Anvil Discussion Group

Anvil Discussion Group – Discussion Topics in Philosophy, Science and Current Affairs

There will be a meeting of the Anvil Discussion Group next Friday 23rd May 10am -12pm in the Function Room of The George coffee shop in Martock when John Grainger will give a talk entitled:
“Safari Hunting for Wildlife Conservation.”
He has sent the following summary:

The aim of this talk is to generate debate by offering a conservation perspective for sustainable safari hunting – popularly known as trophy hunting – in Africa. Trophy hunting is the subject of intense debate and polarized positions, with animal rights groups and protectionists on one side, and hunters and pragmatic conservationists on the other. It will be argued that trophy hunting has major value for conservation and local community welfare in many parts of southern Africa. Reporting of hunting in the popular media can be emotive and uninformed, which has led to calls to ban the import of hunting trophies.

Anvil is a discussion group held in Martock. We discuss serious, sometimes controversial, issues of current importance, in the areas of philosophy, science and current affairs (although the latter will not be party political). We aim to be intellectually stimulating and relevant to important issues rather than just entertaining. We meet from 10am to 12noon on the fourth Friday of the month in the Function Room of The George coffee shop. There is no subscription, committee, nor any other type of cumbersome bureaucracy, and our organisation is gender balanced, but we intend to levy a charge of £3 to £5 at each meeting to cover room rental and refreshments, depending on attendance. We aim for understanding and education in its broadest sense, rather than just social interaction.
The format in all cases will be a talk during the first period, followed by a short refreshment break, then a discussion period which should be non-confrontational and aimed at understanding arguments even if you disagree, and expressing your own opinions in a tolerant manner. Our future programme is as follows:

June 27th: Honey without harm – the swarm as a self-regulating organism – Joe Bleasdale (based on the principles elucidated in his book).
July 25th: The Philosophy of Ivan Illich. John Baxter. A much-lauded maverick thinker in the seventies, now almost forgotten, may have ideas which are useful for the times we now face.
August: no meeting.
September 26th – Emergent infections: we’ve had COVID, what can we expect next? – Greg Atkins.
October 24th – Artificial Intelligence – Mark Regal.
November 28th – Evolutionary ethics – how do we make our moral judgments? Greg Atkins.
December: no meeting.

To join, come to a meeting (advertised in Martock Chat on Facebook, the Nextdoor app and Martock.org.uk) or contact Prof Greg Atkins by email (we do not use paper posters)

gatkins@tcd.ie

to be put on the mailing list.
More information regarding past meetings and our current and past programme can be obtained on our website:

http://www.johnbaxter.org/