Hong Kong Philosophy Cafe

Very important message to all our members!
We migrated to a New facebook group, as this page become obsolete.
Here is the link:

Hi All, This is the QR code to join our new page. Please join in!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/6834551586589131/

https://fb.me/e/39lq93UR7

Thank you for your kind cooperation!

The Hong Kong Philosophy Café will meet on 12 September, 2023, at 8:00 PM. We will meet in person this month, and instead of Zoom we will try using Microsoft Teams! We will again meet at the new location, a bar called Sam Fancy.

We will have a discussion in September on climate change.

From the way people usually talk about climate change, one might think that it's a very simple issue. On the one hand (to listen to some), it's obvious by now that it's happening and that we need swift and decisive action to save ourselves from its dangerous effects! On the other hand (to listen to others), it's probably just a hoax perpetrated by big-government liberals! But is anything about climate change simple? The underlying science is probably too complicated for most of us unless we dedicate enormous amounts of time to studying it. Rational doubts about that science are possible, such as Dr. Judith Curry's arguments that we lack any good evidence that human activity is causing global warming. What to do about it is another complexity: Are regulations to cut back on carbon emissions worth the cost, and are they even the most effective way of reducing carbon emissions? What is the best means for achieving climate justice, and what is climate justice anyway?

Suggested reading/listening to prepare for the discussion: Any or all of:
--the Wikipedia intro, which will introduce the topic according to a pretty standard perspective, with numerous links to more information;
--Judith Curry's introduction to some of the grounds for doubt about climate models, or whatever seems interesting on her blog;
--and Bjorn Lomborg on a podcast appearance airing his concerns with how best to deal with climate change, or (along similar lines) this Dilbert cartoon mocking the use of climate change propaganda.

Further details of the meeting are below:

Date: Tuesday 12 September, 2023
Time: 8:00 PM (Hong Kong time)
Topic: Climate Change
Moderator: Jorn Boost or Jervina Lao
Co-Moderator: TBD

To join in person, go to Sam Fancy at The Plaza, 3/f & 4/f, 21 D'Aguilar St. in Central, HK Island! (Near Central Station, Exit D1 and D2.) (Google Maps location: https://goo.gl/maps/nQGZYxNtHUWKiffn7.)

To join in our experiment using Microsoft Teams, click here! (Text for copy-and-paste: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YmVlNTYxZjAtOWE1MS00YjU2LWFhYjgtNDk2YzBlMDhkZjc1%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22cd0b1991-07be-440c-a592-69c07d3a9db4%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22749a6d40-9789-4937-bac5-a1df397be1ad%22%7d .)

Please note that while the Philosophy café welcomes all questions and comments, an open mind is necessary and respect for all opinions is mandatory.

Also note that we now have a WhatsApp group where we can share news of the HKPC swiftly and communicate quickly with our members. If you want to be included in the WhatsApp group, please email your phone number to someone at the HKPC organizing committee (e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]), and we shall send you an invite link to the group.

Dr. Mark J. Boone
Ph.D, Philosophy (Baylor University, 2010)
TeacherOfPhilosophy on YouTube and Rumble
Author of this Augustine book
Author of this other Augustine book (now open-access)
Author of a third Augustine book
Editor of this C. S. Lewis book
Editor of this Christian worldview book

Join conversation

Hello,
We will have a discussion in September on climate change.

From the way people usually talk about climate change, one might think that it's a very simple issue. On the one hand (to listen to some), it's obvious by now that it's happening and that we need swift and decisive action to save ourselves from its dangerous effects! On the other hand (to listen to others), it's probably just a hoax perpetrated by big-government liberals! But is anything about climate change simple? The underlying science is probably too complicated for most of us unless we dedicate enormous amounts of time to studying it. Rational doubts about that science are possible, such as Dr. Judith Curry's arguments that we lack any good evidence that human activity is causing global warming. What to do about it is another complexity: Are regulations to cut back on carbon emissions worth the cost, and are they even the most effective way of reducing carbon emissions? What is the best means for achieving climate justice, and what is climate justice anyway?

Further details of the meeting are below:

Date: Tuesday 12 September, 2023
Time: 8:00 PM (Hong Kong time)
Topic: Climate Change
Moderator: Jorn Boost or Jervina Lao
Co-Moderator: TBD

To join in person, go to Sam Fancy at The Plaza, 3/f & 4/f, 21 D'Aguilar St. in Central, HK Island! (Near Central Station, Exit D1 and D2.) To join in our experiment using Microsoft Teams (a software similar to zoom, but don't worry, no need to download apps, relevant hyperlink will be sent later).

