Archived Resource Lists from Past Meetings
Note: Some links to past reading guides and readings no longer work since we shifted away from Google Drive. We can repair specific links on request. Email us as popco@colorado.edu.
May 20 - What is courage? (Plato's Laches)
How do we identify experts?
What is courage?
In this dialogue by Plato, two Athenian men take their sons to speak to the renowned Athenian generals Nicias (NI-key-us) and Laches (LAY-keys). They want the generals' advice on whether their sons should be trained in a particular fighting skill.
At Socrates’ urging the discussion quickly expands to the question of who we should take educational advice from. Socrates suggests that if Nicias and Laches are authorities on the military education of young men they must know what courage is. But do they know what courage is? Do we?
We look forward to discussing the ideas this dialogue raises!
Get the text
We are discussing two chunks of Plato’s dialogue Laches, totalling about fourteen pages. Of course if you would like to read the entire dialogue (about thirty pages), please do!
Find locations using the number/letter codes in the margins. These are called Stephanus numbers. We will read
From the beginning (178a) to the end of section 185a
From 190b to end of section 194b
Some options for you
Read online at the Internet Archive
Download a PDF of the text, with the sections we are reading marked. (If you have trouble with OneDrive, email us at popco@colorado.edu and we can send you the PDF as an attachment.)
Listen to an audiobook version. Our sections are at 11:29 – 24:37 and 37:58 – 48:15
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have created a reading guide to accompany this month's text. It contains section-by-section summaries as well as "Questions to think about." If there's a question on this list you'd like to discuss with the group, please bring that up at the beginning of our session.
Reading guide PDF (hosted on OneDrive)
April 22, 2024 - Misinformation and Disagreement
Is misinformation ethically wrong in addition to being factually wrong?
Why is it so hard to find common ground?
This month we are reading two very short essays that address issues that we probably all have noticed in contemporary American society: the frequency of misinformation and how we just can't seem to agree with each other!
In "Bad Beliefs: Misinformation Is Factually Wrong - But Is It Ethically Wrong, Too?" Philosopher Lawrence Trcello discusses whether misinformation - or merely having bad beliefs - can be not just factually, but ethically, wrong. Drawing on arguments from W.K. Clifford, he observes that we might be rightly chastised for believing too easily.
In "Why Can't Americans Agree On, Well, Nearly Anything?" Professor of Law James Steiner-Dillon attempts to explain why Americans disagree on so much. He puts forward two explanations: epistemic pluralism (persistent public disagreement about empirical facts) and epistemic dependence (which concerns source trustworthiness given that it would take too long for any single person to verify all the facts).
Get the reading
Read online
"Bad Beliefs: Misinformation Is Factually Wrong - But Is It Ethically Wrong, Too?" by Lawrence Torcello, published by The Conversation on 2/16/23.
"Why Can't Americans Agree On, Well, Nearly Anything?" by James Steiner-Dillon, published by The Conversation on 3/2/23
Prefer PDFs?
PDF of "Bad Beliefs: Misinformation Is Factually Wrong - But Is It Ethically Wrong, Too?" (hosted on OneDrive)
PDF of "Why Can't Americans Agree On, Well, Nearly Anything?" (hosted on OneDrive)
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have created a reading guide to accompany this month's texts. In it you'll find summaries as well as questions to get you thinking
Reading guide for April 22 (hosted on OneDrive)
March 25, 2024 - C. Thi Nguyen on the Gamification of Conversation
How does social media affect the way we communicate?
Applied epistemology looks at our methods and habits of reasoning in real life. C. Thi Nguyen, a philosopher known for studying games, writes about how features of Twitter (now X) change how people think and argue because Twitter is designed with game-like features that give psychological rewards. Unfortunately, Nguyen argues, the reward system skews users to be worse thinkers, rather than better thinkers.
You will find two versions of Nguyen's essay linked below. One version is shorter and is designed for classroom discussion; it comes with an audio option, discussion questions, and some optional activities. One version is much longer and is a little more technical. Please feel welcome to read the version that best fits your interests or both versions
Get the reading:
The shorter version (includes an audio version as well as discussion questions to think about)
"Twitter Gamifies The Conversation," by C. Thi Nguyen, Meica Magnani, and Susan Kennety, is published by MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.
https://mit-serc.pubpub.org/pub/twitter-conversation/release/2
You can find an 🎧 audio version link just below the abstract.
Note: Toward the end there is an "Activity Section." We recommend skipping this.
Prefer a PDF?
View PDF (hosted on OneDrive)
If you have trouble with OneDrive, email us at popco@colorado.edu and we can send you the PDF as an attachment.
The longer version
Should you find this month's topic particularly interesting, you may wish to read Nguyen's longer essay, “How Twitter Gamifies Communication,” in J. Lackey, ed., Applied Epistemology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021), 410-436.
