Month: November 2023

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Wed 22nd Nov “The Beginning of History” Paul Archer

In this time of competing historical narratives, the modern day call for deep history is, in the words of James Scott, a call for something like a species history – this, he says, is our Zeitgeist.  The great turning point in our universal species history is, of course, the transition from living as nomadic hunter gatherers to living in ancient Agrarian States.  This is often presented as the uplifting story of civilisation (look at the pyramids) but many modern academics think of it differently.  The real question is more like how fiercely egalitarian, freedom-loving, hunter gatherer people end up living in servitude to despotic kings, paying punitive taxation in grain, working on forced labour projects, and being conscripted into violent wars?  Where did it all go wrong?
I hope to see you there.
Paul

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Wed 8th Nov “Are People Responsible for their Actions”, John Little vs Paul Archer

This coming Wednesday on 8 November 2023, we will be meeting again at 7.30pm at the Friends Meeting House.  The subject for discussion this week is whether a person can ever be responsible for their actions.  The topic is inspired by two influential books published this year.  

In his book ‘Determined’, Robert Sapolsky argues that freewill is an illusion and that there is no meaningful sense in which a person can ever be held accountable for their actions.   He believes that this should lead to practical changes especially in how we operate the criminal justice system – it should be modelled more like quarantine and nothing like retribution.  

In his book, ‘Free Agents, How Evolution gave us Freewill’, Kevin Mitchell argues the opposite, contending that we are not mere machines responding to physical processes but agents making choices and acting with purpose.  This means that personal responsibility for our actions is real – the commonsense position is justified. 

For the purpose of our discussion, John has agreed to stand in for Kevin Mitchell and Paul will be Robert Sapolsky (did he have any other choice?)  

It would be great if you could choose to come along (;-) and join a lively debate.

see you there!