZARATHUSTRA'S INFLUENCE ON THE ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS"
There were only two short episodes of 'Yahweh-alonism' (Monolatry) interrupting the traditional polytheism of the ancient Israelites and Judeans. These were within the reigns of two Judean Kings: Hezekiah (727 to 698 BC) and Josiah (639 to 609 BC).
It is contended that, in roughly 550 BC, Second Isaiah got into conversation with one of the Zoroastrian (Zarathustrian) propagandists sent by King Cyrus of Persia into the Median and Babylonian Empires.
It seems that Isaiah, with his Judean tribal God, got influenced by the Zoroastrian concept of a Universal Creator God, but rejected the Zoroastrian concept of an equally powerful oppositional God of Evil.
This fateful occurrence inaugurated Judaism's Monotheism.We will be looking at A History of Zoroastrianism Vol.2 by Mary Boyce
Emeritus Professor of Iranian Studies, University of London.David Miller will present the topic and lead the discussion.
Background information for those interested:
Nietzsche's Zarathustra and the historical Zoroaster.
Wikipedia's entry on Zoroaster/ZarathustraThe Zoom link will appear for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 835 1572 5803 - - Passcode: 897795Existentialist Society's Website - - - YouTube - - - Facebook
- An Angelic Taming of Artificial Intelligence.Link visible for attendees
SEA OF FAITH IN AUSTRALIA (SoFiA) - Melbourne.
Some of us are participating in SoFiA's online event.
Richard Volpato will present the topic and lead the discussion.
A Sociological Revamp of Angels and AI.
"The epoch of AI has begun. The rapid spread of AI into the lives of individuals and the processes within corporations will have global consequences. In this presentation, I will try to re-awaken a somewhat dormant aspect of our tradition - namely how angels can function to tame social disruptions.
These angelic forces were, in their heyday, described as ‘intelligences’ (plural) and different kinds of angelic intelligences could ‘assist’ humans to handle a wide variety of social predicaments. Those efforts left legacies operating today: hierarchy, resilience, striving for perfection and meditation.
With AI today, angelic functions can be (re)deployed using sociologically specifications of complex situations. As I hope to show, these angelic functions are not a mere enchanting ‘gloss’ but rather a class of guidance systems that can function in AI mediated social interactions.
Various technical comments about AI will be contrasted (loosely!) with some theological musings about angels. Specifically, three distinct domains of AI will be defined (1) “Situational AI”, (2) “Generative AI” and (3) “Agentive AI”. Each of these AIs systems align respectively to enhance: human habits, habitations and habitats.
These AI systems can then be applied across three modes of angelic invocations for harmonizing three modes of human engagement with situations:
(A) the affective (feelings), (B) cognitive (beliefs), and (C) conative (strivings).The resulting cross-tabulation delivers a modern rendition of the so-called, “Hierarchy of Angels” by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (circa 550) in which nine orders of angels are defined but in this talk are deployed to guide AI in distinct settings."
'Medium' on the Nine Orders of Angels
The ZOOM LINK will appear on this page for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 819 1233 1520 - - Passcode: 134976~ 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.
- The Sociology of Evil.Link visible for attendees
EXISTENTIALIST SOCIETY - Melbourne, Australia.
An online presentation, followed by discussion. All viewpoints welcome.
Prof. Steven Lance Stoll will present the topic and lead the discussion.
We will look at historical inhumanity and genocides and discuss why average humans participate in these activities.
Steven will be discussing Social Psychologist James Waller's book:
"Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing".Steven Lance Stoll taught in US universities and colleges as an Adjunct Professor of Sociology and the Social Sciences.
~ "While most of my work was teaching basic Sociology courses like Introduction to Sociology, Marriage and the Family and Social Problems, I also designed courses on Evil.
What has always fascinated me about Sociology is its connection to and involvement with a variety of other disciplines from History to Psychology, from Anthropology and Archaeology to Economics, Political Science and the hard sciences" ~The Zoom Link will appear for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 897 3005 8976 - - Passcode: 114793Existentialist Society's Website - - - Youtube - - - Facebook
- Believe as little as possible!Link visible for attendees
AGNOSTICS GROUP - Melbourne, Australia.
Some of us are participating in their online event.
Dr. Paul Tonson will introduce the topic and lead the discussion.
Believe as little as possible:
A strategy to negotiate the overkill of religious belief-systems.~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: 822 2252 4410 - - Passcode: 218568
