Sydney’s Philosophy in the Café - Philo Agora

First Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm, at the Lastdrop Café at 538 Marrickville Road, Dulwich Hill.

Tuesday, September 7 Tony Muscio will discuss Free will.
 
The concept of free will underlies much of what we think about ourselves and what we attribute to others and their motivations. Free will is fundamental to our system of justice. Yet many circumstances arise when it is hard to be sure we really are free to choose. Cases such as "Not guilty by reason of insanity", or the defense "I was ordered to do it" bring this concept into question. Even the rationalist or scientific view points raise issues such as whether the universe is deterministic or indeterminate, does the uncertainty in quantum theory make free will irrelevant ?

Common sense often tells us we have free will but analysis quickly brings this assertion into doubt.

Classical philosophy has often taken for granted the existence of God when considering free will. If an individual has the power to seek redemption surely free will must exist. Is this a supporting argument or a red herring ?

Tony will present a set of ideas and tools to use when considering these and related questions, with reference to the major schools of thought on free will. He will also present some ideas drawn from Information Theory, Cosmology, Complexity (Chaos) theory and science and offer a view point for you to consider or criticize.

From criminal to politician, a backwards career move?

Meanwhile, on election day, Ian Bryce, a regular and sometime presenter at Philo Agora is on the NSW Senate ticket for the Secular Party. This is not an endorsement, but if you're interested, the following refers; http://www.secular.org.au/

Ian is an aerospace engineer and university lecturer. He has worked in space communications and with launch vehicles in Russia. He has been with Australian Skeptics for 30 years, and is their Chief Investigator, specialising in bogus technical devices including free energy generators and sonic pool cleaners.

Ian built and drove around a fake Popemobile as a protest against the Popes visit to Sydney for World Catholic Youth Day, and had four court appearances before the charges were dropped. He created www.worldTRUTHday.org as a counter to religious misrepresentations and lies.

He has worked to apply scientific principles to the problems and welfare of mankind, including projections for climate change, growth, religious wars and refugees. He was invited to represent Australia at a recent international humanist conference in Katmandu, and has spoken on human rights in Nepal, Tibet and the region.

We look forward to seeing you next month.

Kind regards,

Hazel, Peter and Sam.