Vote result for this Sunday's Philosophy Now Meetup! (July 15, 2:00 PM, Community Room of the Yahoo! Center, Santa Monica)

Hello Philosophy Fans!

This is a reminder that our monthly Meetup is happening  this Sunday, July 15, 2:00pm - 4:30pm-- see below for the topic!   Please bring a printout of this email with you.  For more info, or to be on our regular emailing list, email me at [address removed] 

We'll be at our usual venue, the Community Room of the Yahoo! center (formerly the Colorado Center), 2500 Broadway, between Cloverfield & 26th, Santa Monica, 90404, 310-453-0333.  Detailed driving directions are at the end of this email.  (FYI, these are the dates and times of our next three meetings, all of which occur on the 3rd Sunday of the month at the same location as above:  August 19 at 5pm, September 16 at 5pm , and October 21 at 5p.  Mark these dates on your calendar!) 

For those who'd like to join us, we'll kick back and socialize after the meeting at the nearby and good "Earth, Wind and Flour" restaurant.   They're about half a mile away at 2222 Wilshire blvd (on the south side), between 22nd & 23rd streets, Santa Monica 90403 (310-829-7829).  To get there, take Broadway north 1 block, go left on 26th, in 3 blocks go left on Wilshire.  They have good food, treat us well every month, and are only a few, short blocks away from our meeting site.   They have free, valet parking. 

What are we talking about this Sunday?   This winning topic of this month's email vote is...

SELF-DECEPTION:   how is it possible to deceive yourself?  What exactly is self-deception?  Is it always negative, or does it have its salutary side, too?   Are we morally responsible for deceiving ourselves?  Is it morally wrong? 

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OPTIONAL READINGS:    note that our discussion is topic-based; it is not based on the readings.  However, if you'd like to read something to inspire and stimulate your interest or thinking on the matter, or clarify the ideas involved, I have two articles from our usual, trusted sources for you to select from.    I suggest that you read one of them; it's not necessary to read both, since they partly overlap in content (though they do take different approaches to self-deception).   Enjoy.

1. "Ethics and Self-Deception "--  http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/eth-self.htm

An article from the IEP ( Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).  The most relevant sections are the I ntroductory paragraphs (230 words, about half a page), Section 1, "What Is Self-Deception?" (2876 words, about 5-6 pages), and Section 5, "Responsibility" (for our self-deception), at 513 words, about 1 page long.   Of course, you might just want to read the whole thing (7000 words, about 14 pages).

2. "Self-Deception "-- http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/self-deception/

Everything in this article from the SEP (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) is relevant (at 5534 words, it's about 11 pages long).  If you read nothing else, check out the introductory paragraph and part 1, "Definitional Issues" (792 words, a bit over 1.5 pages).

As always, feel free to read or skim one of the readings... or both, or neither, or anything else on the issue you can find.   Most importantly, come to our discussion with your own ideas, musings, questions, and paper on which to jot down your thoughts!

You can find excerpts of these texts at, and you can post your own ideas to, the discussion board of our website, both before and after Sunday's meeting, at  http://philosophy-in-LA.tribe.net

--just click on the discussion board topic at the top, "Self-Deception: How is it Possible?"   If you hate clicking more than once to find anything, try the direct link, http://philosophy-in-la.tribe.net/thread/d2228e72-1626-47a7-9395-6d218cb9bb73

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For those interested, here are the full vote-by-email results: 

1)   Self-Deception    (24.0 Votes)

2)   What Duties Do We Have To Ourselves And To Others?       (20.0 Votes)

3)   Are Numbers Real And Independent Of People, Or Are They Human Constructs?  (11.0 Votes)

4)   Friendship: What Does It Mean To Be A Good Friend?   What Is The Nature Of Friendship?  (15.25 Votes)

5)   Genetically-Modified Foods  (7.0 Votes)

(You may have noticed that the votes do not come in whole numbers.  This is not because fractions of a person turn in votes, but because you receive one vote for your top choice, a half vote for your 2 ^nd choice (if you had one), a quarter vote for your 3^rd choice, and so on.)

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DIRECTIONS to the Yahoo! Center (AKA Colorado Center) Community Room:  2500 Broadway, at 25^th st, between Cloverfield & 26^th, Santa Monica, 90404-3065 , 310-453-0333.  From the 405 fwy, take the I-10 fwy toward Santa Monica - go 2.2 mi.   Take the CLOVERFIELD BLVD exit, turn Right on CLOVERFIELD BLVD.   Go a half mile, turn Right on BROADWAY, go a quarter mile, park near 25^th st.   Parking is free on Sundays on Broadway & nearby streets, but most of 25^th st is off limits; they will ticket you! 

The Community Room is directly on Broadway at 25^th st, at the corner of the building, a few feet from the "HBO Symantec" sign, right across the street from the LA Art Institute and a bicycle shop.    The room is not labeled, but you will notice its glass doors and plenty of windows with blinds on them.   If you have trouble finding parking on the street, ample free parking is available in the parking garage beneath the building.  The garage entrance is on the other side of the Colorado Center, so take Broadway to 26 ^th st, turn right, take your first right (Colorado ave); the garage entrance is at 2401 Colorado, on your right, just before Cloverfield.  When you enter the garage, go straight as far as you can, turn right, go as far as you can and park near the 2500 building, where the "HBO" sign is.   Walk up the stairs or take the elevator to "G" (the ground level), exit the building, take the short pathway until you can take a left (tennis courts will be in front of you), stop when you reach Broadway.   The Community Room is a few feet to your left.  If you input your address & "2500 Broadway" at http://www.mapquest.com or http://maps.yahoo.com/, a map and driving directions will magically appear.

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See you there!

Brian