Schedule
Here are all the up and coming enquiry topics and events.
| Topic | Venue | Presenter | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marxian Study Group | Jack Jones House (Unite Bldg) | The group | 21/03/2019 | 18:00 |
| Tonight we will be looking at Marx's Capital (Part 1 of Vol 1: Commodities and Exchange). We will be looking at readings from Capital every other month, and in between these sessions, inquiring into contemporary connecting questions... | ||||
| Myers-Briggs test: Personality | The Friday Forum (Liverpool) | Corrie | 22/03/2019 | 14:00 |
| Continuing to meet at Piazza Cafe. Many thanks to Liz for generously providing the interesting stimuli. | ||||
| Do we need Philosophers or Engineers? | The Crown Hotel (Liverpool) | Open forum | 25/03/2019 | 14:15 |
| **The Crown group are temporarily meeting in the main lounge of The Adelphi Hotel today while the room (restaurant) at the Crown is being refurbished. | ||||
| Narrative Wars | Bluecoat Art Centre (Liverpool) | Eddie | 26/03/2019 | 13:00 |
| Open Forum | The Victoria Hotel (Waterloo) | 26/03/2019 | 18:30 | |
| What you do, and who you are, is up to you and you alone. | The George Hotel (Bridport) | 27/03/2019 | 19:30 | |
| Bad Language? | The Halfway House (Childwall) | Open forum | 28/03/2019 | 19:15 |
| Money makes the world go around (?) | The Crown Hotel (Liverpool) | Open forum | 01/04/2019 | 14:15 |
| **The Crown group are temporarily meeting in the main lounge of The Adelphi Hotel today while the room (restaurant) at the Crown is being refurbished. | ||||
| How can you practice philosophy as a way of life? | The Sportsman (Huddersfield) | The group | 01/04/2019 | 19:00 |
| TBA | The Dog & Partridge (Sheffield) | Open forum | 01/04/2019 | 19:45 |
| Humour | The Cock Hotel (Wellington) | 03/04/2019 | 19:00 | |
| Foucaults' docile bodies; Discuss. | The Blue Bell (Eccles) | James | 03/04/2019 | 19:30 |
| Check Google to see what the question is about. | ||||
| Enduring Love | The Queen Hotel (Chester) | Russell | 07/04/2019 | 13:00 |
| When should we deprive people of their citizenship? | Saracen's Head (Stockton Heath) | 08/04/2019 | 07:00 | |
| TBA | Veritas (Leeds) | Open forum | 08/04/2019 | 13:45 |
| Freedom of the Will (Nietzsche) | Lime Kiln (Concert Square) | Russell | 08/04/2019 | 18:00 |
| Sensuality? | The Halfway House (Childwall) | Open forum | 11/04/2019 | 19:15 |
| Never underestimate the cold heartedness underlying sensuality (Goethe) | ||||
| No-Platforming / Hate speech ? | The Casa Bar (Liverpool) | Open forum | 13/04/2019 | 11:00 |
| On Green Dolphin Street | The Vernon | Keith | 15/04/2019 | 18:00 |
| Sebastian Faulks novel at Liverpool Literature in Pubs (LIPS) | ||||
| Machiavelli: father of political realism. | The Perch Rock Hotel (New Brighton) | The group | 15/04/2019 | 19:00 |
| Political Realism can again be traced back to the Greeks, but Machiavelli’s The Prince is often referenced as the text that promoted these ideas at the start of the Modern era. As in February, this topic should give us the scope to further develop our understanding of political theory, building on the foundations laid down by Aristotle and explore others that have taken the “might is right” approach to politics. I am sure we will have views on the fact that this approach is not confined to history. | ||||
| How can we use philosophy to help us live? | The Blue Bell (Eccles) | Phil | 17/04/2019 | 19:30 |
| Punishment? | The Halfway House (Childwall) | Open forum | 25/04/2019 | 19:15 |
| Is punishment about the common good or more to do with vengeance? | ||||
| Is anything truly objective in life or is it all subjective? | The Cock Hotel (Wellington) | 01/05/2019 | 19:00 | |
| Human rights vs responsibilities | The Blue Bell (Eccles) | Sarah | 01/05/2019 | 19:30 |
| The Testament of Mary | The Queen Hotel (Chester) | Claire | 05/05/2019 | 13:00 |
| TBA | Veritas (Leeds) | Open forum | 13/05/2019 | 13:45 |
| Ruskin | Lime Kiln (Concert Square) | Tad | 13/05/2019 | 18:00 |
| Can socialism succeed in the 21st century? | The Sportsman (Huddersfield) | The group | 13/05/2019 | 19:00 |
| Are we as a species able to stop the destruction of the natural world? | The Blue Bell (Eccles) | Trish | 15/05/2019 | 19:30 |
| Work: who needs it? | The Perch Rock Hotel (New Brighton) | The group | 20/05/2019 | 19:00 |
| Following the end of the Finnish trial of Universal Income, what lessons have we learnt? The future of work was raised in our session in January, so by looking at the Finnish experiment we should have some data to inform our discussion | ||||
| What are our - selves? | The Sportsman (Huddersfield) | The group | 03/06/2019 | 19:00 |
| What are our 'selves' - brains? regenerating bodies? social constructions? or something else? | ||||
| What is beauty? | The Cock Hotel (Wellington) | 05/06/2019 | 19:00 | |
| What does it mean to be a grown-up? | The Blue Bell (Eccles) | Jenny | 05/06/2019 | 19:30 |
