About us
The Austin Philosophy Discussion Group (APDG) offers many opportunities for discussions of philosophy and philosophical issues. No advance preparation or knowledge is required, unless stated in the meeting description. All our meetings are free of charge.
Click on "Events" just under the picture, above, to see details about upcoming meetups. The types of meetups that we have are:
- Weekly Lecture/Discussion groups, which offer free DVD lectures and discussions covering a wide range of philosophical topics.
- Special Events and Lectures covering topics of interest to our membership.
We are always open to new ideas, so come and share your thoughts at one of our meetings.
This group is a member of the Virtual Philosophy Network, a consortium of philosophy groups like ours in the U.S. and Canada. Now that Meetup events are virtual, we can discuss ideas with folks from all over the world, and we have a broader range of topics to choose from. Go to https://sites.google.com/view/virtualphilosophynetwork to see all the Meetup groups in the network,
* * *
Our web site also features lively discussions, within a culture that values civil discourse.
Here's what civil discourse is:  Conversation intended to enhance understanding. It employs language of dispassionate objectivity. Civil discourse requires mutual respect of the participants. It neither diminishes the other's moral worth, nor questions their good judgment; it avoids hostility and direct antagonism. It requires an appreciation for the other participants' experiences.
Featured event
Tools of Thinking 2 Which Tools of Thinking Are Basic?
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/594932535
Private message me over meetup to get the password.
The attendee limit is 10 to allow easier discussion.
Tools of Thinking: Understanding the World through Experience and Reason
"In short, what is the best way to think?"
At each meeting, we watch / listen to a lecture together and then discuss it together.
Typically, we cover one lecture per week. See the event’s title for what lecture is for that event.
Here is the full list of lectures for the course:
1 What Are "Tools of Thinking"?
2 Which Tools of Thinking Are Basic?
3 Platonic Intuition, Memory, and Reason
4 Intuition, Memory, and Reason—Problems
5 Sense Experience—A More Modern Take
6 Observation and Immediate Inferences
7 Further Immediate Inferences
8 Categorical Syllogisms
9 Ancient Logic in Modern Dress
10 Systematic Doubt and Rational Certainty
11 The Limits of Sense Experience
12 Inferences Demand Relevant Evidence
13 Proper Inferences Avoid Equivocation
14 Induction Is Slippery but Unavoidable
15 The Scientific Revolution
16 Hypotheses and Experiments—A First Look
17 How Empirical Is Modern Empiricism?
18 Hypotheses and Experiments—A Closer Look
19 "Normal Science" at Mid-Century
20 Modern Logic—Truth Tables
21 Modern Logic—Sentential Arguments
22 Modern Logic—Predicate Arguments
23 Postmodern and New-Age Problems
24 Rational Empiricism in the 21st Century
Upcoming events
241
Friendship and Love — Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
·OnlineOnlineMay 10 - We will read chapter 6 of Book IX. Earlier, we read 1) beliefs about friendship, 2) objects of love, 3) three kinds of friendship, 4) the best kind, 5) state vs. activity, 6) friending varieties, 7) of unequals, 8) loving vs. being loved, 9) friendships in societies, 10) forms of government, 11) right & wrong in these forms, 12) in families, 13–14) complaints by friends, 1) problems with dissimilar aims, 2) with conflicting obligations, 3) whether to break up, 4) relation to oneself, 5) goodwill as jumpstart to friending. Now: like-mindedness.
.
Our main translation from here on will be by Adam Beresford (Penguin Classics, 2020), but we will occasionally dip into other older English translations to get more insights and commentaries.
.
----
.
We are live-reading and discussing Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, book VIII–IX, which is about friendship, social relations, and love.
.
The prerequisite to this book is our answering for ourselves these questions from the prior books, to which we will briefly review:
.
1. What is a virtue of character {ēthikē aretē}?
2. How does one come to acquire any of it? (E.g. pride, ambition, bravery, gentlemanliness, generosity, candor, fairness, …)
3. From a first-person perspective in being virtuous, how does one feel and what does one see (differently, discursively) in a given situation of everyday living?
4. How does one formulate right desires?
.
.
The project's cloud drive is here, at which you'll find the reading texts, notes, and slideshows.4 attendees
Egora Academy: writing, publishing, presenting, and implementing your philosophy
·OnlineOnlineAbout Egora Academy:
This event is a continuing series of workshops based around using the Egora networking platform to write, publish, present, improve, and implement your political, economic, social, and existential philosophy. During this event the participants will have the opportunity to present one or more of their ideas previously written and published in Egora. Then we will analyze each idea for its merits and flaws, and against other ideas, possibly leading to the development of new and better ideas. If an idea succeeds in gaining support from other philosophers in Egora, it might ultimately become implemented through our governing structures.I most highly recommend that before your first event you take some time to learn about Egora, register for it, and begin developing your Ideological Profile in Egora with at least a few different ideas (original or copied). If you do not have an Ideological Profile in Egora, then this event will mostly be preparation for the next event.
This is my Ideological Profile:
http://egora-ilp.org/philosopher/Cezary_Jurewicz
Everyone is invited to examine it to prepare themself regarding my positions on different issues.Levels of participation:
My preference is to do 1-on-1 events in front of an audience because this allows the two participants to thoroughly develop their positions on very complex topics. This is also to the benefit of the audience because each audience member is encouraged to come back to be the speaking participant next time (everyone is also encouraged to host their own events, and i would love to come to listen). For this reason, you can RSVP to be the main participant for this event through my Calendly, which is available in my Ideological Profile in Egora.If no one RSVPs as the main participant, we will just have a group session.
1 attendee
Past events
5280
Group links
Members
5,108
