FORUM NO 3 MARCH 6th 2013

AT THE LAST MEETING WE LOOKED HARD AT JUSTICE AS SEEN BY PLATO IN THE LIGHT OF ICAC INVESTIGATIONS AND RELATED IT TO THE LAW AND TRIALS BY JURY.

JAN MARTIN SPOKE COMPREHENSIVELY ABOUT THE FUTURE FOR LIBRARIES AND BOOKS AND IAN McAUSLAND FULFILLED HIS PROMISE TO SUMMARISE SPINOZA'S PHILOSOPHY IN JUST 10 MINUTES.

ON MARCH 6th WE SHALL BE CONSIDERING FREEDOM AND LIBERTY IN VARIOUS FORMS.

BOB HAYWARD WILL BE PRESENTING INFORMATION AND IDEAS ABOUT JUERGENMAYER'S 'GLOBAL REBELLION' FOLLOWED BY RON STEELE DISCUSSING LIBERTY AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH - J STUART MILL AND TWO RECENT CASES IN AUSTRALIA WILL BE RELEVANT TO THIS.

FINALLY, LAURIE KETTLEWELL WILL WIND UP HIS TWO-PART VIEWS OF THE EFFECTS OF NURTURE/NATURE ON HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

Malcolm Sealy

http://shoalhaven.u3anet.org.au/

FORUM 2 20th FEBRUARY 2013

The first term session was well-attended, wide-ranging and lively.

Some interesting reactions appeared about the recent arguments about sexism and misogyny.  No definite conclusions were reached but facial expressions were noted and remarked upon - especially those of the Tutor.

Laurie Kettlewell spoke about his view of the influence of NURTURE and upbringing on the behaviour and morality of individuals.  He posed the question of how would we have acted if born in the early 1930s in Germany ?

As a follow-up to this Paul Buckingham spoke about Authority and the Milgram experiments on obedience.  Interesting points arose particularly with regard to the effects of the wearing of uniforms - police, traffic wardens, paramedics etc. 

The next session will cover a summary of Spinoza's philosophy, Justice and Trial by Jury, the future for books and libraries and a view of Plato and the Global Financial Crisis.