Reminder

The Hong Kong Philosophy Café will meet on 11 July, 2023, at 8:00 PM. We will again meet in person this month, and concurrently on Zoom! (We may split up the conversation into Zoomer and face-to-face groups halfway.) Please note that we are meeting in a different location in person this month--a bar called Sam Fancy.

We will have a discussion in July on the philosophy of charity.

The word "charity" used to be synonymous with love, which is how it was used in the King James Bible. Would it better to go back to the old way of speaking, or is it better now that we've narrowed the word "charity" down to things like philanthropy and almsgiving? And is charity morally obligatory, or does it go above and beyond what's morally required of us? Is charity condescending? And what's the best way to give charity? Does government aid instead of private charity cause unintended harm, as people like Thomas Sowell argue? And what is charity anyway?

Suggested reading to prepare for the discussion: Any or all of:
--this essay by Thomas Sowell,
--this introduction to Thomas Aquinas on the virtue of charity/love (Latin caritas), and
--this introduction to some issues involving charity in contemporary moral philosophy.

Further details of the meeting are below:

Date: Tuesday 11 July, 2023
Time: 8:00 PM (Hong Kong time)
Topic: Philosophy of Charity
Moderator: TBD
Co-Moderator: TBD

To join on Zoom, click here! (URL in text form: https://hkbu.zoom.us/j/99290147034.)

To join in person, go to Sam Fancy at The Plaza, 3/f & 4/f, 21 D'Aguilar St. in Central, HK Island! (Near Central Station, Exit D1 and D2.)

Please note that while the Philosophy café welcomes all questions and comments, an open mind is necessary and respect for all opinions is mandatory.

Also note that we now have a WhatsApp group where we can share news of the HKPC swiftly and communicate quickly with our members. If you want to be included in the WhatsApp group, please email your phone number to someone at the HKPC organizing committee (e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]), and we shall send you an invite link to the group.

Dr. Mark J. Boone
Ph.D, Philosophy (Baylor University, 2010)
TeacherOfPhilosophy on YouTube and Rumble
Author of this Augustine book
Author of this other Augustine book (now open-access)
Author of a third Augustine book
Editor of this C. S. Lewis book
Editor of this Christian worldview book

The Hong Kong Philosophy Café will meet on 11 July, 2023, at 8:00 PM. We will again meet in person this month, and concurrently on Zoom! (We may split up the conversation into Zoomer and face-to-face groups halfway.) Please note that we are meeting in a different location in person this month--a bar called Sam Fancy.

We will have a discussion in July on the philosophy of charity.

The word "charity" used to be synonymous with love, which is how it was used in the King James Bible. Would it better to go back to the old way of speaking, or is it better now that we've narrowed the word "charity" down to things like philanthropy and almsgiving? And is charity morally obligatory, or does it go above and beyond what's morally required of us? Is charity condescending? And what's the best way to give charity? Does government aid instead of private charity cause unintended harm, as people like Thomas Sowell argue? And what is charity anyway?

Suggested reading to prepare for the discussion: Any or all of:
--this essay by Thomas Sowell,
--this introduction to Thomas Aquinas on the virtue of charity/love (Latin caritas), and
--this introduction to some issues involving charity in contemporary moral philosophy.

Further details of the meeting are below:

Date: Tuesday 11 July, 2023
Time: 8:00 PM (Hong Kong time)
Topic: Philosophy of Charity
Moderator: TBD
Co-Moderator: TBD

To join on Zoom, click here! (URL in text form: https://hkbu.zoom.us/j/99290147034.)

To join in person, go to Sam Fancy at The Plaza, 3/f & 4/f, 21 D'Aguilar St. in Central, HK Island! (Near Central Station, Exit D1 and D2.)

Please note that while the Philosophy café welcomes all questions and comments, an open mind is necessary and respect for all opinions is mandatory.

Also note that we now have a WhatsApp group where we can share news of the HKPC swiftly and communicate quickly with our members. If you want to be included in the WhatsApp group, please email your phone number to someone at the HKPC organizing committee (e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]), and we shall send you an invite link to the group.

Dr. Mark J. Boone
Ph.D, Philosophy (Baylor University, 2010)
TeacherOfPhilosophy on YouTube and Rumble
Author of this Augustine book
Author of this other Augustine book (now open-access)
Author of a third Augustine book
Editor of this C. S. Lewis book
Editor of this Christian worldview book

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Reminder Tonight:
The Hong Kong Philosophy Café will meet this evening at 8 PM. We will meet in person and on Zoom concurrently. (We may split up the conversation into Zoomer and face-to-face groups after the opening presentation.)

