Sydney’s Philosophy in the Café - Philo Agora.

The first Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm from March 6, at the Lastdrop Café at 538 Marrickville Road, Dulwich Hill.

This year's opening talk will be by Dorothy Rowe at Glebe Books on February 7. The talk will be on the first floor, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe, 2037.

"What mental disorder have you got? The implications of the medicalisation of ordinary life."

The language of the DSM 5 ( Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the DSM 5)  where every aspect of our lives has been turned into a psychiatric problem and has seeped into the language of health professionals, especially those concerned with mental health. Instead of talking about how we live, feel and think using the richness of English, our experiences are turned into a pathology that needs to be cured. The DSM 5 will only intensify this process. The implications are widespread.

Dorothy Rowe is a leading Australian psychologist and writer who has introduced our philosophy program at Philo Agora and its predecessor each year for many years. Dr Dorothy Rowe, has been elected as one of the world’s 100 Living Geniuses and the Newcastle-born depression expert is the highest placed Australian on the list.

Creators Synectics, a global consultants firm, chose their geniuses by awarding scores out of 10 to each entrant against a number of factors: paradigm shifting; popular acclaim; intellectual power; achievement and cultural importance. Dr Rowe is placed in 72nd position.

She has shown how we each live in a world of meaning that we have created out of our past experiences.  She applies this understanding to important aspects of our lives, including emotional distress, happiness, growing old, religious belief, politics, money, friends and enemies, extraverts and introverts, parents, children and siblings, and most recently, why we lie.

Her work liberates us from the bamboozling lies that many mental health professionals, politicians, media and business people tell in order to keep us in our place and themselves in power.

We start at 6 for 6.30pm, Tuesday, February 7 at Gleebooks, Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Make a booking by ringing Gleebooks on 9660 2333. 

Mention your Philoagora connection to receive your ticket for the reduced price of $7.

Future talks this year include:

March 6, Sam Alexander: Two Additional Testaments.

April 3, Michael Robertson: The Problem of Evil

May 1, Peter Bowden: The Failure of Moral Philosophy

June 5, Joffre Balce: Economics & the Crisis of Philosophy.

July 3, John Scanlon: Are we ever allowed to kill?

Should you wish to give a talk at Philo Agora, please respond to this newsletter as we are still finalising our 2012 programme.

We look forward to your attendance and participation.

Kind regards,

Peter, Hazel & Sam.