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We're a community fostering friendship and insights by engaging in thoughtful discussions on significant concepts discovered from reading books and intellectual consumption.
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42
Fiction Series: Immortality, Recognition, and Spectacle (Kundera, Hegel, Debord)
Spritzenhaus33, 33 Nassau Ave, Brooklyn, NY, USHi everyone!
Welcome back to fiction group!
Please join us on Thursday, August 27th for the first section of Milan Kundera’s Immortality. We will have quite a few philosophical selections paired with this piece, so buckle up. The first meeting will be paired with excerpts from Hegel’s The Phenomenology of Spirit and Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle. (I know that sounds pretty hefty, but I believe in you all!)
Though definitively unclassifiable, Immortality is a novel of seven parts, exploring the nature of eros, longing, nostalgia and images under the reign of mass ideology. As we observe conversations between Hemingway and Goethe, the revolving lives of Agnes and Paul, and even Kundera’s own commentary, our essence (and our limitations) are left exposed.
Required reading includes the following:
- Part I and Part II of Milan Kundera’s Immortality (pages 1-90 of the Harper Perennial Modern Classics Edition)
- Section B “Self-Consciousness,” from Hegel’s The Phenomenology of Spirit (pages 102-135 in this linked edition)
- “Chapter 1: Separation Perfected,” from Guy Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle (pages 10-21)
- BONUS: “Approaching Literature’s Space,” from Maurice Blanchot’s The Space of Literature (Just one page! Please use the hyperlinked table of contents)
Unfortunately, I do not have a PDF copy of Immortality available. If you need any help acquiring a copy, please reach out to me directly, and I’d be happy to help!
Additionally, I’d like to provide a quick quote from Kundera’s The Art of the Novel to be thinking about before our meet-up: "As a model of this Western World, grounded in the relativity and ambiguity of things human, the novel is incompatible with the totalitarian universe. This incompatibility is deeper than the one that separates a dissident from an apparatchik, or a human rights campaigner from a torturer, because it is not only political or moral but ontological. By which I mean: The world of one single Truth and the relative, ambiguous world of the novel are molded of entirely different substances. Totalitarian Truth excludes relativity, doubt, questioning, it can never accommodate what I would call the spirit of the novel.”
We will be meeting on Thursday, August 27th at 7pm at Spritzenhaus33 in Williamsburg. If you have any difficulty finding us, please don’t hesitate to message me directly.
See you there!
*Please excuse any anomalous typographical errors in here--I think MeetUp is going a bit haywire on my end!
29 attendees
The Archaeology of Knowledge by Foucault Week 2
Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue, New York, NY, USAre there any proper facts which belong to the subject of epistemology? Or are we simply learning the language and way of life which has been invented and passed down to us? In The Archaeology of Knowledge by Michel Foucault we find a careful analysis of the hidden assumptions which form the bedrock on which we build the rest of our lives. By challenging these foundations Foucault invites us to discourse analysis and genealogy as a way of re-imagining what the future could look like. As is often the experience in philosophy, a tension between freedom and weightlessness is cultivated as we ask how we should live on a foundation we did not choose.
Participants should read the entire reading before attending this in person meeting. We will read pages 56-117 for the second week. I will be reading from this version here.
For questions please send me a message or post to meetup.
Best,
Brian
17 attendees
The Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills (week 4)
Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue, New York, NY, USThe Sociological Imagination is a foundational text in sociology that introduces the concept of the "sociological imagination"—the ability to see the connection between personal experiences and larger social and historical forces. Mills argues that individuals must understand their "personal troubles" (like unemployment or divorce) within the context of "public issues" (like economic recessions or changing family structures) to grasp their own lives and the world around them. The book critiques contemporary sociology for being too abstract and calls for a more humanistic approach that links biography, history, and social structure.
Join us to discuss this classic book over the course of 4-weeks!
Week 1 Sat 8/1 12:30pm-2:30pm The Seahorse Room @ Pier 57
Week 2 Sat 8/8 12:30pm-2:30pm The Seahorse Room @ Pier 57
Week 3 Sat 8/22 12:30pm-2:30pm The Seahorse Room @ Pier 57
Week 4 Sat 8/29 12:30pm-2:30pm The Seahorse Room @ Pier 57Reading for Week 4
Chapters 9, 10 & Appendix (62 pages)I'll be reading the paperback edition available here
free pdf download *click on the first slow download option
(other formats available too —epub & mobi for kindle—just search in search bar)Rules for Our Group
1. Be Courteous
Respectful disagreement is totally acceptable; Condescension is not.
2. Be Concise
Keep comments brief, on topic, and allow space for others to join in.
3. Do the Reading
If you have not done the reading for the week you are welcome to attend and listen to the discussion, but out of respect for those who have read, you will not be permitted to participate in the discussion.Finally, Please update your RSVP if you are no longer able to attend the event.
- inaccurate RSVPs make it difficult for coordinators to plan successful events
- inaccurate RSVPs prevent waitlisted individuals from attending
*Multiple no shows may result in losing RSVP privileges for future events.
For more info and FAQ on the group click here.
Can't wait to discuss these ideas with all of you!
-Zach7 attendees
The Archaeology of Knowledge by Foucault Week 3
Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue, New York, NY, USAre there any proper facts which belong to the subject of epistemology? Or are we simply learning the language and way of life which has been invented and passed down to us? In The Archaeology of Knowledge by Michel Foucault we find a careful analysis of the hidden assumptions which form the bedrock on which we build the rest of our lives. By challenging these foundations Foucault invites us to discourse analysis and genealogy as a way of re-imagining what the future could look like. As is often the experience in philosophy, a tension between freedom and weightlessness is cultivated as we ask how we should live on a foundation we did not choose.
Participants should read the entire reading before attending this in person meeting. We will read pages 118-177 for the third week. I will be reading from this version here.
For questions please send me a message or post to meetup.
Best,
Brian
7 attendees
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