This month, given the proximity of our meeting to Labour Day, the Organizing Committee thought it would be a good idea to talk about the philosophy of work.

Please come prepared to discuss the philosophy of work! What is work? Why does it matter? Is work just a misery we have to accept because of our human limitations? Is it part of the punishment for sin described in Genesis chapter 3? Or is work an essential part of being human, and a good thing, as suggested by the responsibility of tending creation which God gives to human beings in Genesis 1-2? In other accounts of work as essential to human beings, is John Locke right when he thinks work is the foundation of property rights because it's how we mix ourselves up with the world and improve it? And is Karl Marx right that modern capitalism alienates us from our work, thus cutting us off from a part of ourselves?

Suggested readings: any or all of the following, as you have time and interest:
--the Plato.Stanford.edu article on "Philosophical Approaches to Work and Labor" at https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/work-labor/.
--the section on John Locke's political philosophy in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on Locke: https://iep.utm.edu/locke/
--the section on socialist theory of labour in the IEP's article on socialism: https://iep.utm.edu/socialis/ .

Further details of the meeting are below:

Date: Tuesday 9 May, 2023
Time: 8:00PM (Hong Kong time)
Topic: Philosophy of Work
Moderator: Mark J. Boone
Co-Moderator: TBD

To join on Zoom, click here! (URL in text form: https://hkbu.zoom.us/j/94693339647.)

To join in person, go to Varga Lounge at 36 Staunton Street in Central, HK Island!

Please note that while the Philosophy café welcomes all questions and comments, an open mind is necessary and respect for all opinions is mandatory.

Also note that we now have a WhatsApp group where we can share news of the HKPC swiftly and communicate quickly with our members. If you want to be included in the WhatsApp group, please email your phone number to someone at the HKPC organizing committee (e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]), and we shall send you an invite link to the group.

Dr. Mark J. Boone
Ph.D, Philosophy (Baylor University, 2010)
TeacherOfPhilosophy on YouTube and Rumble
Author of this Augustine book
Author of this other Augustine book (now open-access)
Author of a third Augustine book
Editor of this C. S. Lewis book
Editor of this Christian worldview book

Locke, John | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy John Locke (1632—1704) John Locke was among the most famous philosophers and political theorists of the 17th century. He is often regarded as the founder of a school of thought known as British Empiricism, and he made foundational contributions to modern theories of limited, liberal government. He...

TONIGHT
Date: Tuesday 9 May, 2023
Time: 8:00PM (Hong Kong time)
Topic: Philosophy of Work
Moderator: Mark J. Boone
Co-Moderator: TBD
To join on Zoom, click here! (URL in text form: https://hkbu.zoom.us/j/94693339647.)
To join in person, go to Varga Lounge at 36 Staunton Street in Central, HK Island!
Please note that while the Philosophy café welcomes all questions and comments, an open mind is necessary and respect for all opinions is mandatory.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/opinion/noam-chomsky-chatgpt-ai.html

Opinion | Noam Chomsky: The False Promise of ChatGPT The most prominent strain of A.I. encodes a flawed conception of language and knowledge.

REMINDER !!! REMINDER!!! TODAY!!!
The Hong Kong Philosophy Café will meet this evening at 8 PM. We have a place to meet in person this month! We will also meet on Zoom concurrently.

This month, we will discuss ChatGPT and other issues relating to artificial intelligence!

Do you think the development of AI does more good than harm to our society and to human beings, or vice versa? Should we continue to develop AI? Should we stop it or at least set some limits on its scope and extent? What are the reasons for your concern or lack thereof? Should Mark be more worried about his students letting AI do their thinking for them? Is that the least of our worries? Is Skynet or the Matrix in our future?

Some suggested readings as homework are listed below. Please read none, one, or more of them as you have time!
--https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/12/10/artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-humans/
--https://hbr.org/2021/03/ai-should-augment-human-intelligence-not-replace-it
--https://carnegieeurope.eu/2019/11/28/artificial-intelligence-and-future-of-conflict-pub-80421
--https://ideapod.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-human-famous-philosophers-answer/

Further details of the meeting are below:

Date: Tuesday 14 March, 2023
Time: 8:00 PM (Hong Kong time)
Topic: AI
Moderator: Mark J. Boone
Co-Moderator: TBD

To join on Zoom, click here!

