NYC Philosophy and Psychology Readers Community

Hilary Putnam (1926-2016) was a analytic philosopher known for his work in Mathematics and Logic. In Realism with a Human Face, written in 1990, he challenges the philosophy community to cultivate ideas which are aligned with real life and the social lives of everyday people. Drawing on the American philosophical tradition, in particular William James, he argues for a pragmatic realism which avoids what he sees as the pitfalls of relativism and the reckless reactions of postmodern thinkers. In this book, Putnam elucidates the views of many philosophers in the American and analytic traditions with clear prose and energetic insights, making this a fruitful read for anyone looking for a broad understanding of the American pragmatist and analytic traditions, particularly on questions of truth, realism, and the limits of scientific explanation.

In The Art of Loving, German psychoanalyst and social psychologist Erich Fromm argues that love is not simply a feeling that happens to us, but a skill that must be practiced and developed. He explores romantic love, parental love, self-love, brotherly love, and love of humanity, arguing that genuine love requires responsibility, respect, and care.

Join us to discuss this classic book!

Required Reading
You are encouraged to read the entire book. We know that it is high summer, however - and that rooftop bars and beaches are competing for your attention!

To help facilitate a focused and engaging discussion, the following sections (around 70 pages total) are mandatory to participate in the conversation:

- Chapter I: Is Love an Art?

- Chapter II: The Theory of Love
1. Love, the Answer to the Problem of Human Existence
3. The Objects of Love - Brotherly Love

- Chapter III: Love and Its Disintegration in Contemporary Western Society
(Read through the discussion of Freud on p.86 in the HarperPerennial edition)

- Chapter IV: The Practice of Love
(Read through the paragraph that begins “The faith in others has its culmination in faith in mankind,” on p.115 in the HarperPerennial edition)

Deterritorialize with us at weekly discussions of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's 1972 first volume of their groundbreaking Capitalism and Schizophrenia. This critique of Freudian psychoanalysis and modern capitalism reframes unconscious desire as a machinic productive force, dynamic multiplicities of flows that can be directed against fascistic thinking toward creative and revolutionary action.

Required reading for this meeting: Ch. 3 "Savages, Barbarians, Civilized Men" sections 4–6 (pg. 166–200)

Enneads are collection of essays on various topics. They don't need to be read in order and therefore you can jump in at any point if the title seems interesting and you are familiar with Plato or Neoplatonism.

Plotinus isn't just a weak reverberation of Plato, but a very influential philosopher of the soul and its relationship to the divine. He is a deep thinker who lived in the transitional period (204/5 -270) of the human consciousness, moving from polytheistic thinking to monotheistic thinking. He is one of the last, free writers on god and the soul without the christian dogma.
Yet, still he deeply influenced many christian theologising like St. Augustine of Hippo and Pseudo-Dionysius and had direct influence on Islamic thinkers.
His original writings (written in greek) were lost to the West until renaissance.

We will read "The Enneads"
which is collection of his writings assembled by his student Porphyry of Tyre, in 12 sections approx. 40-50 pages every two weeks.