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Is art moral?  Why was Plato censorious of art?   Does art have a political function? How is art educational? Should art and philosophy be combined?  What is the difference between art and entertainment?  Is art about individual or communal expression?  How is art related to what John calls ‘dialogos’?

Here we continue to ‘reinventio’—the latin word which means to both invent and discover— perennial and popular subjects.  We discuss the purpose and function of art from various perspectives: John from the point of view of cognitive science and philosophy, Christopher from the point of view theater and narrative, and Andrew as a songwriter. We concluded that art is about process rather than product, and that the good art leans towards religious experience.

I was first  introduced to Christopher Mastropietro by Peter Limberg for his series on Letter.com. Christopher is John Vervaeke’s writing and research partner and co-author of ‘Zombies in Western Culture: A Twentieth Century Crisis’.  A great book which I have used for undergraduate classes in Paris. Chris is among other things an amazing wordsmith who writes and speaks like an 19th Century Henry James/Herman Melville!

Links:

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Today we are living in a period of paradigm shift—one which may be as dramatic as the shift to the axial age according to John, or even as big as the leap from a single-celled organism to the homo sapien, according to Zak!  A wide ranging discussion about how to reinventio (invent and discover) social justice and education and to rescue human interactions from social media pathologies.  How to change out relationships from the transactional to the dialogic—how to reinventio education and justice for the life world and steal the culture from the bottom up.  What is the quantum spiritual leap required in this time of apocalypse and renewal?

John Vervaeke is a professor at the University of Toronto and the creator of the popular online YouTube Series ‘Awakening from The Meaning Crisis’, which is a rich feast of cognitive science, philosophy, religion, and the history of ideas.  What makes Vervaeke special in my opinion is the breadth of his work, but his courage descend the ivory tower and talk to people ‘on the street’—and to exemplify his ideas.  His hero is Socrates, and he embodies the living dialogue and courage that Socrates represents.

Zak Stein is philosopher of education working at the interface of psychology, metaphysics, and politics. He has published two books, including Education in Time Between Worlds, along with dozens of articles. This writing was done as he worked co-founding a non-profit and think tank, as well as teaching graduate students at Harvard, and consulting with technology start-ups. Zak is a long time meditator, musician and caregiver, which has shaped him more than any professional engagements.  (Source: https://www.systems-souls-society.com)

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Here we continue our conversation about ‘reinventio’—the latin word which means to both invent and discover.  The main theme was reinventing beauty, but we spoke about soul, virtue, and faith.  John also proposed reinventing argumentation, and came up with four propositions:

John Vervaeke is a professor at the University of Toronto and the creator of the popular online YouTube Series ‘Awakening from The Meaning Crisis’, which is a rich feast of cognitive science, philosophy, religion, and the history of ideas.  What makes Vervaeke special in my opinion is the breadth of his work, but his courage descend the ivory tower and talk to people ‘on the street’—and to exemplify his ideas.  His hero is Socrates, and he embodies the living dialogue and courage that Socrates represents.

I was first  introduced to Christopher Mastropietro by Peter Limberg for his series on Letter.com. Christopher is John Vervaeke’s writing and research partner and co-author of ‘Zombies in Western Culture: A Twentieth Century Crisis’.  A great book which I have used for undergraduate classes in Paris. Chris is among other things an amazing wordsmith who writes and speaks like an 19th Century Henry James/Herman Melville!

Links:

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After what John Vervaeke has called The Meaning Crisis we need to reinvent soul, faith, virtue, dialogue—all the perennial notions.  An amazing three way conversation with John and Chris circling around the idea of the soul, where John suggests we creatively re-invent and rediscover soul.

 John Vervaeke is a professor at the University of Toronto and the creator of the popular online YouTube Series ‘Awakening from The Meaning Crisis’, which is a rich feast of cognitive science, philosophy, religion, and the history of ideas.  What makes Vervaeke special in my opinion is the breadth of his work, but his courage descend the ivory tower and talk to people ‘on the street’—and to exemplify his ideas.  His hero is Socrates, and he embodies the living dialogue and courage that Socrates represents.   

 I was first  introduced to Christopher Mastropietro by Peter Limberg for his series on Letter.com, 'impossible conversations'. Our first 'impossible conversation can be found here’:  https://letter.wiki/conversation/232.    Christopher is John Vervaeke’s writing and research partner and co-author of ‘Zombies in Western Culture: A Twentieth Century Crisis’.  A great book which I have used for undergraduate classes in Paris. (https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/602) Chris is among other things an amazing wordsmith who writes and speaks like an 19th Century Henry James/Herman Melville!   

Links:

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Fabrice Midal is hugely popular in the Francophone world with a best selling book that has been translated as ‘The French Art of Not giving a fuck’—but relatively unknown elsewhere.  He is also the author of about twenty other books, which include a biography of Chogyam Trungpa, and various books about philosophy, art, poetry, chivalry and meditation. He is also the founder of a unique school of meditation called ‘L’École occidentale de méditation’—which teaches not just traditional buddhist meditation and texts, but also has a strong emphasis on western philosophy, poetry, and the arts in general.

I’ve known Fabrice for many years and he has taught me many things, and I have always wished that something like his school were available in other countries. L’École occidentale de méditation is a good example of what is called in German ‘bildung’ where philosophy and mediation are linked in creating movements that have the potential to change society as a whole. Some of my listeners in the contemporary bildung movement could learn a great deal from Fabrice’s efforts and genius in my opinion.

In this wide ranging discussion we talked mostly about meditation and how meditation can be the ground for genuine renaissance in all areas of society, rather than merely a ‘technique’ for inner calm—which, in Fabrice’s view is a gross distortion of its origin, meaning and purpose.

Links

https://www.amazon.com/Fabrice-Midal/e/B001JOVG86%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

A wide ranging conversation loosely based on Bonnita Roy's new article  ‘Corona: A tale of two systems’ on the Emerge website, which she calls a ‘holifesto’ or a holistic manifesto. Johathan Rowson queried the article, offered some possible criticism, and Bonnitta responded brilliantly. It was a wonderful conversation and a great pleasure to be in the presence of these great soulful intellects and systems thinkers.   

Joe Ross:

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In this wide ranging conversation we discussed:  Kairos and crisis, Civilisational adolescence, Piaget and stages of development, AI and caring Warm Data, The artist and the Prophet, The Bildung movement, Reintegration of the good the true and the beautiful, Post conventional morality,  Faith and emergence, Post formal faith, The unattainable ideal, Serious play   And so much more ...  

John Vervaeke is a professor at the University of Toronto and the creator of the popular online YouTube Series ‘Awakening from The Meaning Crisis’, which is a rich feast of cognitive science, philosophy, religion, and the history of ideas.  What makes Vervaeke special in my opinion is the breadth of his work, but his courage descend the ivory tower and talk to people ‘on the street’—and to exemplify his ideas.  His hero is Socrates, and he embodies the living dialogue and courage that Socrates represents.    

Zak Stein is philosopher of education working at the interface of psychology, metaphysics, and politics. He has published two books, including Education in Time Between Worlds, along with dozens of articles. This writing was done as he worked co-founding a non-profit and think tank, as well as teaching graduate students at Harvard, and consulting with technology start-ups. Zak is a long time meditator, musician and caregiver, which has shaped him more than any professional engagements.  (Source: https://www.systems-souls-society.com)

Zachary Stein: Covid 19: A war in heaven

In our wide ranging conversation we discussed:

Links

An Ecology Of Mind- A Daughter's portrait of Gregory Bateson Directed by Nora Bateson

Bio: https://batesoninstitute.org/nora-bateson/

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John Vervaeke is a professor at the University of Toronto and the creator of the popular online YouTube Series ‘Awakening from The Meaning Crisis’, which is a rich feast of cognitive science, philosophy, religion, and the history of ideas.  What makes Vervaeke special in my opinion is the breadth of his work, but his courage descend the ivory tower and talk to people ‘on the street’—and to exemplify his ideas.  His hero is Socrates, and he embodies the living dialogue and courage that Socrates represents.

Zak Stein is philosopher of education working at the interface of psychology, metaphysics, and politics. He has published two books, including Education in Time Between Worlds, along with dozens of articles. This writing was done as he worked co-founding a non-profit and think tank, as well as teaching graduate students at Harvard, and consulting with technology start-ups. Zak is a long time meditator, musician and caregiver, which has shaped him more than any professional engagements.  (Source: https://www.systems-souls-society.com)

In our wide ranging conversation we discussed:

John Vervaek’s Awakening from the Meaning Crisis 

Zachary Stein: Covid 19: A war in heaven

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