To join in person, go to Varga Lounge at 36 Staunton Street in Central, HK Island!

Please note that while the Philosophy café welcomes all questions and comments, an open mind is necessary and respect for all opinions is mandatory.

Also note that we now have a WhatsApp group where we can share news of the HKPC swiftly and communicate quickly with our members. If you want to be included in the WhatsApp group, please email your phone number to someone at the HKPC organizing committee (e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]), and we shall send you an invite link to the group.

Dr. Mark J. Boone
Ph.D, Philosophy (Baylor University, 2010)
TeacherOfPhilosophy on YouTube and Rumble
Author of this Augustine book
Author of this other Augustine book (now open-access)
Author of a third Augustine book
Editor of this C. S. Lewis book
Editor of this Christian worldview book
https://www.headmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CHAT-GPT.png

www.headmind.com

The Hong Kong Philosophy Café will meet on 14 March, 2023, at 8:00 PM.

(I expect to be on Zoom only again due to my grueling weekday schedule this semester. We will do what we can to make sure someone will be there with a phone or laptop ready to link the Zoomers to the in-person participants. I do apologize that we botched this at last month's meeting!)

This month, we will discuss ChatGPT and other issues relating to artificial intelligence!

Do you think the development of AI does more good than harm to our society and to human beings, or vice versa? Should we continue to develop AI? Should we stop it or at least set some limits on its scope and extent? What are the reasons for your concern or lack thereof? Should Mark be more worried about his students letting AI do their thinking for them? Is that the least of our worries? Is Skynet or the Matrix in our future?

Some suggested readings as homework are listed below. Please read none, one, or more of them as you have time!
--https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/12/10/artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-humans/
--https://hbr.org/2021/03/ai-should-augment-human-intelligence-not-replace-it
--https://carnegieeurope.eu/2019/11/28/artificial-intelligence-and-future-of-conflict-pub-80421
--https://ideapod.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-human-famous-philosophers-answer/

Further details of the meeting are below:

Date: Tuesday 14 March, 2023
Time: 8:00PM (Hong Kong time)
Topic: AI
Moderator: Mark J. Boone
Co-Moderator: TBD

To join on Zoom, click here!

https://hkbu.zoom.us/j/99213818540

To join in person, go to Varga Lounge at 36 Staunton Street in Central, HK Island!

Please note that while the Philosophy café welcomes all questions and comments, an open mind is necessary and respect for all opinions is mandatory.

Also note that we now have a WhatsApp group where we can share news of the HKPC swiftly and communicate quickly with our members. If you want to be included in the WhatsApp group, please email your phone number to someone at the HKPC organizing committee (e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]), and we shall send you an invite link to the group.

Dr. Mark J. Boone
Ph.D, Philosophy (Baylor University, 2010)
TeacherOfPhilosophy on YouTube and Rumble
Author of this Augustine book
Author of this other Augustine book (now open-access)
Author of a third Augustine book
Editor of this C. S. Lewis book
Editor of this Christian worldview book

7 famous philosophers explain what it means to be human What does it mean to be human? Such a fundamental question to our existence.

Good evening Dear Members of the Hong Kong Philosophy Café!

We have a venue!
Please come at 8pm
Dec 13 Tuesday.
Varga Lounge 36 Staunton Street., Central.
We will be discussing « goodness »
All are welcome and please confirm to come in person. Bring friends!

Very Important!

Hello Philosophy lovers!
Next month December is the season for celebrations, and the HKPC is planning to have a get together plus discussion at a bar in Central. It is also HKPC's first year after the new organization committee took over from our much missed founder Steve Palmquist. We are still here one year after he left so this is another thing to celebrate!
We need to know how many members will be attending our Christmas celebration and discussion on Dec 13 Tuesday at 7pm so we can book a place.
Please press going if you are attending or put your name in the comments section to let us know.
See you all soon!

Reminder:
The Philosophy Café will, as usual, meet on the second Tuesday of November. (Having finished my Tuesday evening lectures for the year, I expect to make it this time!)

This meeting will be just days after Halloween, so the Organizing Committee decided to host a conversation about evil!

What is evil, and where does it come from? Is evil a real thing in itself, or is it just an illusion? Or are Augustine and people like him correct when they say that evil is a lack of good, like cold is a lack of heat or darkness a lack of light? And, for that matter, does it even matter? Is William James more insightful when he says that evil is a practical problem to overcome, not a metaphysical mystery to solve?
Recommended pre-reading: the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on evil--introduction and as much of the rest as you feel like reading!

Further details of the meeting are below:
Date: Tuesday 8 November, 2022
Time: 8 PM
Topic: What is evil?
To join, please click on the Zoom Link below!

https://hkbu.zoom.us/j/99272556766

Please note that while the Philosophy cafe welcomes all questions and comments, an open mind is necessary and respect for all opinions is mandatory.

Also note that we now have a WhatsApp group where we can share news of the HKPC swiftly and communicate quickly with our members. If you want to be included in the WhatsApp group, please email your phone number to someone at the HKPC organizing committee (e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]), and we shall send you an invite link to the group.

Dr. Mark J. Boone
Ph.D, Philosophy (Baylor University, 2010)
TeacherOfPhilosophy on YouTube and Rumble
Author of this Augustine book
Author of this other Augustine book
Editor of this C. S. Lewis book
Editor of this Christian worldview book

Dear members here is an extract of a book « Orthodox Christianity, New Age Spirituality and Vernacular Religion » by Eugenia Roussou (Bloomsbury London, 2021, p. 172-175) about the phenomenon of the evil eye in Greece that can be taken as an example :

Religion and spirituality at the crossroads
The evil eye and Orthodoxy are closely connected. The Orthodox Church accepts vaskania and considers the evil eye to be the work of the devil. The Church and clergy do not accept the ritual healing against the evil eye as it is performed by lay healers. However, the distinction between laity and clergy, between a ksematiastra and a priest, between lay and doctrinal interpretations of the prevailing religion collapses in vernacular religious practice. Lay evil eye healers are Orthodox believers and almost always recite Orthodox Christian prayers and use Orthodox symbolisms in the evil eye ritual healing, interpreting the Orthodox doctrine in their own ways. Furthermore, during their everyday lives, priests accept the spiritual authority of lay healers, and sometimes they even ask these lay healers to perform the ksematiasma for them. Consequently, whether
they are laity or clergy, people in Rethymno and Thessaloniki have nowadays obtained the choice to manifest their religious practices in multiple ways. They interpret and handle Orthodoxy according to their personal everyday spiritual needs, amalgamating it with other forms of spirituality, whenever they feel it is necessary.
Following the religious leadership of Archbishop Christodoulos in the Church of Greece (1998–2008), Orthodoxy became more approachable for a wider range of believers. Christodoulos’ strategy of dropping some of the Church’s rigidity increased church-going among Greeks of the younger generation. Yet, it also transformed Orthodoxy into a porous religion, and this push of Orthodoxy to become popular amongst young people could be interpreted and practised openly and in a variety of ways, even by the clergy. In the years of Christodoulos, the road towards the emergence of a spiritually open religiosity became slowly yet steadily cultivated. However, the socioeconomic crisis that hit Greece, especially from 2010 onwards, resulted in the rise of right-wing political parties, whose discourse linked nationalistic arguments with a twisted and extreme emphasis on ‘Helleno-Orthodoxy’. These parties gained followers and provoked large waves of religious fanaticism. Despite this fact, contemporary Greek religiosity has continued to show signs of fluidity in vernacular practice. The popularity of New Age spirituality has in fact grown in the period of crisis, with many Greeks resorting to alternative forms of spirituality, instead of the Orthodox Church and its priests, to find spiritual support.
New Age has claimed a vivid position in the contemporary Greek religious landscape. New Age practices are adopted by Rethymniots and Thessalonikans in parallel to attending church liturgies and giving, receiving, ritually performing and becoming healed from the evil eye. Contemporary global trends with regard to spiritual quests and practices have not left Greeks unaffected and apathetic. The extensive use of ‘energy’, a concept that is directly linked to New Age ideologies, as part of people’s everyday discourse in Rethymno and Thessaloniki is indicative of the influence new forms of spirituality have exercised on the everyday life of Greeks. Secularization, ‘the idea that society moves from some sacred condition to successively secular conditions in which the sacred evermore recedes’ (Hammond 1985: 1), does not appear to prevail in contemporary Greece. Greeks remain spiritually active in both Orthodox and New Age terms. Yet, as my evil eye research has shown, the religious landscape of contemporary Greece is becoming more individualized, and the boundaries of Greek vernacular religion have become extended, allowing for the presence
174 Orthodoxy, New Age and Vernacular Religion
and co-inhabitation of New Age spirituality in the until recently almost exclusive Orthodox topos of spi/ritual domination. It is not simply about Orthodoxy, or even about superstition, any longer. The evil eye is also about energy, about pursuing New Age spirituality, even by Orthodoxy’s firm followers, in a context which transcends Orthodox Christianity and, instead, creates a syncretic and pluralistic Greek spiritual landscape that has brought religion and spirituality at a crossroads.
Crossroads are spiritually powerful spaces. According to a popular Greek belief, they are possessed by spirits, and people need to make the sign of the cross with their fingers if they want to avert spiritual assault (cf. Stewart 1991: 103). The particular crossroads I encountered in the evil eye are a cultural space where religion and spirituality encounter each other. It has also proven to be an ethnographic space. The contemporary Greek religious landscape is at the crossroads. It is experiencing a turn to individual spirituality, and the beginning of a spiritual revolution. The evil eye practice stands at the centre of this cultural crossroad. Orthodoxy comes down to meet the evil eye from one street; atheism approaches from another route; New Age spiritual practices arrive from a third path. At the heart of the crossroad these currents all confront each other, creatively interact and enter a procedural action of socio-cultural symbiosis. Then, they continue their travel spiritually refreshed. Their amalgamation has given rise to a vernacular form of spiritual creativity in contemporary Greece. The evil eye practice has emerged in this study as the cultural link, which has brought Orthodoxy and New Age spirituality together. Greece is currently undergoing a process of spiritual synthesis, as the evidence accumulated above shows. Whether (Orthodox) religion is to prevail (New Age and eastern), spirituality to take over, or a spiritual syncretism to become even more strengthened, remains to be experienced.
Rethymniots and Thessalonikans have entered a process of redefining the traditional concept of the evil eye, enriching it with a new kind of Western mysticism that is popular in the rest of Europe and America. For some of my interlocutors, who are more aware of the existence of the New Age movement and alternative therapeutic pathways, the act of introducing contemporary, spiritual, global trends to the evil eye practice has been more of a conscious effort to ‘modernize’ a ‘traditional’ practice, while maintaining its Greek cultural heritage. For most of the Cretans and northern Greeks I spoke to, however, this act of amalgamating religious and spiritual discourses and ritual performances through the practice of the evil eye has happened spontaneously, through the process of living their religion in a vernacular context. The blending of the
classically as religiously interpreted concept of the evil eye with contemporary New Age spiritual interpretations has, hence, been less of an intentional effort of one to act as a citizen of the contemporary world when it comes to religio- spiritual practice and more of an unstructured creation of a pluralistic field of religion, spirituality and healing, imaginatively assembled while one handles, performs, expresses and lives his/her (practices of) vernacular religion creatively in a changing world.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