The shorter version of the text for this month includes Discussion Questions near its end. In lieu of a reading guide, your facilitators recommend looking over these questions. The text also contains an "Activity Section," which you can skip over or read for more discussion ideas.
Feb 26, 2024 - "How Can Duchamp's Fountain Be Both Art And Not Art?"
What does it take for an object to qualify as art?
Must it meet certain standards of quality, skill, or beauty?
Is it enough for someone to merely label it as art?
The attempt to define ‘art’ and its properties has been a project of aesthetics for decades - and few answers have compelled substantial agreement. One of the most contentious cases in the art world is that of Marcel Duchamp's urinal piece entitled Fountain. Though many have argued the merit of the piece through a lens of satire or mockery, in this month's essay philosophers Graham Priest and Damon Young posit that that the piece’s intrigue stems from its paradoxical status as art only insomuch as it is not art. The phenomenon of a ‘true’ contradiction, referred to as a ‘dialetheia’ is at the heart of this article: is it possible to violate the principle of non-contradiction in a way that preserves the truth of both statements? What does that mean for judgments of aesthetic merit?
Get the reading
Graham Priest and Damon Young's essay is available on the website of the digital magazine Aeon:
https://aeon.co/essays/how-can-duchamp-s-fountain-be-both-art-and-not-art
Prefer a PDF?
View PDF (hosted on OneDrive)
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have put together a reading guide with summaries of the reading and questions to think about.
View PDF (hosted on OneDrive)
January 22, 2024 - "fAIth: Why Is the Language Of Transhumanists and Religion So Similar?"
How do proponents of AI technology reconcile their transcendental view of material existence with their tendency to eschew theology?
From labor to art, as writing aid to business consultant, AI has become an increasingly pressing topic of conversation. One particularly perplexing phenomenon concerns AI supporters' use of religious jargon; referring to technology 'evangelists', transhumanist 'churches', AI 'oracles' and 'prophets', even the notion of a 'superintelligence' that would pose as an omniscient, omnipotent, and potentially omnibenevolent sentience. This rhetoric is curious since these discussions take place in increasingly secular spaces, where technology, rationality, and science are considered antithetical to religion.
This month we will discuss an essay on this topic by social and digital anthropologist Dr. Beth Singler.
Get the reading
Singler's essay is available on the website of the digital magazine Aeon:
https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-the-language-of-transhumanists-and-religion-so-similar
Prefer a PDF?
View PDF (hosted on OneDrive)
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have put together a reading guide with summaries of the reading and questions to think about
View PDF (hosted on OneDrive)
December 11, 2023 - "Why Our Universe Can Have Cosmic Purpose Without God"
Can we believe we live in a meaningful universe even if we don't believe in God?
Would not believing in God require we be atheists?
In our reading for this month, Philip Goff, author of the book Why? The Purpose of the Universe, argues for a middle ground between atheism and theism regarding purpose in the universe. Goff believes that theists (believers in God) are right that the universe is purposely tuned for life to exist, but atheists (who deny that God exists) are right that there is too much unnecessary suffering for classical ideas of God to be correct. Instead, Goff thinks that we should find the middle ground between atheism and theism: panpsychism.
Get the reading
Goff's essay is available on the website of the digital magazine Aeon:
https://aeon.co/essays/why-our-universe-can-have-cosmic-purpose-without-god
Prefer a PDF?
View PDF (hosted on OneDrive)
November 27, 2023 - Nguyen and Williams' "Moral Outrage Porn"
What is the right way to engage with depictions of moral outrage that we encounter on social media and the news?
In the essay "Moral Outrage Porn," philosophers C. Thi Nguyen and Bekka Williams use the familiar categories of food porn and real estate porn to describe a phenomenon they call moral outrage porn. According to them, "a significant amount of the activity on Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media might plausibly count as moral outrage porn, as does much of the content on many partisan news outlets." However, they argue, unlike food porn, moral outrage porn can be morally and epistemically dangerous. This essay has the power to make us rethink the way we interact with the content social media serves us. Join us for this interesting discussion!
Get the reading
We will be using a final draft of this essay that is posted on PhilPapers, a reliable repository of professional philosophy essays. If you are uncomfortable downloading from PhilPapers, you can email us to request the PDF.
https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=NGUMOP&aid=NGUMOPv1
Your facilitators know this is a long essay. Please see the reading guide (below) for some helpful section summaries and advice on which sections you can skip.
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have created a reading guide for you. It includes suggestions on which sections to skip, summaries of sections, and questions to think about.
October 23, 2023 - Helen De Cruz on self realization and climate change
How can philosophy help us face the climate crisis?
