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.

This coming Tuesday, September 7, Tony Muscio talks on 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.

Our next talk on Tuesday, October 5  is Matt del Nevo discussing Lou Salome and Freud.

Come early from 6:30pm and join the regulars in a bite to eat before the presentation. Details on how to get to the café are on the website  http://www.lastdropcafe.com.au/

Philo Agora's format is a talk for 20 minutes starting at 7:30. The presenter then answers any questions of clarification from the floor. We then take a break of 10 minutes for more coffee and to mull over the talk and discuss it within small groups. The microphone is then passed around the audience for comment, opinion, and often counter argument to a maximum of 3 minutes. The presenter is then given a 5 minute right of reply. We usually finish up at 9pm. The cover charge is $6 for the talk and your first cup of coffee or tea.

We look forward to seeing you this Tuesday night.

Regards,

Sam, Peter and Hazel.