If you could get away with something that is considered wrongdoing, but seems like it would be to your advantage, would you be able to resist doing it? This SOPHIA One-Sheet addresses this question in reference to the story about Gyges’ Ring in Plato’s Republic.
This One-Sheet is based on a prompt shared by the Center for Philosophy for Children at the University of Washington, and is used with permission from Dr. Jana Mohr Lone. The first side of the one-sheet features the original prompt and the second side of the sheet is a list of questions drafted by Lexington SOPHIA Chapter members Caroline A. Buchanan, Derek Daskalakes, Erik Jarvis, William James Lincoln, and Eric Thomas Weber. The group will be trying out the One-Sheet on Tuesday, October 16th at the Good Foods Co-op in Lexington, KY, and may post a revised version after the meeting.
SOPHIA is excited to launch our second round of chapter seed grants, for up to $600 of support to start or grow local or online SOPHIA Chapters. The timeline has changed slightly this year. We have decided to accept applications on a rolling basis, but will give priority to applications submitted by November 15th. Groups that cannot meet that deadline are still encouraged to consider creating a chapter and applying for a seed grant.
In addition, this year we now have three resources available or well established. We have established, for instance,
That MeetUp.com is an excellent tool for growing local communities of philosophical conversation. No group is required to use that platform, but groups are encouraged to consider it. Its costs at just under $200 per year can be covered by SOPHIA grant funding, among other things.
We have created a Meeting Resources page, which is meant to make organizing your first or next meeting easy and simple. Note that the list of “one-sheets” at the bottom of the page is intended to grow rapidly, in time offering a wide variety of important and fun topics to talk about easily with the help of the sheet for easy facilitation.
SOPHIA has also created and published our very first Chapter Handbook here. The tool is meant as a guide for introducing people to what it could mean to launch as well as how to build and maintain a successful SOPHIA Chapter. We are in early planning stages, furthermore, of organizing online meetings featuring the leaders of our first chapters who might make themselves available to talk with prospective chapter leaders or the officers or members of existing new chapters.
Applications should be emailed to us at PhilosophersInAmerica@gmail.com, preferably in Adobe PDF format. While applications will now be accepted on a rolling basis, applications received by November 15th, 2018 will be given priority in this funding cycle. We are happy to answer questions in advance, sent to the same email address.
On one of SOPHIA's founders & Emeritus Trustee, Wednesday, October 3, 2018
The Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA) is saddened to learn of the passing of John J. McDermott, one of SOPHIA’s founders and a Trustee Emeritus. The messages gathered here speak to his influence and the importance of his work, life, and friendships.
Dr. John J. McDermott
John McDermott was the embodiment of American philosophy: intelligent, vital, caring. In the years when American philosophy was unappreciated, he was a lone voice crying in the wilderness. He kept James, Dewey and Royce alive and fought to return the profession to its historic mission. He combined a keen aesthetic sense with urban practicality. His colleagues loved him and even his adversaries paid him grudging admiration. He was a teacher and deserves the gratitude of thousands of his students whose lives he touched.
– John Lachs, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Centennial Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University
John McDermott embodied the spirit of American Philosophy as he explored the depths (both dark and rich and uplifting) of human experience. He also provided us with rich resources for exploration of American philosophy with his edited volumes on William James and Josiah Royce. He supported younger scholars, mentoring and encouraging them, and was always a gadfly for making all that we do as philosophers deeper and clearly relevant to life and to change for the better.”
– Jacquelyn Kegley, Trustee and Professor of Philosophy at California State University Bakersfield
Among John McDermott’s innumerable contributions to American academic philosophy, within SOPHIA’s history he especially added stability and a cosmopolitan spirit just as SOPHIA became less restricted and more open to a broader mandate and membership. John knew how to look forward. Intellectually he was unafraid to push connections between the literary and the philosophical. A favorite example is his textbook, A Cultural Introduction to Philosophy: From Antiquity to Descartes, which for me provided a tantalizing example of the fruitfulness of such connectivity. John knew how to link ‘story’ to American central experiences, ideas, and arguments. He will be missed as a comrade in arms, deeds, and words and as a versatile, pliant, opinionated critic!
– Jack Loughney, SOPHIA Trustee Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Westfield State University
I literally do not have the words to say what needs to be said about John. He was simply the most amazing teacher and mentor I have ever known. And together with John Smith, he was the best scholar of American philosophy in the twentieth century. His character and influence will be with the world for a very long time through the work of his many students and those he mentored.
– Doug Anderson, Emeritus Trustee and Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Texas
With the passing of John McDermott philosophy in America has suffered an enormous loss, but, even more sadly, many of us have lost an irreplaceable friend and inspiration. At a time when the analytic establishment was making philosophy in America boring and irrelevant, John McDermott led the fight that brought back classical American philosophy and launched the pluralist movement, not merely through his voluminous writings and unique, spirited style of writing but also through his personal example, friendship, and encouragement. I like many of my generation would not have remained in philosophy had I not met John, and philosophy in America would have a very different face today if it had not been for him.
– Kenneth William Stikkers, Trustee and Professor of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University Carbondale
John was an inspiration to legions of philosophers and resisted some of the worst trends of the philosophical profession. He helped to create a better way forward. He was named one of the 50 most influential living philosophers in 2016, yet had the consideration and kindness to reach out to young scholars with an ear, sympathy, and advice. A towering scholar and force championing American philosophy, John also worked to include philosophers of all levels and positions into dialogue in SOPHIA, rejecting the traditional pretenses of the ivory tower. He will be missed, but his voice and heart continue to inspire.
– Eric Thomas Weber, Executive Director and Associate Professor of Educational Policy at the University of Kentucky
If you could get away with anything, could you resist the temptation to do what others consider wrong?
Three leaders of the Lexington SOPHIA Chapter, Derek Daskalakes, Lila Wakman, and Erik Jarvis, introduce here this theme of our upcoming meeting, at 6pm on Tuesday, October 16th of 2018 at the Good Foods Coop in Lexington, KY, titled the “Ring of Gyges.” Join us for fellowship and a really fun conversation.
Photos and a One-Sheet from the group's first event
The Shining Network SOPHIA Chapter kindly shared with the SOPHIA national office some photos from their August 2018 event and a wonderful One-Sheet Document, available here, on “The Nature of Good and Daily Life.” What follows are photos from their inaugural event at Kamala Nehru College at the University of Delhi in New Delhi, India.
Thank you to SOPHIA member Dr. Geetesh Nirban of Kamala Nehru College!
If you could get away with something that is considered wrongdoing, but seems like it would be to your advantage, would you be able to resist doing it? This SOPHIA One-Sheet addresses this question in reference to the story about Gyges’ Ring in Plato’s Republic.
This One-Sheet is based on a prompt shared by the Center for Philosophy for Children at the University of Washington, and is used with permission from Dr. Jana Mohr Lone. The first side of the one-sheet features the original prompt and the second side of the sheet is a list of questions drafted by Lexington SOPHIA Chapter members Caroline A. Buchanan, Derek Daskalakes, Erik Jarvis, William James Lincoln, and Eric Thomas Weber. The group will be trying out the One-Sheet on Tuesday, October 16th at the Good Foods Co-op in Lexington, KY, and may post a revised version after the meeting.