In the essay, "How to face the climate crises with Spinoza and self-knowledge," philosopher Helen De Cruz explores the thoughts of several other philosophers (especially Næss, Spinoza, and Lorde) regarding how to properly relate to our environment. As a witness to climate destruction, it is easy to feel like a divided person because we are losing our home. Yet, De Cruz contends that finding our identity (or achieving "self-realization") as part of the world we live in is a key step towards addressing the climate crisis. It also helps us see what is worth saving.
Get the reading
Helen De Cruz's essay is available through the online magazine Aeon:
https://aeon.co/essays/how-to-face-the-climate-crisis-with-spinoza-and-self-knowledge
If you prefer to read offline, here's a PDF version:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13aZuaUOrq_SYfNGZ9GD67XkO5DbLCXKQ/view?usp=sharing
(No reading guide this month)
September 25, 2023 - The Paradox of Horror
Why do people enjoy being frightened by horror movies (and haunted houses, scary novels, etc.) when most of us do NOT like being frightened by real life terrors?
There is a tendency to think that well-adjusted people do not seek out terrifying and disgusting situations. Yet people flock to see the latest horror movies, and the more immersive the better! What gives? This apparent paradox - the "paradox of horror" is a particular version of the so-called "paradox of tragedy," which has fascinated philosophers since ancient times.
We'll begin with two short videos that describe the puzzle and suggest some solutions. We'll then get some more psychological insight by reading a short online essay by Professor Mathias Clasen, director of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark.
Get the reading
Start with this 5-minute video "What is The Paradox of Horror?" by Carneades.org
https://youtu.be/MwzdPDXUUBw?si=8kxW1twP3dq-suR-
Then enjoy this 5-minute video "Noel Carroll: The Paradox of Horror." Carroll is a leading researcher in the philosophy or horror. (The video includes some brief images from horror movies, but no full scenes.)
https://youtu.be/dcX9dur-px8?si=gz_fq8Q8FivTGdQD
Finally, read (3400 words) or listen (21 mins) to this short essay (published online by Aeon) by Professor Mathias Clasen, director of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark. Find the "listen" link on the left side, near the beginning of the essay. (The essay includes some descriptions of horror scenes and plots, but the descriptions aim to be clinical or campy rather than scary or gross.)
https://aeon.co/essays/fear-not-horror-movies-build-community-and-emotional-resilience
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have created a reading guide to accompany Clasen's essay. In it you'll find helpful summaries and questions to think about.
August 28, 2023 - Eleonore Stump "The True Self and Life After Death in Heaven"
If there is an afterlife, what does it mean for me to 'survive' into it?
In particular, if my soul is taken away to heaven after I die, what would make it my soul?
Philosopher Eleonore Stump (St. Louis University) explores these sorts of questions in her essay "The True Self and Life After Death in Heaven." Stump considers some things that we might not take with us to heaven, such as memories of our worst failures, or certain disabilities like chronic pain. It would be hard to imagine heaven being heaven with these things present. On the other hand, would I still be myself if these sorts of things are taken away? To gain insight into this issue, Stump delves into some important theories of the self and addresses their limitations.
Please join us for a discussion of Stump's essay and the issues it raises!
Get the reading
Eleonore Stump's essay "The True Self and Life After Death in Heaven" is available for download from the philosophy website PhilPapers using this link:
https://philpapers.org/go.pl?aid=STUTTS-4
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have prepared a reading guide with summaries of the reading and questions to think about.
July 24, 2023 - David Benatar on human procreation
How good is a human life for the person living it? For others?
Is human life good enough that we are justified bringing new humans into existence?
In this month’s short essay, philosopher David Benatar (University of Cape Town) argues that life is worse than most people think it is. In a normal human life, the pains far outweigh the pleasures. In Benatar’s words, “There are chronic pains, of the lower back or joints for example, but there is no such thing as chronic pleasure.” Furthermore, humans are highly destructive, causing harm to other humans and other species, even when on our best behavior. These observations lead Benatar to a provocative position called “anti-natalism” – the view that people should not procreate.
Get the reading
David Benatar's short essay "Having children is not life-affirming: it’s immoral" is available through the online magazine Aeon.An audio version is available on the website! Find the "Listen here" link on the left side.
https://aeon.co/essays/having-children-is-not-life-affirming-its-immoral
In this month's reading, philosopher Jessica Locke--an expert in Buddhist moral psychology and a practicing Buddhist--critically examines Buddhist compassion practice. Locke raises concerns that compassion practice, in some of its incarnations, can misfire in ways that are especially worrying for trauma victims.
Get the reading
Jessica Locke's "Medicine or Poison? When Buddhist Compassion Goes Too Far" is available through the online magazine Aeon.
https://aeon.co/essays/medicine-or-poison-when-buddhist-compassion-goes-too-far
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have prepared a reading guide with summaries of the reading and questions to think about
May 22, 2023 - A Meditation on Irritation
What exactly IS irritation? How is it different from anger?
Can irritation ever be valuable?
You've likely felt irritated. You've likely felt irritated today. But when was the last time you stopped to reflect on your own feelings and expressions of irritation? (Maybe you feel newly irritated at the tone of that last line!) In this month's essay, "A Meditation On Irritation: A Feeling In Search Of a Cause", Will Rees reflects on what irritation is and why it can seem inaccessible to critical reflection. Join us for a discussion of this short essay.
Get the text
Will Rees' essay "A Meditation On Irritation: A Feeling In Search Of a Cause" is published in the online magazine Aeon.
https://aeon.co/essays/a-meditation-on-irritation-a-feeling-in-search-of-causes
You can download a PDF version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10Z3k0gQnKLDTPHemjbixqKhZNSQQ4MUm/view?usp=sharing
[No reading guide this month.]
April 24, 2023 - Knowledge and Aesthetic Judgement
Does the image linked here, of Lake Itasca in Minnesota, fill you with aesthetic rapture?
How about if you know that this is unassuming stream is the start of the Mississippi River?
In this month's essay, "The Mississippi River In the Land of 10,000 Lakes," philosopher Theodore Gracyk writes about taking visiting friends and family to this invariably disappointing site, saying that "tourists visit because of what they already know about the river, and not so much for the sight they'll see -- 'is this all there is?'" These experiences form the backdrop for Gracyk's discussion of the role of knowledge in aesthetic judgments. Please join us for a discussion of this short essay.
Get the text
Philosopher Theodore Gracyk's essay "The Mississippi River In the Land of 10,000 Lakes" is published on the aesthetics website Aesthetics For Birds
https://aestheticsforbirds.com/2022/04/06/the-mississippi-river-in-the-land-of-10000-lakes/
You can download a PDF version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zZrxAXXEarTfHEH6mziSa2I4K8gWghD1/view?usp=sharing
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have put together a reading guide with summaries and questions to think about. Click here to view the Google Doc.
March 27, 2023- "Why Anything? Why This?" by Derek Parfit
"Why does the Universe exist? There are two questions here. First, why is there a Universe at all? It might have been true that nothing ever existed: no living beings, no stars, no atoms, not even space or time. When we think about this possibility, it can seem astonishing that anything exists. Second, why does this Universe exist? Things might have been, in countless ways, different. So why is the Universe as it is?"
So begins a 2-part essay by Derek Parfit published in the London Review of Books in 1998. These are probably some of the most fundamental questions a philosopher can ask and attempt to answer. Join us, with Derek Parfit as our guide, as we venture forth.
Get the reading
Parfit's essay was published in two parts by the London Review of Books. You can find both parts on their website. Creating an account with your email will get you access to several free articles. Alternatively, email us to request PDF copies.
Part 1 - https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v20/n02/derek-parfit/why-anything-why-this
Part 2 - https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v20/n03/derek-parfit/why-anything-why-this
February 27, 2023- Jean-Paul Sartre's "Existentialism Is A Humanism"
Ever wonder what existentialism is really all about?
If anyone can tell us it will be Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the philosophers most closely associated with the theory. In 1945, Sartre gave a lecture in Paris to present the public with a clearer understanding of existentialism that freed it from its darker, pessimistic associations.
Join us for a discussion of the published version of Sartre's lecture "Existentialism Is A Humanism."
Get the reading
Since this is a translation of a lecture given in French, English versions can differ slightly. The lecture is sometimes published together with audience Q&A that took place after the lecture. We will discuss only the lecture itself.
Read online: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/sartre/works/exist/sartre.htm
View and download a PDF: https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/david.poston/phil1301.80361/readings-for-apr-14/jean-paul-sartre-existentialism-is-a-humanism/view
Get the reading guide
Background and summary from philosopher Nigel Warburton for Philosophy Now magazine
(You can also email us at popco@colorado.edu to request a PDF of Warburton's guide)
Your facilitators will post some questions for thought soon.
January 23, 2023 - Tom Cochrane's "Why Aesthetic Value Should Take Priority Over Moral Value"
Over the last several years our shared world has faced a global pandemic, war, unpredictable gun violence, economic instability, and other horrors outside our immediate control.
When faced with so many harmful events and moral evils, how can we possibly believe the world is a good place? How can we be resilient and hopeful in such a world?
In this essay for Aeon (online) magazine, philosopher Tom Cochrane argues that we can maintain belief in a good world, a valuable world, if we prioritize aesthetic value over other types of value. If we tune into the aesthetic, we are able to find value in the world as a whole. As a result, aesthetic attunement contributes to a well-lived and resilient life.
Get the text:
Tom Cochrane's essay can be freely read on Aeon's website:
https://aeon.co/essays/why-aesthetic-value-should-take-priority-over-moral-value
An audio version is available. Look for the "Listen here" box on Aeon's webpage.
Reading guide.
View the reading guide (Google doc)
November 28, 2022: Thomas Nagel's "The Absurd"
From our own perspectives, our lives and the lives of those we love are important, significant, and meaningful. But from a cosmic perspective, it seems like none of us really matter. We are a tiny speck on a tiny speck in a vast universe, and it's likely that at some point, any trace of our own existence will forever disappear. When we get the feeling of this gap between our ‘first person perspective’ and the cosmic perspective, this is what Thomas Nagel calls the sense of ‘the absurd’.
Nagel suggests that if nothing matters, from the cosmic perspective, this fact also doesn’t matter, so we shouldn’t worry about it too much. Feel better now??
Get the text
Link to the PDF, available online
If you are uncomfortable using the link, email us at popco@colorado.edu to request the PDF be sent as an attachment.
Sorry - no audiobook is available of this essay
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have prepared a reading guide for you
October 24, 2022: Is virtue possible?
Some philosophers favor "virtue ethics" - a view on which ethics is a matter of developing and exercising virtues like honesty, integrity, generosity, etc. In this month's reading, Loren Lomasky argues against such a concept of ethics.
Virtue, on Lomasky's view, is too rare to be the cornerstone of an ethics.
In fact, since most of us are full of vice, we are better off building a "vice ethics."
Join us for a discussion of Lomasky's arguments and determine for yourself whether virtue is possible and whether virtue or vice should be the focus of ethics.
Get the text
Lomasky's essay appears in volume 22 of the journal Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. The publisher allows view-only access to the article via this link:
Link to the reading on the publisher's website: https://rdcu.be/cWTSL
Participants who would like an annotate-able PDF can email Dawn at popco@colorado.edu to request one.
Get the reading guide
Your facilitators have prepared a reading guide with summaries and questions for you to think about.
September 26, 2022: The alleged tedium of immortality
Provided we are living happy, healthy lives, most of us think it would be better to have a longer life than a shorter life. More time would give us more opportunity to engage in the sort of life projects that give our lives meaning. But...
Would an unending life become tedious or lose its meaning?
This month we are discussing Bernard Williams' 1973 essay "The Makropulos Case: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality." We'll ask ourselves what gives meaning and value to life and whether immortality would be desirable.
Get the text
Notre Dame professor Paul Weithman has a PDF version posted which you can download from this page: https://www3.nd.edu/~pweithma/Williams%20Page.html
(I did notice it has some typos due to file conversion; they are annoying but do not interfere with meaning.)
This essay was published as chapter 6 of Williams' Problems of the Self: Philosophical Papers 1956–1972 (Cambridge, 1973) pp. 82 - 100.
Reading guide from your facilitators:
For an overview, you may like to check out Felipe Pereira's (University of Pittsburgh) introductory essay for the website 1000 Word Philosophy:
https://1000wordphilosophy.com/2020/01/23/is-immortality-desirable/
August 22, 2022: Work and "Workism"
What is the role of work in a flourishing human life (aside from providing compensation)?
Most Americans spend a large portion of their lives working. Tech companies in Silicon Valley entice workers to stay onsite with meals, gyms, game rooms and other perks. Even for those who don't spend extra time there, the workplace can be the site of important friendships or romances.
In this month's reading (Links to theatlantic.com), author Derek Thompson criticizes a culture of "workism" that gives work the sort of center stage in life once reserved for religion. Whether we are currently working, retired, or otherwise out of the workforce, this essay will help us reflect on what role work should have in a flourishing human life.
Get the text
This month's reading is an essay written for The Atlantic
Read online: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-workism-making-americans-miserable/583441/
or
Get the reading guide
July 25, 2022: How free should speech be?
We're often told that censoring opinions is a bad thing. It is easy to imagine, however, certain opinions that we wouldn't mind being censored. Consider, for example, Holocaust denial. Do we even have reason to permit people to publicly engage in Holocaust denialism?
Nishi Shah seems to think so. He argues that censoring Holocaust denialism undercuts our justification for censoring the opinion in the first place, since by doing so, we deprive ourselves of opportunities in the future to have our reasons for censoring Holocaust denialism challenged.
Join us on July 25th as we take up the important questions of what free speech is, what grounds the most plausible defense of free speech, and why free speech is important!
Get the text
Read online: https://ravenmagazine.org/magazine/why-academic-freedom-matters/
or
Reading guide
OR
June 27, 2022: Could better democracy require less political action?
Philosopher Robert Talisse has argued in recent writings that intense political action can lead to belief polarization and worse democratic practices. The solution is for citizens to get some "social distance from the political fray." This month we'll discuss Talisse's arguments as he presents them his online essay "The Need for Socially Distanced Citizens."
Get the text
Read online: https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/the-need-for-socially-distanced-citizens/
or
Reading guide
May 23, 2022: Can bad people be good friends?
