26 April 2018

from Lawrence, SUNDAY PhiloMadrid meeting at 6:30pm: Vocation

IMPORTANT
Our new meeting place is now the Gran Clavel. We meet downstairs but
PLEASE get your drink before you come down to the library. The waiters
will direct you if you cannot find us.
Gran Clavel (Café-Bar): Gran vía 11, esquina C/ Clavel, 28013—Madrid



Dear friends,

This Sunday we are discussing: Vocation

This is a term we are all familiar with and we all appreciate that the
term vocation started with a calling for a religious life. Today, we
hardly speak of vocation and more of careers and professions. So what is
the difference between vocation and career?

The term career has a feeling of cold calculated planning, something we
do to make a living. A vocation is more an emotional commitment for the
craft or occupation we are passionate about.

Of course, this is not to say that a career cannot be a vocation; there
is no objection that some people speak of their career as being a vocation.

A career is, without doubt, a modern term and careers today form the
basis of economies and societies. And careers are more cerebral in
nature based more professional training. Today society depends more on
inventing a better combined harvester than developing skills with an ox
and plough.

But careers can also come second to a vocation. For example, NGOs can
offer fulfilling career but because of the nature of the work involved
one needs more than just adding up the numbers. One needs an emotional
commitment that really fit the terms of a vocation. Other professions
possibly include investigative journalists, medical care to poor
regions, working with the homeless and so on.

The bottom line is that when people pursue vocations they might feel
more fulfilled as a person and society is much better for their efforts.

Best Lawrence




tel: 606081813
philomadrid@gmail.com
Blog: http://philomadrid.blogspot.com.es/
MeetUp https://www.meetup.com/PhiloMadrid-philosophy-group/

Gran Clavel (Café-Bar): Gran vía 11, esquina C/ Clavel, 28013—Madrid




from Lawrence, SUNDAY PhiloMadrid meeting at 6:30pm: Vocation

21 April 2018

From Lawrence, PhiloMadrid: presentation invitation 24th April “…y el Quijote inspiró a Shakespeare”

Dear Friends,

We are invited by Jose Enrique to the presentation of his book, "…y el
Quijote inspiró a Shakespeare" on the 24th April at the Teatro Infanta
Isabel.

Details:
…y el Quijote inspiró a Shakespeare
By Jose Enrique Gil-Delgado Crespo
Teatro Infanta Isabel
C/ Barquillo, 24 – 28004 Madrid
Tuesday, 24th April 2018 at 19:00h

IMPORTANT TO CONFIRM: 91 512 1072 or acadeniatv@academiatv.es

https://philomadrid.blogspot.com/2018/04/normal-0-false-false-false-en-gb-x-none.html


Best Lawrence



From Lawrence, PhiloMadrid: presentation invitation 24th April "…y el
Quijote inspiró a Shakespeare"

…y el Quijote inspiró a Shakespeare




Details:
……y el Quijote inspiró a Shakespeare
By Jose Enrique Gil-Delgado Crespo
Teatro Infanta Isabel
C/ Barquillo, 24 – 28004 Madrid
Tuesday, 24th April 2018 at 19:00h

IMPORTANT TO CONFIRM: 91 512 1072 or academiatv@academiatv.es




19 April 2018

from Lawrence, SUNDAY PhiloMadrid meeting: no meeting this Sunday

Dear Friends,

This Sunday, 22nd April, we are not having a meeting so the next meeting
will be on the 29th of April.

In the meantime if you wish to prepare yourself, the topic is: vocation.

Best Lawrence



tel: 606081813
philomadrid@gmail.com
Blog: http://philomadrid.blogspot.com.es/
MeetUp https://www.meetup.com/PhiloMadrid-philosophy-group/



from Lawrence, SUNDAY PhiloMadrid meeting: no meeting this Sunday

12 April 2018

from Lawrence, SUNDAY PhiloMadrid meeting at 6:30pm: Collective Guilt

IMPORTANT
For the time being we are now meeting at:
Gran Clavel (Café-Bar): Gran vía 11, esquina C/ Clavel, 28013—Madrid
(Please come early to make sure we get a place: if we are more than 6
people we'll be at the back)

Dear friends,

This Sunday we are discussing Collective Guilt which we have already
discussed in 2011.

I am therefore including the link to the original email which includes
an essay by Simon and myself.

Collective Guilt
http://philomadrid.blogspot.com.es/2011/10/from-lawrence-sunday-philomadrid.html

best Lawrence


tel: 606081813
philomadrid@gmail.com
Blog: http://philomadrid.blogspot.com.es/
MeetUp https://www.meetup.com/PhiloMadrid-philosophy-group/



from Lawrence, SUNDAY PhiloMadrid meeting at 6:30pm: Collective Guilt

06 April 2018

from Lawrence, SUNDAY PhiloMadrid meeting at 6:30pm: Psychoanalysis vs Confession

IMPORTANT
For the time being we are now meeting at:
Gran Clavel (Café-Bar): Gran vía 11, esquina C/ Clavel, 28013—Madrid
(Please come early to make sure we get a place: if we are more than 6
people we'll be at the back)


Dear Friends,

I hope you had a good holiday these past few days and looking forward to
our meetings.

This Sunday we are discussing: Psychoanalysis vs Confession. The topic
seems too interesting to split into two different subjects.

The Sacrament of Penance in the Catholic Church (or the equivalent in
other religions) is an act of asking God to absolve any sins we
committed after baptism. The effect of confession is, of course, to
return our soul to a state of purity so that we can go to heaven after
death. The unintended consequence of this is that we can live our life
on this Earth more reassured of what will happen to us after we die, and
hence less stressed. But most important of all, confession should give
us peace of mind in our life.

The scope of Psychoanalysis is more of finding the causes for our
present state of mind by looking at events from the past that might have
affected our present mental health. Once the genesis of our mental state
is discovered we can start working at achieving the desired peace of mind.

Whilst both methodologies reflect their respective state of knowledge at
the time of their pinnacle, both treat people as the rational agent so
beloved in the 19th and early 20th century. But the old baggage that the
"We" or "I" is different and a superior entity than the body and even
more the brain, means that a vital source of our disquiet, ie the brain,
only became relevant in recent time.

This is not to say that the brain is the source of all our mental ills,
money and disagreeable partners or colleagues play their role, but by
excluding any biological causes for our disquiet we can then move on to
sort out our life and hopefully achieve peace of mind. And we all agree
that peace of mind is the gateway to happiness.

The question is whether confession is a quick and easy way to achieve
peace of mind whist we're still in control of the information we provide
our arbiters. Psychoanalysis requires more commitment and a more
detailed investigation into our life. We might even arrive at a
situation where we no longer have total control of the information we
provide our arbiter or therapist.

As for psychiatry and neurology we just have no idea what on Earth is
going on or being done to us.

The logical conclusion would, therefore, be to compare old "technology"
confession/psychoanalysis vs the new-kids-on-the-block
psychiatry/neurology. No doubt this would be a mammoth task, but would
it be a relevant and fair task to engage in?


Best Lawrence



tel: 606081813
philomadrid@gmail.com
Blog: http://philomadrid.blogspot.com.es/
MeetUp https://www.meetup.com/PhiloMadrid-philosophy-group/

PhiloMadrid Meeting




from Lawrence, SUNDAY PhiloMadrid meeting at 6:30pm: Psychoanalysis vs
Confession