With the support of PA Humanities and The Grotto, we're thrilled to announce philosophical discussions (with an experiential component) on the last Tuesday of every month!
What if the most important decisions you'll ever make are ones you can't fully understand beforehand? Join Ren, Josh, and Tiffani for "Transformative Experience: a Philosophical Discussion" at The Grotto on Tuesday, November 24 from 7 to 9 pm. We're considering a special class of experiences – becoming a parent, moving to another country, joining the military, accessing gender-affirming care, psychedelic-assisted therapy, religious conversions -- that reorganize what you care about, how you think about yourself, and how you understand others.
We'll discuss the following questions and more:
What does it feel like to choose to undergo an experience that we can’t really understand in advance?
Can you really make a rational decision to experience something that will fundamentally change who you are?
How can you responsibly choose to find out who you will become when your transformed preferences, values, and plans will affect others?
Guidelines for discussion and a brief advance reading (Amia Srinivasan’s book review of L.A. Paul’s Transformative Experience in the Times Literary Supplement) will be emailed to participants upon registration.
An experiential component of the event will be ritual commitment to undergo a new kind of experience during the next month and letter-writing to our future selves predicting how it will change us.
Space is limited to ensure that everyone has a chance to participate in the discussion.
Cash and venmo donations accepted at the event (suggested $5).
If you have a fever/cough/are otherwise feeling sick on the day of the event, please stay home and join us next time.