Austin Philosophy Discussion Group (APDG)

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_________________SUMMARY ________________
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On our Wednesday discussion we spent some time on the subject of morality but after five hours online, it was time to leave it for another evening.
This Saturday we will come together to discuss whether morality is universal or relative.
Think of common moral rules believed in or practiced across societies, cultures, religions vs what could differ from one to another. And then there are exceptions!
Why do we have exceptions in morals?
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In this session we will discuss the universality of certain cohesive moral principles and their evolutionary values as well as cultural/religious relativity and subjectivity of practices and goals.
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A paper I found which could be of interest can be read following the link below. It covers Kohlberg’s theory of morality with attention to universal morality and its evolution;
https://open.maricopa.edu/culturepsychology/chapter/culture-and-morality/
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Another source on morality and cultural/individual diversity;
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8710723/
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Looking forward to another great discussion this Saturday.
Please invite your family, friends and others you come across to further enrich the discussions with more viewpoints.
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Wishing you all well and goodness.
Fika.
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Expect a large group and breakout rooms for various topics. From personal growth, loneliness, relationships, divorce, grief, etc. TO politics, philosophy, psychology and more.
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Undiscovered thoughts unraveled only when the rest fall asleep?!
Falling on the path of another ambiguous beingthat could entertain your every cell of enthusiastic curiosity?
* Worried if you fit in ? Thinking you’re not a philosopher?
Worry not!
We engage in life’s matters in productive comprehensive ways suitable for almost all curious.
If you enjoy analytical philosophy, you may join a breakout room with .. the other birds.. of a feather!
You are one of us if you breath, think, eat and .. talk ! .. and then talk some more…
Philosophy is the oxygen for our concerned and concerning.. minds….
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For the event calendar and zoom issues please see: https://www.meetup.com/mindshearts-without-borders/events/tdfdssydcfbqb/
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October 26 - We are reading chapter 8 of NE VII, which resolves some puzzles about self-control and steadfastness. Self-control (whether having or lacking) and steadfastness (whether holding or losing) have to do with, respectively, pleasure and pain.
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For example, an overweight woman resolves on New-Year's Day to look healthy and slim in a swimsuit in 18 months. On any day she cannot resist the pleasure of the fattening dessert, she lacks self-control; if she can resist that pleasure, she has self-control. On any day she cannot handle the pain of the ninety-minute workout with Peloton, she is soft-pampered; if she can handle that pain, she is endurant-steadfast.
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Here is one puzzle: Which way of acting is better in the long run: acting from deliberating or acting from character? Let's follow Aristotle's train of thought.
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We will read multiple translations starting at 1150b29.
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My summary of chapter 6 on lacking self-control with respect to emotion can be found here to help you catch up to us. https://mega.nz/file/OzYXXCZI#K6p6FHf2ohSrZ5NrMrr-H90w_TLYFng-kYpO4KmcHok Bring your own questions about the text if you are interested in joining this Sunday's meeting.
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We are live-reading and discussing Aristotle's ~Nicomachean Ethics~, book VII, which is about troubleshooting the virtues.
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The prerequisite to this book is our answering for ourselves these questions from the prior books, to which we will briefly review:
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1. What is a virtue of character {ēthikē aretē}?
2. How does one come to acquire it? (E.g. [Aristotle’s], ambition, bravery, gentlemanliness, generosity, candor, …)
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. From a third-person perspective, how is the virtuous person (of a specific virtue) to be characterized?
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The project's cloud drive is here, at which you'll find the reading texts, notes, and slideshows.

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/594932535
Message me over meetup to get the password.
The meeting limit is 10 people, so the discussion is easier.

Existentialism and the Authentic Life | Plus

"These thinkers guide you toward living an authentic and meaningful life in a world that often seems absurd."

At each meeting, we watch or listen to a lecture together, have a short break, and then discuss lecture together.

Typically, we cover one lecture every other week. See the event’s title for what lecture is for that event.

Full lecture list for this course:
1 How to Think like an Existentialist
2 Søren Kierkegaard on Existential Crises
3 Kierkegaard’s Leap to Faith
4 Friedrich Nietzsche on Authentic Greatness
5 Nietzsche on Creating Super-Relationships
6 Martin Heidegger on Authentic Being
7 José Ortega y Gasset on Authentic Destiny
8 Karl Jaspers on Authentic Communication
9 Albert Camus on Authentic Happiness
10 Camus on Absurdity
11 Camus on Authenticity amid Chaos
12 Camus on Authentic Rebellion
13 Frantz Fanon on Restoring Human Dignity
14 Jean-Paul Sartre on Why Hell Is Other People
15 Sartre on Sex and Sadomasochism
16 Sartre on Authentic Work
17 Richard Wright on Overcoming Alienation
18 Simone de Beauvoir on Authentic Love
19 Beauvoir on Authentic Friendships
20 Beauvoir on Raising Children Authentically
21 Beauvoir on Authentic Aging
22 Beauvoir on Loving Your Mortality
23 Toni Morrison and the Sources of Self-Regard
24 Everyday Existentialism