Thursday
Sunday
Next Royal Institute of Philosophy Talk: ' The Religious Roots of Utopian Thinking' by John Madeley
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| Speaker: John Madeley and some of the club members |
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| Bertie off to Madrid |
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| Dr Barbie Underwood: chair |
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| This is what philosoohy does to you | a little blurry ! |
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Picture: Phillip Medhurst Abstract: |
This talk draws a ‘history of ideas’ connection between two
of the Philosophy Club’s recent major themes: the philosophy of religion and
utopian thinking and beliefs. It
addresses the claim made by philosopher and controversial essayist John Gray (eg.
in Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia(2007)) of a
direct historical connection between religious dissidence on the one hand and
utopian beliefs and thinking on the other – from Zoroastrianism and early
Christianity through the Anabaptist ‘revolution’ in Muenster twenty years after
Thomas More penned Utopia (1516) and
on to present times. While Gray is a
non-believer he is an open admirer of the wisdom he sees as nurtured and
maintained by most mainstream religious traditions. On the other hand, he excoriates utopian
thinking (in particular the Enlightenment belief in the possibility of
humanity’s moral progress) and what he takes to be the disastrous political
projects inspired by it in modern times (from the 1789 French Revolution, via
socialist, communist and anarchist experiments to American Neo-Con attempts to
create a New World Order). Many
questions arise: what is the significance of the long, trailing roots utopianism
has in religious dissidence including, in particular, radical sectarian sets of
ideas; how is it that these ideas have been domesticated and rendered
relatively harmless in adventist sects like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, while they
still remain politically relevant among some Evangelical Protestants,
especially in the USA; and does this even tell us something useful about David
Khoresh’s Waco and ISIS in Raqqa and beyond?
Next Royal Institute of Philosophy talk , 'Que sais-je? (What Do I know?) on Tuesday 14 May 2019, Coach & Horses, Barnes High Street 7.30 - 9 pm
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| Paul Fletcher: Speaker |
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| Dr Barbie Underwood: Chair |
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Royal Institute of Philosophy Talk: 'Hijacked in Heterotopia? The Ethics of Facebook' by Nick Aldridge on Tuesday 02 April 2019
 
It is smashing to have one of our own giving a talk and I thank Nick for all his thoughts and hard work in preparing a hot topic of online social networks, including Facebook, which have a role in spreading information and (mis)information.
Nick examined Foucault’s notion of heterotopia: a kind of artificial utopia that reflects and distorts the “real” world and asking what what are the consequences for our world. I liked the angle which asked to what extent is human nature, rather than technology, to blame for our troubles and concerns.
But, thank you, to you the audience, who contributed very well, where, as well as asking pertinent questions, encouraging discussion, and adding some amusement - although I'm not going to recount certain online jests !
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| Abstract: Online social networks have come in for much recent criticism over their use of data, their role in spreading (mis)information and unsavoury content, and their supposed ill effects on our mental health. In this talk Nick will examine the nature and purpose of a social network, drawing on Foucault’s notion of heterotopia: a kind of artificial utopia that reflects and distorts the “real” world, while illuminating the artificiality of our own social constructs. But how do social networks reflect and distort our world, and what are the consequences? To what extent is human nature, rather than technology, to blame for our troubles and concerns? Nick will discuss these questions, drawing on an essay by Robin Rymarczuk in Philosophy Now, the thoughts of ethicists who have emerged from the major technology companies, and his own experience. |
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