The Great Conversation
Ongoing Discussion of “the Great Ideas” as We Encounter the Best that Has Been Thought and Written
Rich Lang serves as the facilitator.
Upcoming Topics:
A eight-week series on “Worldviews” – what are they, why do they matter, and how do we live together cooperatively in a pluralist society and global age of multiple and competing worldviews?
Jun 11 & 18: We have invited Ed Hirsch and several others to share with us their perspectives and experiences in the worldview that encompasses Non-Dualist Vedanta, Transcendental Idealism, Perennial Philosophy and New Thought (not to be confused with New Age). In preparation for this conversation you might want to read the related Wikipedia articles.
Jun 25 & Jul 2: We have invited Roy Kindell and several others to share with us their perspectives and experiences in the worldview that encompasses Religious Naturalism, Reductive Materialism, Emergent Physicalism, and Secular Humanism. Again, in preparation for our conversation you might want to read the related Wikipedia articles.
Jul 9 & 16: We will discuss the general worldview of “American Pragmatism”. Some pragmatists lean toward transcendental idealism, others toward emergent naturalism, and others are happily agnostic about metaphysical questions. In preparation for this conversation you might want to read the related Wikipedia article.
Jul 23 & 30: we will discuss the contemporary challenge of inter-worldview dialogue in the global age, and further clarify some principles and practices for thoughtful and constructive dialogue.
August 6, 13, 20, 27: We will be discussing the topic of “Wisdom and Happiness: What are they and how are they related?” – drawing upon several web encyclopedia articles as well as Steven Hall’s book, “Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience”, and Darrin McMahon’s “Happiness: A History.”
Several of us have been talking about “taking The Great Conversation on the road” – hosting it at other additional venues besides the Omega Center throughout the Rogue Valley, including our retirement centers and libraries. Our Board will be discussing this and making plans. Give us your input.
This weekly “global dialogue” is designed so that students and adults can either attend regularly each week or drop in from time to time. We want to get you excited about discussing the great ideas that matter in today’s changing world. Here’s a sampling of the kinds of provocative questions we enjoy discussing together:
- Who are some of history’s most creative and influential visionaries, thinkers, writers, artists, scientists, leaders and reformers? What are their great achievements and what can we learn from them?
- What is the nature of reality and of the world in which we live? What can we know, and how can we know it? What are our sources of inspiration and authority? How do we deal with the “boundary experiences” of mystery, ambiguity, enigma, irony, absurdity, plurality and paradox?
- What is a human being? Does life have a transcendent meaning and purpose, or are meaning and purpose existentially constructed? In today’s world what is happening within the institutions of religion, education, arts, entertainment, science, medicine, technology, business, finance, military, government and law? How ought we to live and treat one another? What is the basis for ethics? What is the good life? What is the good society? What is our origin and destiny? Where is history going? What are our ultimate concerns?
Papers:
- The Great Conversation and the Circles of Dialogue
- Renewing the Great Conversation, and Why the Future of Our Civilization Depends Upon It
- Intro from 2010 Spring Brochure
Recent/Current Books for Discussion:
The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis by Jeremy Rifkin
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
Social Change 2.0 by David Gershon
Primal leadership: realizing the power of emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman