COMMENSAL ISSUE 102

First of all, apologies for the non-appearance of the June issue of Commensal. I was just too stressed out at work (for no good reason really) to focus on it. Still, we have a bumper issue this time, and on the presumption that the contributions keep rolling in, I hope normal service will be resumed from now on !

1. New Members
2. Obituary - Sheila Blanchard
3. PDG Conference 2000
4. Mensa At Braziers, October 2000
5. PDGList
6. Philosophy for All - PFA
7. Royal Institute of Philosophy
8. My Web Page
9. Date of Next Issue (Commensal 103)

As usual, we welcome new members :-

I received the following note on 8^th August from John Logan :-

And later ...

This is a great shame. I had a fairly extensive correspondence with Sheila between June '97 & August '98, some of which appeared in Commensal - though her account of the situation that sparked the genesis of PDG & the demise of Mens Sana didn't. It all sounded rather political, the sort of thing I wanted to steer clear of. Besides, I think she told me "for information only".

For some reason Sheila left PDG in late 1998 - her last letter to me of 21^st August 1998 indicated she might not renew her subs - she seemed disturbed by the politics (again).

I don't know enough about Sheila's life to comment sensibly, but her intelligence and graciousness shone through in all the correspondence I had with her. Maybe others will have more to add ?

As announced last time, Roger Farnworth kindly convened the 2^nd annual PDG conference at Braziers Park. It took place from Friday 5^th - Sunday 7^th May 2000. It was, I believe, a great success. Numbers were down on last year - partly because I was rather late advertising the event, and partly due to some late cancellations. As it was, there were 13 of us who took part in the discussions - an inauspicious number, but one ideally conducive to the highly participatory form of the weekend.

We commenced on the Friday night an hour ahead of schedule due to a change in the meal-times at Braziers (Jane Benn - please check for October !). As is usual, we introduced ourselves "in the round". Those present and introducing themselves were, in sequence, Hazel Guest, Roger Farnworth, George Childs, Alan Edmonds, Sheila Haddow, Don Grace (from Florence Alabama), Nigel Perks, Jonathan Young, Linda Gough, Leslie Haddow, John Fender ... and myself. Don's family (wife, son, daughter) also stayed at Braziers though didn't attend the conference sessions. Nevertheless, it was good to meet them at mealtimes & sundry other informal occasions. Frank Luger didn't arrive until midnight because, having survived an endless coach journey from Budapest, he was diverted by rail on the last leg of his journey to Goring-on-Sea rather than the lesser known but more appropriately located Goring near Reading.

These important preliminaries out of the way, Friday's activities continued as advertised with me reading my revised paper Violation of Integrity - A Reprise. I was quite satisfied with the paper (NOTE : This paper, together with all but one of the others presented at Braziers, is produced later in this issue of Commensal. Where this is the case, I have restrained myself from commenting further in this editorial (or, sadly, elsewhere - lack of time & space), but it was not suitable for me, at least, to deliver. I've seen accomplished speakers read difficult papers and make them sound lucid and interesting - this was true even of most of the papers delivered at Braziers - but I just haven't got the knack. I lose my place, get confused, mumble ... especially when interrupted every 30 seconds as tended to be the case. Still, we had a good discussion after I'd given up delivering the paper in the way intended and it did raise many of the issues to be covered throughout the weekend. So, I dare say it wasn't that bad.

Roger Farnworth and then Leslie Haddow got us off to a good start on Saturday morning with papers entitled "What is Man for ?" and "What are People for ?", delivered with appropriate clarity and gusto.

In default of anyone else volunteering to take my place, I spoke in defence of consequentialism as an ethical principle, alloyed to my other prejudices. This seemed to work better than that the effort the previous evening and amply rewarded the half-hour spent in preparation on the Friday morning. There is no justice.

The bulk of Saturday afternoon was taken up with enjoying the sunshine (some of the talks had been al fresco) and the beautiful countryside around the Braziers estate. We then reconvened before tea to hear Frank Luger give us an update on his researches on "Anthropocentrism vs. Cosmocentrism: Groping toward a Paradigm Shift".

The Saturday evening was taken up with an informal session where all sorts of things that I cannot now recall, except the backbone of the session was, at Leslie's instigation, an enjoyable philosophical parlour-game whereby we each had to state in fifty words or less what we thought the meaning or purpose of life was, or else state why we thought this a meaningless question. I no longer have access to these priceless slips of paper, which were read out to the group (with various degrees of accuracy) and then discussed. A model answer by yours truly was :-

Note the scrupulous adherence to the fifty-word limit. Maybe Commensal readers would like to write in with their answers to this tricky question (with a similar or greater license as to length) ?

On Sunday, Alan Edmonds provided us with his reminiscences of Mensa and the political orientation of various prominent individuals linked to his thoughts on the Hi-Q controversy. John Fender concluded the weekend’s presentations with a most stimulating talk on "Freedom, Information & Utilitarianism", the transcript of which is promised for the next Commensal.

The final item on the agenda was the discussion of next year's conference. All had enjoyed the weekend, but it was agreed that we should commence the organisation of the 2001 "Weekend" much earlier than had been the case for 2000. The topic was agreed to be something to do with Consciousness. See next Commensal !

I'm grateful to Jane Benn for the following announcement :-

"I enclose a copy of the programme for the Mensa Aims of Education conference at Braziers on 6 - 8 October. I would be grateful is you would publish it in Commensal. Any chance of seeing you in October ? Of course, any member of the Philosophy SIG is more than welcome attend."

This is the internet discussion group of PDG and invited guests. To join PDGList you need first of all to log on to http://www.egroups.com and sign up to eGroups. Then you need to apply to join PDGList itself. You can do this by initially doing a search on "pdglist" and then following instructions. Alternatively, and quicker (though you will thereby miss out on all the wonders of eGroups !), you can go directly to http://www.egroups.com/group/pdglist - again, you will need to join eGroups first (it will prompt you) - and then click on the "subscribe" link or button. Either way, I then need to accept your application. