What we’re about
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 "Meetups" 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 continent, 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,
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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.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/594932535
Private message me over meetup to get the password.
The attendee limit is 10 to allow easier discussion.
"Take an adventurous trek to these wilds of South America and the great civilizations of the ancients."
At each meeting, we watch / listen to a lecture together, and then discuss lecture 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 South America's Lost Cradle of Civilization
2 Discovering Peru's Earliest Cities
3 South America's First People
4 Ceramics, Textiles, and Organized States
5 Chavin and the Rise of Religious Authority
6 Cupisnique to Salinar-Elite Rulers and War
7 Paracas-Mummies, Shamans, and Severed Heads
8 The Nazca Lines and Underground Channels
9 The Moche-Pyramids, Gold, and Warriors
10 The Moche-Richest Tombs in the New World
11 The Moche-Drugs, Sex, Music, and Puppies
12 Enigmatic Tiwanaku by Lake Titicaca
13 The Amazon-Civilization Lost in the Jungle
14 The Wari-Foundations of the Inca Empire?
15 The Chimu-Empire of the Northern Coast
16 The Sican-Goldsmiths of the Northern Coast
17 The Inca Origins-Mythology v. Archaeology
18 Cuzco and the Tawantinsuyu Empire
19 The Inca-From Raiders to Empire
20 The Inca-Gifts of the Empire
21 The Khipu-Language Hidden in Knots
22 Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley
23 Spanish Contact-Pizarro Conquers the Inca
24 Remnants of the Past-Andean Culture Today
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Acquiring Character Traits -- Aristotle's Nicomachean EthicsLink visible for attendees
August 31 - We are reading NE VII.6, which is about the problem of self-control in regard to emotions. Aristotle in this chapter 6 attempts to outline a description of how we react emotionally to things observed in the environment. Being short in temper, for example, is anger that listens to reason but mishears it. Aristotle likens it to a dog that starts barking when it hears the slightest noise before finding out if the noisemaker is a friend. How to re-calibrate our emotions to be more in tune with reason. That's partly the topic of self-control.
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My summary of chapter 5 on beastliness can be found here to help you catch up to us. https://mega.nz/file/nmAFlShI#8W230CZmaUZYfqzLma0qTYE9gxpLvV9vvz1pQDyN6tE Bring your own questions about the text if you are interested in joining this Sunday's meeting. We will begin reading at 1149a24.
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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.
