NYC Philosophy and Psychology Readers Community

Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon is a haunting philosophical novel set during the height of totalitarian power. At its center is a disturbing question:

What happens when truth is no longer something to be discovered, but something to be decided?

Through the story of Rubashov, a loyal revolutionary imprisoned by the very system he helped build, Koestler explores the logic of ideology taken to its limit. Can false confessions be justified in the name of history? Can an individual be morally guilty without having done anything wrong?
We’ll use the novel to explore philosophical themes, such as:

• The relationship between truth and power
• Whether history can justify moral sacrifice
• The tension between individual conscience and collective purpose
• What remains of meaning when ideology replaces reality

Readings for this Meetup:

Note:
This group is currently underway. I have closed it for RSVP for now. I may open it in the future if we need more attendees. I am managing the RSVP's off meetup for this event so the attendees here are not an accurate reflection of what we have, we currently have about 15 people, if there are dropouts or changes I can reopen for new people.

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Hi Folks,

Please join us for a slow and close reading of Arthur Schopenhauer’s magnum opus, The World as Will and Representation.

Schopenhauer is incredibly important as:

• One of the first major Western philosophers to deeply integrate Eastern ideas (after studying the Upanishads and Buddhist thought)
• One of the earliest Western philosophers to build a comprehensive atheistic worldview
• A major critic of Kantian philosophy, reshaping Kant’s “thing-in-itself” into his own concept of the Will
• An outspoken opponent of Hegel, his contemporary and rival professor at the University of Berlin
• The primary philosophical influence on Nietzsche, who regarded Schopenhauer as his great educator

Schopenhauer introduces the Will as the thing-in-itself — the inner reality underlying all appearances. His metaphysics explores how human desire drives suffering, and how we can transcend it through compassion, selflessness, and creative expression, especially through art.

### 📖 Apply to Join

This text is challenging but rewarding. To get the most out of it, you’ll need:

• Some background in Kantian philosophy (especially the principle of sufficient reason, the phenomenal / noumenal divide and Kant's "architectonic"); familiarity with Eastern thought is a plus
• The ability to closely read and interpret complex philosophical arguments
• The communication and social skills to express ideas clearly in discussion

You can apply to join by first RSVP'ing to this event, then filling out the Google Form survey linked on this event's location page — I’ll review responses personally.

### 📚 Reading & Participation

Kore Kosmou is the largest fragment from Stobaean Hermetica. Johannes Stobaeus was a 5th century Macedonean scholar who compiled a huge amounts of ancient writings chiefly for his son's education but his efforts help us read many hermetic fragments including Kore Kosmou today.

In 2018 David Litwa published translation of hermetic fragments that were not part of Corpus Hermeticum, these include Stobaean fragments, Viennese fragments and writing of other scholars referring to Hermetic writings.

Kore Kosmou has a definite Egyptian theme to it. It is written as dialogue between the goddess Isis and her son Horus. In succinct little chapters it gives an explanation of creation of the universe, human place in the universe, humanity’s fall and possible return to grace and even a background story on Hermes himself. Some scholars place the origin of this fragment to the time of 5th or 6th century BCE.

It is an honor to be able to study this material after thousands of years of mythological and spiritual cleansing and destruction.

This Meetup is for those who are deeply interested in mythology, teleology, Hermetica, esoterica, and hellenistic writings.

Expectations are that you will do the reading assigned for that session and participate respectfully.

Heather Douglas is a philosophy professor at Michigan State University who specializes in philosophy of science. In these series of lectures, she explores the importance of discussing philosophy of science in the same conversation as political philosophy and the diversity of different values that make up a pluralistic society. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we all bore witness to the chaos that can ensue when science and politics clash in real time. It seems clear that we cannot keep science completely separate from values in a healthy democracy and so the question becomes, what is the right place for science and values in a democracy? Join us as we follow Professor Heather Douglass as a guide to discussing this prescient topic.