What does, “Enchantment of the world” mean?
How do you know how well someone knows you?
What Does it Mean to Have an Identity?
We spend a lot of time choosing our labels. We think about what we call ourselves or how to communicate to others our preferences. But what does it mean to identify as anything in the first place? What are the ideas that hold the concept of identity together? Is there any substance to identity? Is there a beginning or an end to identifying?
Join Seth and Deac as they first teach about the underlying mystery that we call identity and then join in - talking about how it all might work.
How do you know how well someone knows you?
How do you know how well someone knows you?
What does it mean to have an open mind?
The Last Refuge of Scoundrels: a philosophy discussion group
The prompt for the week is meant to invite thought. Scoundrels develops through discussion, with each gathering taking on its own character. This is why you don’t find a lot of extra information here about the topic. We practice curiosity about other’s ideas at session, when people prep a bunch before arriving, there’s a tendency to want to argue, persuade, or steer the conversation towards your own way of thinking instead of exploring together. If you want the fuller picture of what Scoundrels is, the button below will take you there.
What is Change?
The Last Refuge of Scoundrels: a philosophy discussion group
The prompt for the week is meant to invite thought. Scoundrels develops through discussion, with each gathering taking on its own character. This is why you don’t find a lot of extra information here about the topic. We practice curiosity about other’s ideas at session, when people prep a bunch before arriving, there’s a tendency to want to argue, persuade, or steer the conversation towards your own way of thinking instead of exploring together. If you want the fuller picture of what Scoundrels is, the button below will take you there.
Why Do We Wander?
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “Not all who wander are lost,” if that’s true then why do we wander in the first place? Do we hope for something when we wander? It seems like there’s a difference between wandering and other ways of being out and playing in the world, like vacationing, being a tourist, exploring, or actually being lost, but what is it? Are there moral obligations to consider when we wander? And what role does wandering play in the meaningful living of our lives?
About the speaker:
Seth Tichenor is a philosophy professor gone rogue. 14 years ago he packed up and hit the road to discover whether people wanted more philosophy in their lives. People were starving for thoughtful conversation. But why was it traveling held the promise of what he was already sure was true? Something powerful happens when we leave home.
Check out his TEDex talk on that adventure here.
Seth’s background is in South Asian thought and comparative philosophy. He’s been running a public philosophy nonprofit with his partner Gad in Astoria, OR for 12 years. A home that beckons others to visit. A destination for many who wander.
Can there be a Rational Universe?
The Last Refuge of Scoundrels: a philosophy discussion group
The prompt for the week is meant to invite thought. Scoundrels develops through discussion, with each gathering taking on its own character. This is why you don’t find a lot of extra information here about the topic. We practice curiosity about other’s ideas at session, when people prep a bunch before arriving, there’s a tendency to want to argue, persuade, or steer the conversation towards your own way of thinking instead of exploring together. If you want the fuller picture of what Scoundrels is, the button below will take you there.
What does it mean to be Happy?
The Last Refuge of Scoundrels: a philosophy discussion group
The prompt for the week is meant to invite thought. Scoundrels develops through discussion, with each gathering taking on its own character. This is why you don’t find a lot of extra information here about the topic. We practice curiosity about other’s ideas at session, when people prep a bunch before arriving, there’s a tendency to want to argue, persuade, or steer the conversation towards your own way of thinking instead of exploring together. If you want the fuller picture of what Scoundrels is, the button below will take you there.
What is a hallucination?
A hallucination can seem immediate, vivid, and real, which makes it philosophically slippery. This week’s Scoundrels discussion turns toward perception, experience, and the uneasy line between what is there, what is imagined, and what the mind can generate on its own.
What makes a question worth asking?
Not every question opens something up. Some clarify, some distract, some unsettle, and some reshape how we see the world. This week at Scoundrels, we’ll consider what gives a question its force and why certain questions stay with us longer than others.
