Every Second Tuesday at 7:30 pm
Fair Trade Coffee Company
33 Glebe Point Road, Glebe
March 16th Derek Maitland: Reinvention: A Philosophy for a Second Life
For more than a century, it's been the tradition for us to work largely in
one job until retirement, then be politely shoved on to the scrapheap with
a gold watch and the prospect of a fast death through boredom. But life is
different now -- improved health means we're living much longer; "retirement"
can potentially last two, three, or even four decades. Old or young, we need
a philosophy which will help us transform our "senior" years into a challenge
worth looking forward to -- a new life, a second time round. And thus make our lives
far more interesting.
Derek, journalist and author, is one of the founding members of Philo Agora
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March 30 Matt del Nevo: Lou Salome and Rilke
Lou Salome was one of the great feminists of the twentieth century. Nietzsche proposed to her, she worked with Freud at the inception of psychoanalysis, and she had a love affair and passionate relationship with the twentieth century's greatest lyric poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, until his death in 1926. This talk will chart the ideas that moved them both, ideas of love, death and other difficulties.
The Rilke talk is the second of three talks on the influence of Russian born Louise Andreas-Salome (1861-1937). Lou Salome wrote 15 novels plus philosophical and psycho-analytical works. With her indifference to moral conventions and insatiable intellectual curiosity, Lou Salome challenged the gender roles of her day. Each talk - Nietzsche, Rilke, Freud - will be complete in itself. The first talk, on Nietzsche, is on our website www.philoagora.com/
Matt was for many years the convenor of the philosophy café at Berkelouws books. He is full time faculty lecturer in philosophy at the Catholic Institute and has recently published some of his philosophical thoughts in The Valley Way of the Soul.
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April 13 Lindsay Mell: Toward a Social Ethos
Given the contemporary times in which we live, perspectives of what good means have become contested. Lindsay will consider some contemporary perspectives on the concept of what is good in social terms, exploring whether a consistent broad social ethos might eventually emerge.
Such a substantial explorative journey in the social context, if possible, would affect our lives in many ways.
Lindsay Mell is a member of the Continental Philosophy Forum. He is also Coordinator of the Community and Peace Program of the United Nations Association of Australia NSW, and Immediate Past President of the Association.
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April 27 A Debate. Ian Bryce vs Peter Bowden : Atheism will never win the battle with religion"
The debate will ask whether religion or atheism will prevail in capturing everybody's beliefs in the long term.
Ian, Sydney's well known proselytizer for atheism and a regular PhiloAgora attendee will lock words with Peter Bowden, a solid Huxley agnostic, tending to Dawkins, about whether the rational arguments for the non existence of God will ever convince the bulk of ordinary every day people to give up religion. Ian says that common sense and intelligence must win. Bowden says it never will - religion is wired into us. A toss of the coin will decide the first speaker.
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May 11 Jonathan McKeown: Philosophy in Everyday Life
Jonathan presently runs Status Flow Plumbing based in Ashbury. He will talk about some philosophical approaches and practices he has found most beneficial for living everyday life.
He resigned as an evangelical youth minister in 1991 feeling that the foundations of his beliefs had eroded. He then decided to study psychology and enrolled in an Arts degree, but after a year of psyche studies at the University of Q. found deeper personal questionings pulled him in other directions. He graduated with a double major in Contemporary Studies in Religion and a third major in Philosophy. He completed an Honours research degree on Nietzsche and was awarded a university scholarship to complete a PhD (which he did not do).onathan who graduated with a degree in philosophy now runs Status Flow Plumbing in Petersham, a third generation family business He has told us that his knowledge of philosophy influences him almost daily . This talk tells us how.
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May 25 Skye Cleary: Sartre on romantic loving relationships
Jean Paul Sartre had some wonderfully controversial things to say on the topic; like that it is doomed to sadism and masochism.
Skye has her MBA from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management and a background in finance and management consulting. She is currently undertaking her PhD on the topic relating to her talk, also at Macquarie.
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June 8 Ken Macnab: Religion, Peace and War during the Last Millennium: Europe and Beyond
Both the causes and conduct of war, and the creation and maintenance of peace, are essentially political issues, reflecting the character of the political decision-makers involved and the economic, social, cultural and religious character of the people and state involved. The role of religion in particular has always been important. The pattern of the interrelationships between religion and politics, war and peace over the last thousand years or so can be been divided into seven eras of warfare with a distinctive religious character and religio-political dynamic, and the significant changes during the interims between some of them.
Dr Ken Macnab retired from the Department of History, University of Sydney, in 2001, where he taught courses ranging from broad Modern European history, through Imperialism, Nationalism and Racism and English Class and Culture to the histories of Crime and Punishment, Deviance and Violence. He is particularly interested in the history of warfare and peacemaking, the rituals of interpersonal conflict (such as duelling) and the nature and history of terrorism. He has been for some years President of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney.