| When the milestones of adulthood are delayed... | ||||
| Let's get Enlightened... | The Perch Rock Hotel (New Brighton) | The group | 17/06/2019 | 19:00 |
| Moving onto the Age of Enlightenment we take a look at the work of the political thinkers of the time such as Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, amongst many others. Propelled by the changing times and the greater freedom to express ideas, how did these philosophers respond or was it just something to do with the wigs they wore? | ||||
| What is my purpose in society? | The Blue Bell (Eccles) | Joerge | 19/06/2019 | 19:30 |
| Listening to Joerge? | ||||
| Priests, Politicians and Virtue. | The Sportsman (Huddersfield) | The group | 01/07/2019 | 19:00 |
| Priest and politicians claim to be virtuous - are they? How should they be virtuous? | ||||
| Free will | The Cock Hotel (Wellington) | 03/07/2019 | 19:00 | |
| Benefits of philosophical thinking - Discuss. | The Blue Bell (Eccles) | Mike | 03/07/2019 | 19:30 |
| Ethics of the Future | The Perch Rock Hotel (New Brighton) | The group | 15/07/2019 | 19:00 |
| How do we take account of future generations when we consider our ethical values and actions? The article reexamines utilitarianism, as promoted by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, and suggests that 'pianism' might be more appropriate in this context. | ||||
| Why do we have huge inequalities? | The Blue Bell (Eccles) | Peter | 17/07/2019 | 19:30 |
| Be prepared to make an equal contribution. | ||||
| Bullshit Jobs? | The Sportsman (Huddersfield) | The Sportsmen | 05/08/2019 | 19:00 |
| What kind of jobs are the bullshit jobs? Which could be removed or replaced by a computer system, with little negative impact? (David Graeber book 2018) | ||||
| How can we formulate philosophical questions? | The Blue Bell (Eccles) | Maggie | 07/08/2019 | 19:30 |
| How should I know? | ||||
| On your Marx.. | The Perch Rock Hotel (New Brighton) | The group | 19/08/2019 | 19:00 |
| Revolutions are as old as human society, but in the mid 19th Century Karl Marx combined social re-engineering and economics to map out an alternative classless world. The term communism goes back as far as, yes, you’ve guessed it, Aristotle’s The Politics and most probably earlier. However, Marx’s critique of Capitalism was a catalyst to a succession of great literature on the evil’s of this economic system that continues to this day, for example Piketty’s Capital of 2013.A discussion on the continued relevance of Marx and his peers is unavoidable in any review of modern political theory. | ||||
| Why do we expect the Universe of Randomness to be fair? | The Blue Bell (Eccles) | Jane | 21/08/2019 | 19:30 |
| How can we achieve happiness? | The Sportsman (Huddersfield) | The Sportsmen | 02/09/2019 | 19:00 |
| Is war functional for society? | The Perch Rock Hotel (New Brighton) | The group | 16/09/2019 | 19:00 |
| Some of you may recall that last year Mike encouraged us to look at Emile Durkheim’s theory that crime is functional for society. This approach moves beyond that idea and, perhaps, gives a different slant on the Just War theory. Are there any positive consequences to large scale violence? | ||||
| Have our politicians let us down? | The Perch Rock Hotel (New Brighton) | The group | 21/10/2019 | 19:00 |
| We have seen recent referendums capture the attention of the public and lead to large voting turnouts. However, have the resultant divisions and political turmoil been worth it. This is a non-partisan look at the machinery of today's politics and those that manage and/or exploit them. Are there better alternatives? | ||||
| Today's Fictions and Fallacies | The Sportsman (Huddersfield) | The Sportsmen | 04/11/2019 | 19:00 |
| Jeremy Bentham (1824) wrote wittily about fictions and fallacies based on what he learned when studying the House of Commons. What are the most entertaining (or possibly insidious) fictions and fallacies today? | ||||
| Stepping through the Ages. | The Perch Rock Hotel (New Brighton) | The group | 18/11/2019 | 19:00 |
| There have been numerous attempts to categorise the various phases of life, such as the Three Ages of Man by Titian or the Seven Ages of Man by Shakespeare. These artists have used their talents to examine and express the challenges we all face as we transition between different stages in our lives. How do we handle these challenges today and are there new factors that will make this easier or harder for our children? | ||||
| What is good literature? | The Sportsman (Huddersfield) | The Sportsmen | 02/12/2019 | 19:00 |
| What is good literature? Should Bob Dylan have been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature? | ||||
| Winter Equinox Special (TBA) | The Perch Rock Hotel (New Brighton) | The group | 18/12/2019 | 19:00 |
| We choose the evenings topic on the night | The Exchange (Leicester) | Group | 02/12/2020 | 00:00 |