1 November: Plato & Aristotle:  (Nearly) The First Philosophers

Anthony Hooper

Plato and Aristotle are widely considered to be the first philosophers, and both are often discusses as if they were geniuses who began philosophical discourse ex nihilo. In this talk Anthony argues that both Plato and Aristotle arose from already well established streams of thought, including materialistic, sophistic, pre-logical, and mythological modes of explanation. 

4 October:  Pascal's Wager

James Franklin

Blaise Pascal argued that even though God cannot be proven through reason, or observation  we should  conduct ourselves  as though God exists, because living our lives accordingly has everything to gain, and nothing to lose.  Arthur Sinodinos, Howard's former chief of staff when asked about action on climate change, said "Well, it's like Pascal's Wager - if you act and it works out, and if you act and you needn't have, you haven't lost that much”. Jim Franklin explores the philosophical pros and cons of the wager.  

Jim followed up this talk with an appearance on the Philosopher's Zone on the ABC on the same subject.  Click on the title line above: Pascal's Wager to access the ABC program and listen to the talk or read the transcript of the program.

2 August: Existentialism

Peter Bowden