Alexis Elder (philosopher at the University of Minnesota) is an ethicist who researches friendship. This month she helps us investigate a question first raised by Aristotle: Do we have to be good people to be good friends? We are reading two pieces that Elder wrote for the online magazine The Conversation; these essays re-frame her academic publications for a broader audience.
Get the readings
In this piece, Elder references Aristotle quite a bit, and the web site links to relevant sections of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.
Get the reading guide
April 25, 2022: Alastair Norcross's "Puppies, Pigs, and People"
In a tragic accident, Fred suffered damage to his godiva gland, which produces cocoamone, the hormone that allows one to experience the taste of chocolate. Fred's doctor, Dr. T. Bud, sadly informs Fred that there is little hope for recovering his taste of chocolate. But, when Fred learns of a recent discovery by a forensic veterinary surgeon, he takes matters into his own hands to produce a source of cocoamone and restore his chocolately joy.
What is going on in Fred's Basement?
When we reflect on Fred's actions, will be able to justify eating meat?
(Note: The "Fred's Basement" story can be somewhat disturbing. Please remember that it is fictional. Cocoamone, the godiva gland, and Dr. T(aste) Bud are all products of Norcross's imagination.)T
Text: We will only be discussing sections I and II (pages 229-236). The PDF below has the remaining pages X'ed out, but they are still visible if you want to read them!
▶️Alastair reads his entire paper (starting at minute 11) on YouTube HERE (Remember, we are only discussing the first two sections of the paper.)
March 28, 2022: March Madness edition
What role should sports have in university life?
Many students go to college as a way to learn deeply about topics that interest them, to be trained in a field of study, and to prepare for the work force -- in other words, for academic purposes. Many students also play sports in college. For example, over 1,000 US colleges and universities are NCAA members, and the NCAA boasts nearly half a million student-athletes. And that's just the NCAA! As anyone who has cheered on the CU Buffs (or your favorite Pac-12, Big 10, or other conference team) or gathered to watch March Madness knows -- college sports is also big bu$ine$$.
Do sports deserve to have such a large role in our colleges and universities? This month we'll discuss an essay by Myles Brand, philosopher and ex-president of the NCAA titled "The Role and Value of Intercollegiate Athletics in Universities"
Get the text: Myles Brand, "The Role and Value of Intercollegiate Athletics in Universities," Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 2006, 9-20.
📚Available online for download on Myles Brand's website: HERE
Feb 28, 2022: Peter Singer's "Famine, Affluence, and Morality"
What does global poverty demand of us?
Some things about our world remain the same today as when Singer wrote this classic 1972 essay -- most notably, many people in the US live in luxury and amid plenty while people in other parts of the world live with far fewer resources. What, if anything, do the affluent owe to the poor? What difference does it make if we are separated by thousands of miles and/or geopolitical borders?
Get the reading
Info: Peter Singer, "Famine, Affluence, and Morality," Philosophy & Public Affairs, Spring 1972, Vol 1, No 3.
📚Available online for download by clicking HERE (You can also Google search for it - this essay is widely posted online)
🎧Audio version on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdwYqMJc_IM
This essay is archived by JSTOR. If you have full access to JSTOR (e.g. an academic account) you can find it here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2265052
View our reading guide (web-published Google Doc)
Jan 24, 2022: Oppressive(?) Policing
Is policing in the US inherently oppressive?
Many people are lucky to have few interactions with the police and even fewer that are negative. Yet too many of our fellow citizens have been killed by police in what could have been innocuous interactions. As philosopher John Lawless points out, police killings call us to face the philosophical question "What is policing for?" This month we are reading a short essay by Lawless and one by Amelia Wirts. Both philosophers argue that US policing is inherently oppressive, though their exact positions and arguments differ. Are they right?
John Lawless, "What Is Policing For?" published on the blog of the APA, July 14, 2020: https://blog.apaonline.org/2020/07/14/what-is-policing-for/
Amelia Wirts, "Policing and Criminal Oppression," published on the blog of the APA, June 28, 2021: https://blog.apaonline.org/2021/06/28/policing-and-criminal-oppression/
Both readings are covered in a single reading guide
Dec 27, 2021 - Holiday break
Nov 22, 2021: Chapter 2 of Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Why do we need government, if we do?
Political philosophers, at least since the time of Plato, have thought about our need for government and the design of that government by first considering human nature and what human society without government would be like. This pre-government life is called the "state of nature." In this chapter of Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Nozick considers how far we can organize ourselves without creating a state.
Reading:
Reading guide:
Reading guide for Anarchy State and Utopia, ch 2
October 25, 2021: Part 1 of Simone Weil's The Need for Roots
What do we need to live flourishing lives?
