Practical Philosophy Meetup - Stockholm 🇸🇪

Dear all the subject for the 11th of December is

The Nature of Beauty, Art, and Meaning

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1. What Is Beauty?

• What is beauty, and which qualities tend to make something beautiful?
• Are these qualities universal or culturally shaped?
• Is beauty objective, subjective, or a combination of both?
• Can beauty exist without an observer?

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2. Can Beauty Be Measured?

• Is it possible to measure beauty?
• Do scientific ideas such as the golden ratio, symmetry, or proportion capture true beauty?
• Are measurements explanations — or merely descriptions?

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3. Is There a Standard of Beauty?

• Does a “standard of beauty” exist?
• If so, who defines it — society, nature, biology, culture, or power?
• Who benefits from today’s beauty standards?

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4. Beauty, Truth, and Ethics

• Is beauty connected to truth or goodness?
• Can something morally troubling still be beautiful?
• Can beauty manipulate, deceive, or distract from truth?

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5. Emotion, Perception, and Interpretation

• Why do different people experience beauty in radically different ways?
• Are emotions essential to experiencing beauty?
• Is beauty something we discover — or something we create within ourselves?

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6. Art and Beauty

• Does all art aim at beauty?
• Can something be art even if it is not beautiful?
• Is beauty a requirement for art — or just one possible effect?

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7. The Purpose of Art

• Should art serve a purpose (expression, communication, social critique)?
• Or is beauty itself enough?
• How does an artwork’s purpose influence whether we find it beautiful?

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8. Good Art vs. Bad Art

• What makes an artwork “good”?
• Does skill matter more than originality?
• Does emotional impact outweigh technical mastery?
• Does intention matter more than outcome?

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9. The Evolution of Beauty in Art

• How has beauty changed from classical to modern and contemporary art?
• Does modern art reject traditional beauty — or redefine it?
• Have we lost beauty in art… or expanded its meaning?

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10. The Future of Beauty

• How will technology (AI-art, filters, algorithms) reshape our sense of beauty?
• Will future art still rely on human ideas of beauty?
• Can machines create beauty — or only simulate it?

11. Technology, Craftsmanship, and the Loss of Detail

• Why does much high-technology art today tend to be abstract, minimalistic, or lacking fine detail, while ancient and pre-industrial craftsmanship produced highly detailed, enduring beauty (cathedrals, sculptures, tools, textiles, and ornaments)?
• Is modern abstraction a sign of:
• laziness or loss of skill?
• speed and mass production?
• cultural shift in values?
• intellectualization replacing craftsmanship?
• Has technology freed us — or robbed us of patience, depth, and mastery?
• Does efficiency weaken beauty?
• Have we replaced making with generating?
• Are we losing the human “hand” in art?
• Or is abstraction itself a new form of beauty — speaking to a different kind of consciousness?
• Final provocative key question: Is abstractive and modern art a new form of beauty — speaking to a different kind of consciousness – or just pretend “to be a beauty for the blind ones” like in Hans Christians Anderssons fairytale “Empires new clothes”?

Warm welcome!
Vilija

General information:

🏛️ WHAT'S PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY ABOUT?
Practical Philosophy is a weekly meet-up that brings critical thinkers together for an opportunity to dive deep on a topic, practice communicating, and building a community. All with no ‘official’ philosophy knowledge required! 😎

Practical Philosophy is based on the idea that philosophy should be accessible to all, and not something reserved only for academics. Each week we choose a topic, and the goal is to use the conversation to develop our critical thinking and communication as we explore that topic.
The goal is to help develop our Critical Thinking, Communication, and Community 🙌

📓 HOW DOES IT WORK?
Each week, we pick one topic and discuss it. The topic for the week is shared, generally in the Whatsapp groups, along with jump-off points to get the conversation going.
When groups get bigger than 7-8 people, it’s important that we break into smaller groups. This way we are able to maintain a conversational flow as opposed to having our meetups feel like a discourse or lecture.

General Meeting Agenda
Each Practical Philosophy meet-up follows this general timeline:

• 19:00-19:15 - People arrive and chat, get to know each other before the official start.
• 19:15-19:25 - Meeting introduction, explanation of Practical Philosophy and the topic for the week, read the guidelines and the overview so attendees know what to expect in terms of timelines.
• 19:25-20:45 - Break into small groups - introduce yourselves and general thoughts on the topic, open discussion afterwards. At this point the group can review the ‘jump-off’ questions as needed, but they are just there to help guide the conversation. It’s not obligatory to answer them.
• 20:45-21:00 - Bring everyone back together to discuss conclusions of the topic - each group gives a short 1-minute summary. Organizer concludes the meeting and everyone takes a group photo.
• 21:00 - The official meeting is over but it’s a great opportunity to get to know people in a non-structured environment, so we often stick around, chat, and get to know each other.

🧧PRICING?
Practical Philosophy Club is FREE to attend! We just ask that if we are meeting in a café, buy a beverage! Some chapters rent a space for us to meet, and they may ask for donations to help contribute to the cost of rent. Donations will always be 100% voluntary though!

💛 WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY
🗣 “I feel like Philosophy Club helps someone build their own belief system through a series of perspectives while not promoting what’s right and wrong” - Ekam
🗣 “I got hooked from day 1 (the topic was authority) and felt it was the right place for me. I feel it is a place where people can go to learn and discuss new perspectives and increase critical thinking and community by interacting with people who might challenge your point of views but at the same time encourage you to have openness and mind flexibility.” - Daniel
🤓 FAQ

• Do I need to study or read anything to attend?

No preparation is necessary. This isn’t a study of other thinkers. We want to know what you think about the topic, not what an old philosopher thought. If you have a perspective from a religion or a school of thought to share, throw it on the table and we’ll discuss it.

• Is there a specific philosophy that Practical Philosophy is focused on?

The goal of our meet-ups is to not have dogmatic discussions, and flex our critical thinking muscles. Because of this, we want to hear from every realm of thought, and don't study a particular school.

• Is it mostly men that attend?

Surprisingly, no! Although often, philosophy is seen as a Candelabra affair in a dark room with a bunch of guys, our Practical Philosophy meetups are generally 50/50 between genders, and we don’t meet in any dark rooms.

• Can I come alone?

Of course you can, we encourage it :)

• Can I be late?

Please don't be! We do have a 15 minute grace period where we allow people to funnel in while we hang out, but after that if you arrive too late, it disrupts the flow of the conversation.

• Where do you meet?

The location is posted in Meetup and our Whatsapp group for this location. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you join the Whatsapp group! If you want to know what other cities have a Practical Philosophy Club, you can see our chapters on our website.

PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY CLUB - Philosophy, everywhere. ✨

We started in Practical Philosophy in 2021 and there are now 40+ chapters in over 20 countries, including Canada, Spain, Japan, Mexico and many more! 🗺️
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