London Philosophy Collective

Philosophy in the Park is a philosophical discussion group. Open to all. No previous philosophical experience necessary.

We will meet in the Barbican Centre on Level Minus 1. Outside The Hall.

Here's how it works:

• At the start of each hour vote on which questions to discuss. You can vote for more than one question if you'd like. The questions with the most votes are the questions we discuss.
• We then break up into groups and each group does a different question. The question is just a starting point and it's cool if you go on tangents and up end talking about different things. You're welcome to join in and participate or if you'd prefer you're welcome to sit back and enjoy the conversation.

After an hour we all come back together, take a quick break and then repeat all over again. So in 3 hours we go around 3 times.

The aim is to have fun, meet new people, generate interesting and thought-provoking conversations, have your horizons expanded, challenge your preconceptions and who knows - you might even learn something?

In order to make the conversations as fun, interesting and productive for everyone as possible please follow these simple guidelines:

1. Keep it Philosophical
   (No Science, no History, no Evolutionary Psychology, no contestable facts, personal anecdotes etc).
2. Think for Yourself
   (No phones, no looking up definitions, no name dropping Philosophers / books you've read).
3. Tangents are Cool
   (Don't worry too much if the subject drifts and you don't answer the question).
4. Keep it Succinct
   (Like this).
5. Be Excellent to Each Other
   (But of course).

Philosophy is about conceptual analysis. It's thinking about thinking. It's not about empiricism or the real world. It's about abstractions, concepts and ideas.

To terms of the right attitude: It's not about debating and trying to win - it's about listening to people and working collaboratively to increase our collective understanding.

No homework or prior knowledge or reading is necessary - simply come and enjoy the discussions.

After the event finishes we have an area reserved in The Shakespeare pub which is just around the corner from the Barbican. You are very welcome to join us if you'd like.

If you would like to submit a question please join the Whatsapp group. Question submissions take place on the Thursday before the meeting.

We hope to see you there.

Nice one.

...

Brief Encounter is a 1945 British romantic tragedy film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play Still Life. The film stars Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard in lead roles, alongside Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond, Everley Gregg and Margaret Barton. Brief Encounter tells the story of two married strangers living in pre-World War II England, whose chance meeting at a railway station leads to a brief yet intense emotional affair disrupting their otherwise conventional lives. The film premiered in London on 13 November 1945, followed by its wide release on 25 November. It received widespread critical acclaim, with Johnson and Howard's performances earning high praise, and moderate commercial success at the box-office. Many critics, historians, and scholars consider Brief Encounter as one of the greatest films of all time. In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked it the second-greatest British film of all time. In 2017, a Time Out poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers, and critics ranked it the 12th-best British film ever.

Please note we will not be showing the film at the meeting. Make sure you watch the film before you attend and then come and join in with the conversation. It’s just a discussion. It’s not a screening. 🙏

In the bizarre world of Franz Kafka, salesmen turn into giant bugs, apes give lectures at college academies, and nightmares probe the mysteries of modern humanity’s unhappiness. More than any other modern writer in world literature, Kafka captures the loneliness and misery that fill the lives of 20th-century humanity. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories reveals the author’s extraordinary talent in a variety of forms—prose poems, short stories, sketches, allegories, and novelettes—and showcases the straight–faced humour, startling psychological insight, and haunting imagination for which he is revered as a modern master.

We will be reading the Penguin edition of Metamorphosis and Other Stories which contains the following stories:

Contemplation (1913)
Children on the Road
Unmasking a Confidence Trickster
The Sudden Walk
Resolutions
The Excursion into the Mountains
The Plight of the Bachelor
The Businessman
Looking out Distractedly
The Way Home
The Men Running Past
The Passenger
Dresses
The Rejection
For the Consideration of Amateur Jockeys
The Window on to the Street
Desire to be a Red Indian
The Trees
Being Unhappy

The Judgement: A Story for F. (1913)

The Stoker: A Fragment (1913)

Metamorphosis (1913)

In the Penal Colony (1919)

A Country Doctor: Short Prose for my Father (1920)
The New Advocate
A Country Doctor
In the Gallery
An Old Journal
Before the Law
Jackals and Arabs
A Visit to the Mine
The Neighbouring Village
A Message from the Emperor
The Worries of a Head of Household
Eleven Sons
A Fratricide
A Dream
A Report to an Academy

A Hunger-Artist: Four Stories (1924)
First Sorrow
A Little Woman
A Hunger-Artist
Josefine, the Singer, or The Mouse People

Appendix
Aeroplanes in Brescia (1909)
Great Noise (1912)
The Coal-Scuttle Rider (1921)

Available from all good libraries and book shops.

You don't have to have read it to join us - but it'll probably help.

Philosophy in the Park is a philosophical discussion group. Open to all. No previous philosophical experience necessary.

We will meet in the Barbican Centre on Level Minus 1. Outside The Hall.

Here's how it works:

• At the start of each hour vote on which questions to discuss. You can vote for more than one question if you'd like. The questions with the most votes are the questions we discuss.
• We then break up into groups and each group does a different question. The question is just a starting point and it's cool if you go on tangents and up end talking about different things. You're welcome to join in and participate or if you'd prefer you're welcome to sit back and enjoy the conversation.

After an hour we all come back together, take a quick break and then repeat all over again. So in 3 hours we go around 3 times.

The aim is to have fun, meet new people, generate interesting and thought-provoking conversations, have your horizons expanded, challenge your preconceptions and who knows - you might even learn something?

In order to make the conversations as fun, interesting and productive for everyone as possible please follow these simple guidelines:

1. Keep it Philosophical
   (No Science, no History, no Evolutionary Psychology, no contestable facts, personal anecdotes etc).
2. Think for Yourself
   (No phones, no looking up definitions, no name dropping Philosophers / books you've read).
3. Tangents are Cool
   (Don't worry too much if the subject drifts and you don't answer the question).
4. Keep it Succinct
   (Like this).
5. Be Excellent to Each Other
   (But of course).

Philosophy is about conceptual analysis. It's thinking about thinking. It's not about empiricism or the real world. It's about abstractions, concepts and ideas.

To terms of the right attitude: It's not about debating and trying to win - it's about listening to people and working collaboratively to increase our collective understanding.

No homework or prior knowledge or reading is necessary - simply come and enjoy the discussions.

After the event finishes we have an area reserved in The Shakespeare pub which is just around the corner from the Barbican. You are very welcome to join us if you'd like.

If you would like to submit a question please join the Whatsapp group. Question submissions take place on the Thursday before the meeting.

We hope to see you there.

Nice one.

...