Albert Camus once described Simone Weil––a philosopher, activist, and mystic––as “the only great spirit of our time.” In her philosophical writings, she was primarily concerned with identifying fundamental truths about human nature and pontificating about the ways that institutions could be arranged to supply humans with that which will enable them to flourish. Thinkers on the political left often criticize Weil for her sympathy to culturally conservative norms, and thinkers on the political right often criticize her for her critiques of capitalistic market economies. What this makes for is a dynamic, eclectic philosopher who views the world in a way that few people do.
We are reading Part I - The Needs of the Soul (pp 2-38)
📗 PDF of the entire book available online
Unfortunately, we haven't found an audio version freely available. If you know of one, please share it with us.
Reading guide to Part I of The Need For Roots
🎧 You may also want to check out a discussion of Simone Weil by the philosophers of Partially Examined Life on YouTube
September 27, 2021: Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles
What is an "echo chamber"?
How should we interact with, listen to, and trust people we disagree with?
Why are conspiracy theories attractive?
This month we explore issues in social epistemology and the kinds of social structures that affect how we explore our beliefs. These two essays are “popular philosophy,” versions of articles the authors have published in professional philosophical journals, and are chock-full of subtle and substantial points about how we form our beliefs about the world and how these beliefs can be affected by our social networks.
C. Thi Nguyen thinks there is an important distinction between epistemic bubbles—social structures in which we don’t hear contrary information—and echo chambers, which are social structures which diminish our trust in sources that disagree with us. In his essay, he explores how this distinction affects how we should think about engaging with those whom we disagree.
In his essay, Maarten Boudry explores why we believe in conspiracy theories and how conspiracy theories are unique kinds of theories.
Readings: This month we'll read two recent pieces written by philosophers for non-academic audiences
C Thi Nguyen's "Escape the Echo Chamber," written for Aeon (published April 9, 2018)
🌐🎧Read/Listen on Aeon's website. (Look for the little speaker symbol to start the audio version.)
📗Download a PDF
Maarten Boudry's "The Warped Epistemology of Conspiracy Theories," written for the blog of the American Philosophical Association (published Sep 8, 2020)
🌐Read on the APA's website (Sorry, no audio version.)
📗Download a PDF
Both essays are on one reading guide.
Aug 23, 2021: Susan Wolf's "Meaning in Life and Why it Matters"
What is it for a person's life to be a meaningful life?
Should we want meaningful lives for ourselves? Why or why not?
Susan Wolf (a philosopher at UNC Chapel Hill) tackled these questions in her 2007 Tanner Lectures. As she sees it, we all make a distinction between lives that we think are meaningful and lives that we think are meaningless, but it's hard to put our fingers on exactly what we mean. She tries to spell out what we mean. But is she right?
The reading we're looking at consists of two lectures Wolf gave in the Tanner Lectures on Human Values series. If you have the time and energy, read both lectures. (Do note, the second is a bit more technical and so a bit more challenging.) If you're short on time on energy, reading only the first will still give you plenty to think about and us plenty to talk about.
Texts
Wolf gave these lectures in 2007. The lectures are available online as a single PDF. You can browse for it here: https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/lecture-library.php#w
Or click here to download directly 📗
The lectures were also published in a book with a couple essays responding to Wolf. Unfortunately, the book is not available at the Longmont Library nor as an audiobook. (In a pinch, various apps are able to read PDFs aloud.) However, you can purchase a used copy for under $5 if you want your own bound copy.
Reading guide
🎞️A 6-minute video that previews the main ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtiXFuHrb_E
🎞️A 16-minute video that summarizes Wolf's lectures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkwaCNn4L0A
July 2021: William Kingdon Clifford's "The Ethics of Belief" & William James' "The Will to Believe"
Is it okay to believe things we don't have sufficient evidence for?
Can believing something be morally wrong?
This month we will read two classic essays that give very different answers to these questions. Both are especially concerned with the question of whether religious faith is rationally and morally acceptable. William James defends the perhaps surprising position that we should demand evidence before believing things in science, but when it comes to other areas, including religion, faith is permissible. Join us to discuss their answers to these questions and explore our own!
Texts
We recommend the PDFs attached here from Project Gutenberg. We have inserted notes about where to stop reading (in the Clifford essay) and where it's ok to skip or skim (in the James)
For those prefer to retrieve a different version from Project Gutenberg (epub, Kindle, read online)
📚 Clifford (The Ethics of Belief is the third essay in this book. We are reading only the first section, titled "The Duty of Inquiry")
📚 James
Audio versions through YouTube
🎧 James audio version - You won't easily be able to skim, but the essay was originally delivered as a lecture, so listening is a fitting option.
🎧 Clifford audio version - Our section stops at 20:48 - ⚠️This is not a great recording.⚠️ Please alert us if you find a better one in the public domain.
New resource! An interactive guide to James' essay available online from Notre Dame's course "God and the Good Life"
Reading guide (both essays are in one guide)
June 2021: selections from Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy
Can we ever really know there’s world outside our minds?
