Our latest meeting

Friends,

I was delighted to receive a picture from your latest meeting in my email.

I know these men to be thoughtful, perceptive intellectuals, and I am confident that the food was delectable.  Perhaps at the next meeting, we could invite a female constituent? Maybe could be an official title.

Tell me, what were your favorite discussions from the latest meeting?

Best,

Jack

Meeting

February 3, 2010
6:30- 7:30
Freebirds
3745 Greenbriar

Next meeting

Dear fellow young philosophers,

Let me begin by apologizing for neglecting this blog. Although this site isn't the hotspot of adolescent ratiocination I hoped it would be, letting it atrophy into a withering ghost of dead discussions does not reflect well on the League. So I'm sorry.

For our meeting next week (the details of which will be forthcoming on the blog), I would like you to ask yourselves this:

What is individuality? What is the value of individuality? Is there anything inherently good about being different? What are some drawbacks of being different? Have you struggled with individuality in your life? Do individuality and integrity go hand in hand? Is it ever inappropriate?

Thanks and I hope to see you at the meeting,

Jack

Reflections and Plans

Good evening, my fellow young philosophers. For our first meeting, tonight went fairly well. Next meeting I will post some topics of discussion up here on the blog as well as some resources for further learning. I think we should try our best to avoid trite arguments for or against Judeo-Christian religion, since this club could very quickly turn into the "let me show you how I know the Bible is right or wrong" club. What do you guys think?


This is an article by David Brooks that questions whether or not philosophy is necessary.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/opinion/07Brooks.html


I read Siddhartha by Herman Hesse for English this summer, and like Buddha, the protagonist believed that we should get rid of all of our desires in order to feel peace (which seems like it contradicts the middle path). Can this be achieved? To quote Aldous Huxley:


"A man's a creature on a tightrope, walking delicately, equilibrated, with mind and and consciousness and spirit at one end and body and instinct and all that's unconscious and earthy and mysterious at the other...the only absolute he can ever really know is the absolute of perfect balance. The absoluteness of perfect relativity. Which is a paradox and nonsense intellectually. But so is all real, genuine, living truth-just nonsense according to logic. And logic is just nonsense in the light of living truth. You can choose which you like, logic or life."

Thoughts?

Thank you,

Jack

First Meeting

Dear Reader,

The League's first meeting is Thursday the 24th of September at Goode Co. Taqueria at 7:30. Mr. McClure will be present to answer questions and promote discussion. If you have any questions, feel free to comment on this post.

Best,

Jack

Season's Greetings

I hope everyone's summers have been successful and fruitful. Speaking of fruit, the leaves on the trees around us will soon have difficulty photosynthesizing and will turn umber in hue because, as you all are aware, summer is coming to a close, and autumn will soon be upon us, bringing with it the 2009-2010 school year. The potential for philosophical discourse and dinners is palpable in the air. I recently met for lunch at Goode Co. Taqueria with our founder, Dakota Klaes. We talked about his experience as a first year Philosophy/Political Science major at Vanderbilt, and discussed the future of the League. There was talk of t-shirts, decoder rings, monogram polos, and matching tattoos. I hope that those of you who are interested enough in the League to read this blog are also willing to help represent the League at Culture Fest, Chili Cook-Off, and any other events where I may need your help. This year is going to be a lot of fun, and we will reap what we sow, so let's sow seeds of dedication, involvement, assiduity, and inquisitiveness.

Jack

Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness

I was going to buy this dvd set

http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=726788

but then I found a google video version of it.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2808374571100926940&hl=en

this is the first episode, you can find the rest under the "more from this user" tab

jack