Dr. Bertha Alvarez Manninen drafted this great SOPHIA One-Sheet document to talk about some important questions about America’s hottest topic: abortion, some of which arose in Episode 4 of Philosophy Bakes Bread, on “Shared Values in the Abortion Debate,” the subtitle of her book on the subject, Pro-Life, Pro-Choice. The Lexington SOPHIA Chapter is getting together on May 10th of 2019 to talk about abortion, a topic of increasing importance given recent changes to the make up of the U.S. Supreme Court and the many state laws that are likely to be tested in court.

SOPHIA is grateful to the Kentucky Humanities Council for a grant that supported the creation of this one-sheet document.

For the February meeting of the Lexington SOPHIA Chapter, Lila Wakeman drafted this great SOPHIA One-Sheet document to talk about some important questions that Dr. Skye Cleary raised in Episode 60 of Philosophy Bakes Bread, on “Existentialism and Romantic Love,” the title of her book on the subject. The group is getting together on February 15th of 2019, the night after Valentine’s Day, to talk about love in real life, and the challenges that people face. Check out this one-sheet and consider using it for your next discussion.

SOPHIA is grateful to the Kentucky Humanities Council for a generous grant that supported the creation of this one-sheet document.

This winter, the Lexington SOPHIA Chapter thought it would be a good idea to reflect on good will. We are accustomed to hearing around the holiday season about “Good will toward men,” a line from the Book of Luke in the Bible. It seemed like an important topic that might be on people’s minds around the holidays. What does goodwill mean, after all? Also, why do we seem to attend to it only around the winter holidays? Should it be seasonal? These questions inspired the creation of this SOPHIA One-Sheet on “Goodwill to All.”

The Lexington SOPHIA Chapter got together to test out this new one-sheet and had a terrific time talking about good will. The photos below are from our get together at the Northside Branch of the Lexington Public Library on Tuesday, December 18th at 6pm. We had fourteen people join the conversation. On this special occasion, which we labeled a “December Meet and Greet” and conversation on “Goodwill to All,” this time we had pizza and drinks. After the event, we had leftovers and one of our participants suggested that we invite everyone in the library to come partake in the pizza and drinks and join us for fellowship and goodwill cheer. It was a great idea and a fitting end to our meeting.

Thanks to James William Lincoln for generating our first draft of this document. A number of members of the leadership helped offer feedback on the first draft and Eric Thomas Weber put some final edits into this document and generated a number of the additional questions. We encourage other members and chapters to try out this One-Sheet with your local community.

The Lexington SOPHIA Chapter is meeting on Tuesday, November 13th at 6pm at the Northside Branch of the Lexington Public Library to talk about “The Ethics of Dentistry,” which was the subject of Episode 2 of Philosophy Bakes Bread with Dr. Bill Myers. Listen if you wish and can, but we will have an “Ethics of Dentistry” SOPHIA One-Sheet document ready for the event, which people can read at the meeting to be up to speed and on the same page. At the same time, for those of you with little time and a little more curiosity about what this is about, chapter members and leaders Derek Daskalakes and Erik Jarvis put together this little video to tell you about the event, only 1m23s:

What: Lexington SOPHIA Chapter Meeting on “The Ethics of Dentistry”

When: Tues, November 13 at 6pm

Where: Northside Branch of the Lexington Public Library

Join us! Here’s more info about the event, posted on our MeetUp.com page for the meeting. You can also join/follow our MeetUp.com group here, as well as on Facebook & on Twitter. And if you’re interested in becoming a member of the national Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA) organization, you join here.

Transcript

Introductions (EJ: Erik Jarvis; DD: Derek Daskalakes)

EJ:  We are members of the Lexington chapter of the Society of Philosophers in America

DD: We want to invite you Tuesday Nov 13 at 6pm to Northside branch of the Lexington public library, where we will be talking about the ethics of dentistry?

EJ: Why Dentistry?

DD: Well Erik, we’re not just talking about dentistry. We’re talking about the fact that some professionals take advantage of us. Some don’t, but in Dentistry, they’re committed to not commenting on each other’s work.

EJ: If professionals won’t comment on another’s work, how can an individual protect themselves when someone has done you wrong?

DD: We’re going to ask all sorts of questions concerning work and obligations. Questions like…

EJ: What is the difference between a job, like waiting tables and a profession, like being a doctor or lawyer?

DD: if you get an opinion from your dentist, mechanic, or lawyer, should you trust it?

EJ: should professionals be held to a higher standard?

DD: What are the ethics that guide your work?

EJ: We want to know how you would answer these questions and other important queries. Join us at our next meeting on Tuesday November 13th at 6pm at the Northside branch of the Lexington Public Library where we will be talking about the Ethics of Dentistry.

If you could get away with something that is considered wrongdoing, but seems like it would be to your advantage, would you be able to resist doing it? This SOPHIA One-Sheet addresses this question in reference to the story about Gyges’ Ring in Plato’s Republic.

This One-Sheet is based on a prompt shared by the Center for Philosophy for Children at the University of Washington, and is used with permission from Dr. Jana Mohr Lone. The first side of the one-sheet features the original prompt and the second side of the sheet is a list of questions drafted by Lexington SOPHIA Chapter members Caroline A. Buchanan, Derek Daskalakes, Erik Jarvis, William James Lincoln, and Eric Thomas Weber. The group will be trying out the One-Sheet on Tuesday, October 16th at the Good Foods Co-op in Lexington, KY, and may post a revised version after the meeting.

SOPHIA is most grateful to SOPHIA member Dr. Jana Mohr Lone and the Center for Philosophy for Children at the University of Washington for sharing this prompt with SOPHIA.