The Philosophy Café will, as usual, meet on the second Tuesday of November. And, we are pleased to announce, we have a place to meet in person! We will also run a Zoom meeting concurrently for a mixed-mode Philosophy Cafe. Note the time as well--7:30 PM, not 8 PM.

As for topics, this meeting will be just days after Halloween, so the Organizing Committee decided to host a conversation about evil!

What is evil, and where does it come from? Why is evil so easy for humans? Is this the natural state? Or how do we define evil? Is evil a real thing in itself, or is it just an illusion? Or is Augustine correct that evil is a lack of good, like cold is a lack of heat or darkness a lack of light?

Recommended pre-reading: the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on evil--introduction and as much of the rest as you feel like reading!

Further details of the meeting are below:

Date: Tuesday 8 November, 20220
Time: 7:30 PM
Topic: What is evil?
Moderator: Jervina Lao
Co-Moderator: Jean Michel Sourd

For joining in person:
The Social Room
3/F Won Hing Building
74-78 Stanley Street
Central, Hong Kong
Attendees are requested to purchase at least one drink from the bar.

For joining on Zoom:

Click on https://hkbu.zoom.us/j/99272556766!

Please note that while the Philosophy cafe welcomes all questions and comments, an open mind is necessary and respect for all opinions is mandatory.

Also note that we now have a WhatsApp group where we can share news of the HKPC swiftly and communicate quickly with our members. If you want to be included in the WhatsApp group, please email your phone number to someone at the HKPC organizing committee (e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]), and we shall send you an invite link to the group.

Dr. Mark J. Boone
Ph.D, Philosophy (Baylor University, 2010)
TeacherOfPhilosophy on YouTube and Rumble
Author of this Augustine book
Author of this other Augustine book
Editor of this C. S. Lewis book
Editor of this Christian worldview book

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...