Austin Philosophy Discussion Group (APDG)

The Plan 9 Book Club from Outer Space has been in operation since 2016, studying the most important works in modern western Philosophy. We’ve studied the major works of Hume, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Sartre and Aristotle.

We meet every Tuesday evening, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm, to carry on in-depth discussions of the text. This is a discussion group, not a lecture class, so please read the assignment beforehand.

Starting November 11, we will do a series of sessions on William James. We will read and discuss one entire paper at each session. The readings are much less obscure than Sartre, Heidegger or Wittgenstein, so reading a whole paper won't be difficult. All readings are out of copyright and freely available online.

All the readings are here: https://tinyurl.com/5yhb5svp
Here is the syllabus:

James, Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking

Nov. 11 - Chapter 1, "The Present Dilemma in Philosophy"
Nov. 18 - Chapter 2, "What Pragmatism Means"
Nov. 25 - Chapter 3, "Some Metaphysical Problems Pragmatically Considered"
Dec. 2 - Chapter 4, "The One and the Many"
Dec. 9 - Chapter 5, "Pragmatism and Common Sense"
Dec. 16 - Chapter 6, "Pragmatism's Conception of Truth"
Dec. 23 - Chapter 7, "Pragmatism and Humanism"
Dec. 30 - Chapter 8, 'Pragmatism and Religion"

We hold our meetings IN-PERSON at the Austin Recreation Center, 1301 Shoal Creek Boulevard: https://www.google.com/maps/place/30%C2%B016'41.4%22N+97%C2%B044'56.3%22W/@30.2781667,-97.7511609,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d30.27816!4d-97.74897 .

Most Tuesdays, after discussing our book, several of us will continue the discussion over nachos and beer, down the street at The Tavern. The food and drink are optional, of course, but the conversation is always strong!

***

Plan 9 is a group that likes to do deep studies of our book choices. We discuss, in detail, the week's reading assignment, mastering the new concepts and fitting them into the author’s overall thesis. The goal is to gain an understanding of the author’s philosophy. If this sort of work interests you, sign up here and join us. We have about a dozen regular members, and new people have come and gone over the years. Everyone is more than welcome to join in.

This critique group is kept private to preserve the privacy of critique submissions. Most don't RSVP on Meetup.

To join, please email Erik at tigurini@protonmail.com and include in your message: (1) A description of your current writing project(s), (2) Your goals for joining this writer's critique group, (3) And a brief history of yourself as a writer, including past projects, education, and related. Your message doesn't have to be anything fancy. We just wish to make sure that you're serious about observing and that your intentions/projects are a good fit for this critique group.

About:
As the title suggests, we critique writing that is speculative (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, surrealism, slipstream, etc.), philosophical (idea-driven, writing with a message, etc.), and experimental (unusual language, visual/musical aspects, transgressive, etc.). All writing submitted for critique should fit at least one of these categories. We are happy to include work in all formats (poetry, prose, playwriting, screenplay, libretto, graphic novel, and hybrid) and for any audiences (adults, YA, and kids).

Some Example Works:
Of course, the written works and authors that inspire us may vary, and widely. Nonetheless, here's a list of some written works and authors that have inspired us, and which we might use as an (incomplete) list of the kind of writing that could be submitted to this critique group.
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Ice, Anna Kavan; Blade Runner, Philip K. Dick; The Waves, Virginia Woolf; The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin; The Street of Crocodiles, Bruno Shulz; Stories of Your Life, Ted Chiang; The Faerie Queene, Edmund Spenser; The Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa; The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath, H. P. Lovecraft; Don't Bite The Sun, Tanith Lee; Illuminations, Arthur Rimbaud; The Rings of Saturn, W. G. Sebald; The Three Body Problem, Liu Cixin; Moby Dick, Herman Melville; Kindred, Octavia E Butler; The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood; The Divine Comedy, Dante; The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle; A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen; Les Fleurs du Mal, Charles Baudelaire; Blindsight, Peter Watts; The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Leguin; Sweat, Lynn Nottage; The Song of Maldoror, Comte de Lautremont; Solaris, Stanislaw Lem; Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy; Dune, Frank Herbert; Star Maker, Olaf Stapledon.

Critique Group Structure:

• Meets weekly Thursdays from 6:00pm-7:30pm PT / 9:00pm-10:30pm ET
• Submission length maximum: 20,000 words (many submissions are shorter).
• Back-to-back weekly submissions for novelists + long form writers are encouraged.
• Participants are expected to closely read the submission and arrive prepared to discuss it in depth for 1.5 hours.
• If, for whatever reason, a participant can't read the submission in time for our meeting and/or can't attend our meeting, that participant is urged to provide a written (or audio recorded) summary of feedback to the submitting writer through DM on our Discord.
• Active participation is required to ensure all members' best interests. A member can be removed from the group if found absent in critique sessions for more than 3 months. Should one wish to rejoin the group, please message me directly either in Discord or via email.

Community:
We're a serious yet fun group of writers with eclectic projects and tastes. We're always looking to meet new friends and grow our community, so we hope you'll consider observing a critique group - and if we're a good fit for one another, continuing to hang out with us Thursday evenings!

We meet on the Blinding Cyclops Discord server. Join link: https://discord.gg/urPBsNTWuK

You can read our full syllabus under the category "Writer's Critique Groups." The rest of the writer's critique group channels are kept hidden to preserve the privacy of critique submissions, but will be opened up to you when your observation has been confirmed.

Commitments:
This critique group's structure expects a weekly attendance commitment, so it's only right for writers who are committed to writing and critiquing.