What is “the State” for?
We talk about “the State” constantly, usually with strong feelings and blurry definitions. This Scoundrels conversation asks what the state is supposed to be for in the first place: protection, order, freedom, welfare, power, or something else entirely.
April Board Meeting
April Board Meeting
Philosofarian’s monthly board meeting is where we review organizational updates, discuss priorities, and make decisions that support our public programs and long-term direction. Board meetings help keep the practical side of Philosofarian aligned with its mission, values, and growing work in the community. The agenda for April is here.
What is Home?
What is home, really? Join philosopher Seth Tichenor at Fort George for an evening of reflection on belonging, memory, identity, and the strange human pull of home. Free and open to all.
Why do people hold on to zombie ideas?
Some ideas should have collapsed by now, yet they keep shambling through public life, private belief, and everyday habit. This week at Scoundrels, we’ll explore why certain notions refuse to die, even after they’ve been challenged, disproven, or outgrown.
What is community?
Scoundrels is a weekly group philosophy conversations. Each week a new topic. Every week a chance to wonder together.
How accurate can language be?
Scoundrels is a weekly group philosophy conversations. Each week a new topic. Every week a chance to wonder together.
Aesthetics Part 2: Let's talk Traditions
How do Different Cultures and Traditions Think about Art and Aesthetics? Last class of the Second Series.
Today’s focus is on Aesthetics in the (post) Modern Era
Is there a heirarchy to morality?
Scoundrels is a weekly group philosophy conversations. Each week a new topic. Every week a chance to wonder together.
Aesthetics Part 2: Let's talk Traditions
How do Different Cultures and Traditions Think about Art and Aesthetics? Seventh class of the Second Series.
Today’s focus is on Aesthetics in the Romantic Era
What is the Point of Nonviolence?
Nonviolence gets invoked constantly. Sometimes as moral high ground, other times as strategy, as identity, even as an accusation. Philosofarian's Seth Tichenor brings the question to Fort George: what does nonviolence actually mean, what does it demand, and does the concept hold up under scrutiny?
Can music express truth?
Scoundrels is a weekly group philosophy conversations. Each week a new topic. Every week a chance to wonder together.
Aesthetics Part 2: Let's talk Traditions
How do Different Cultures and Traditions Think about Art and Aesthetics? Sixth class of the Second Series.
Today’s focus is on Aesthetics in the European Enlightenment.
What exactly is death?
Scoundrels is a weekly group philosophy conversations. Each week a new topic. Every week a chance to wonder together.
Aesthetics Part 2: Let's talk Traditions
How do Different Cultures and Traditions Think about Art and Aesthetics? Fifth class of the Second Series.
Today’s focus is on Ancient and Medieval Indian Aesthetic Thought
Scoundrels
Scoundrels is a weekly group philosophy conversations. Each week a new topic. Every week a chance to wonder together.
Aesthetics Part 2: Let's talk Traditions
How do Different Cultures and Traditions Think about Art and Aesthetics?
Ancient and Medieval Japanese Aesthetic Thought
Scoundrels
Scoundrels is a weekly group philosophy conversations. Each week a new topic. Every week a chance to wonder together.
Aesthetics Part 2: Let's talk Traditions
How do Different Cultures and Traditions Think about Art and Aesthetics? Ancient and Medieval Chinese Aesthetics
Towards a More Perfect Union: Can a Society Outgrow the Ideas that Founded it?
The day after What the Constitution Means to Me closes, join Philosofarian and members of the cast for a 30-minute primer and a facilitated conversation. When the play asks “abolish or amend?”, we’ll open a third door: widening the frame, testing the assumptions, and asking what a “more perfect union” could require now.
What is the relationship between comedy and philosophy?
What’s the relationship between comedy and philosophy?
Aesthetics Part 2: Let's talk Traditions
How do Different Cultures and Traditions Think about Art and Aesthetics? First Class of the Second Series.