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
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
5
•OnlineDante's Dare and Clive James' Flair.
OnlineEXISTENTIALIST SOCIETY - Melbourne, Australia.
An online presentation, followed by discussion. All viewpoints welcome.
Richard Volpato will present the topic and lead the discussion.
"Dante’s Dare and Clive James' Flair"
A realist reading of Dante’s Divine Comedy:In 1320, Dante’s dare was to fuse, in a new way, the Hellenic search for Truth with the Judaic search for Destiny - so as to release the Judaic-Hellenic heritage of that time from the grip of dogmatic policing by the Church and also the secular self-indulgences of petty city-state politics. His poem aimed to be prophetic – a Gospel!
Dante wrote sets of pages (canti) in serial fashion for over 10 years, before finally being printed and bound volume a century later. In so far as those earlier unbound pages were eagerly circulated and meticulously copied or memorised, the binding of the poem's words came from the heart of readers, rather than the stitching of publishers (printing did not exist then).
The Divine Comedy today offers ways to sense where people are living - within a Hell, a Heaven, or trying to release the grip of Hell through Purgatory. The poem is not about an ‘after-life’ to our life - but a projection of a vast array of how to live (a para-life of worthy destinies - we too easily dismiss as unimaginable!).
Clive James’ translation re-animates Dante’s Italian poem to again discombobulate the reader into feeling the lure and grip of vices (in Hell) - to thus become inoculated to their pull; revive the social resonances and support to counter vices (Purgatory) that then enable us to hear (and heed) the richness of traditions of virtues (Paradise). His translation works because he has captured the verve of the poem, absorbed 'footnotes' that clutter translations into the body of the text and given it the 'pace' and 'punch' that comes across in the original Florentine language.
This talk will outline the structure and poetic cunning of this massive, overwhelming poem that has cascaded across languages and historical epochs. It will also point out how to re-render the poem into a modern secular idiom.
A good introduction to Clive James' translation is David B. Hart “Dante De-cluttered” First Things, Nov. 2013. (Inspired by this translation, Hart ventured into a similarly provocative translation of the Gospels)
Wikipedia on: Dante - - - Clive James - - - Divine Comedy
The Zoom link will appear for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 894 2860 3351 - - Passcode: 582804Existentialist Society's Website - - - Youtube - - - Facebook
37 attendees
•OnlineThe Consciousness of Bees.
OnlineAGNOSTICS GROUP - Melbourne, Australia.
Some of us are participating in their online event.
Robert Bender will present the topic and lead the discussion.
Robert will be looking at Lars Chittka’s The Mind of a Bee.
It is about many decades of research into the calibre of bee brains and what their capabilities are.
Chittka reports many fascinating experiments that show bees, with a lifespan of a mere 3 weeks, are great learners, some are smarter than others. So there is an IOQ range just like ours, there are more or less competent bees at various tasks, partly due to some being faster learners.
They have personality differences, and quite possibly emotional lives and consciousness. So the traditional attitude that humans are smart and all different, whereas insects are all clones and stupid and their behaviour all hard-wired by their genes, is shown to be nonsense.
It should change our attitude towards invertebrates to one of far greater respect for their mental capacities and far less snootiness about our mental superiority ~Further reading for those interested:
Honeybee Democracy by Thomas Seeley.~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: 812 2230 3354 - - Passcode: 399611NOTE: Our start-time is 2pm Saturday in Melbourne. As we are now in Daylight Saving time, please re-check the start-time in your locality.
27 attendees
•OnlineHellenism's Influence on the Religions
OnlineEXISTENTIALIST 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?"HELLENISM'S INFLUENCE ON THE RELIGIONS"
Following Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire in 330 BC, the subsequent Hellenic Empires encouraged their various subject ethnicities to keep their own traditional religions. Nevertheless the religions were influenced and impacted by Hellenism:
In the Seleucid Empire the Zoroastrian religion's human Messiah became intensely anticipated and came to be regarded as divine. Consequently, the Parthian Empire's religion was a form of Hellenized Zoroastrianism.
The Ptolemaic Empire's Isis religion incorporated the Eleusinian Mysteries.
The one exception to Hellenic tolerance was Judea, where a Seleucid Emperor, Antiochus IV, attempted in vain to suppress its religion.David Miller will present the topic and lead the discussion.
Background information for those interested:
Wikipedia's entry on the Hellenistic PeriodThe Zoom Link will appear for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 843 9423 4766 - - Passcode: 248037Existentialist Society's Website - - - Youtube - - - Facebook
13 attendees
•OnlineAn Evolving Creation Story.
OnlineSEA OF FAITH IN AUSTRALIA (SoFiA) - Melbourne.
Some of us are participating in SoFiA's online event.
Rev John Power will present the topic and lead the discussion.
~ Creation stories are the bedrock of every faith tradition.
The theory of evolution has upended centuries of static belief about our beginnings, leaving many grappling with fallout. But this is also an invitation; rather than simply deconstructing our inherited theology, we can forge a new, vibrant spirituality - one that embraces evolutionary insights, re-inscribes the sacred within a dynamic cosmos, and offers each of us a participatory role in an ever-unfolding creation.~BIO: John Power brings together a rich and diverse background in philosophy, theology, education, and psychotherapy. For over 35 years, he has served as an Anglican priest. A long-standing advocate for the Emerging Church and Evolutionary Theology, John is deeply committed to faith that evolves with understanding.
The ZOOM LINK will appear on this page for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 896 7054 1976 - - Passcode: 257309~ 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.
12 attendees
Past events
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