And if so, can we know what it's like?
Over 300 years before The Matrix, Descartes considered the possibility that everything we think is real is actually just an elaborate deception we can’t see through. Despite this, Descartes thinks there are things we can be certain that we know. By the end of this short book he has concluded that we exist, that we are our minds and not our bodies, that God exists, and that the world is largely as it appears to be. Not bad for someone who went through school not waking up before lunch!
Please note: We are not reading all of this work. We will read
First Meditation (all)
Second Meditation (all)
Third Meditation: about 30% of it, stopping at this paragraph:
“These considerations show that it isn’t reliable judgement but merely some blind impulse that has led me to think that there exist outside me things that give ideas or images of themselves through the sense organs or in some other way.”
Highly recommended, free, open-access version:
From earlymoderntexts.com as PDF 📗, ePub, Mobi, audio 🎧
At Longmont Public Library
📗 Published with another work of Descartes
📗 Published in a large philosophy anthology
Reading guide for Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy
May 2021: selections from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
We can probably agree with Aristotle that having virtues of character – honesty, bravery, generosity, and so forth – are important for a good, thriving life. But what is a character virtue, generally speaking? How do we acquire them?
Aristotle attempts to answer these questions in Book Two of the Nicomachean Ethics, which we will read. We’ll also read his detailed accounts of bravery (Book Three, chapters 6-9) and generosity (Book Four, chapter 1). In total, we're reading about 26 pages
Don't start at the beginning. We'll read
Book Two - all of it
Book Three - chapters 6-9
Book Four - chapter 1
This reading has some dense parts. Use the reading guide (available below) to help you along.
Available through Longmont library
On the shelf: collected works (Nic Eth is in volume 2)
Available free online
Internet Classics Archive - view online or download to read later - translated by Ross
Project Gutenberg - translated by Chase
Perseus digital library - use the navigation bar at the top to choose books/chapters - translated by Rackham
Audiobook free online - LibriVox - (chapter navigation is limited) translated by Taylor, read by Geoffrey Edwards
Reading guide for Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
April 2021: selections from Mengzi (Mencius)
The title of the work is simply the author’s name. ‘Mencius’ is the Latinization of the name ‘Mengzi.’ Pronounce these as “Men-shess” and “Mung-dzuh,” respectively.
Mengzi was a Confucian philosopher of the 4th century BCE. Like Confucius before him, Mengzi traveled between Chinese states, seeking to promote Confucian ideals among the rulers of those states. The work that bears his name shows him engaged in philosophical conversations with rulers and others. Through these conversations we encounter Mengzi’s ideas on human nature, the influence of society and education on this nature, and the appropriate role of political rulers.
We will read parts 1A, 1B, 2A, and 6A.
Available free online - Recommended translation
download PDF from Indiana University repository - This translation has helpful notes in the margin, an extensive introduction, a glossary and index of names at the end.
Through the libraries
hard copy from Boulder Public
For CU affiliates, Norlin library has multiple hard copies and ebook copies for use. Search "Mencius."
Audiobook
Available for purchase through Audible.
The facilitators have had no luck so far finding a free audiobook edition. Please email us if you come across one!
Reading guide:
Note that the recommended PDF version of the text has an extensive and useful introductory section.
March 2021: Marcus Aurelius's Meditations
The Meditations consists of 12 sections, traditionally called books. We are reading only books 2, 4, 5, 7, & 8.
Roman emperor and Stoic practitioner Marcus Aurelius wrote the Meditations during the last decade of his life while on the frontier of the Roman Empire as a private, personal work not intended for publication. Aurelius’ concerns were not primarily academic; they were primarily about how to live a good life in a sometimes unforgiving world as well as how to become ready for one’s eventual death.
Available through the library: The hard copies available through Longmont Public Library have waitlists, so you may like to try
eBook edition, available on OverDrive
another eBook edition, available on OverDrive
Available free online
through the Internet Classics Archive
listen to an audiobook version on YouTube
Reading guide
PAST EVENT - FEBRUARY 22, 2021
Can practicing philosophy free you from worry and anxiety? As far-fetched as that might sound in the 21st century, this was the promise the Hellenistic (4th Century BC Greece) schools of philosophy made to their students.
One of these philosophies – Stoicism – was so successful in this mission that it can claim to have helped its practitioners weather the nightmares of Nero’s Rome, the trials of governing an empire at war, as well as imprisonment and torture during the Vietnam War. How? Despite how we sometimes use the word “stoic,” Stoics are neither unfeeling nor complacent; Stoicism is not about maintaining a stiff upper lip. Stoicism is about changing the way we understand the world and ourselves. In this program we will discuss the fascinating roots of this philosophy, how people are still practicing it today, and how we can all use ancient thought to help us live more happily.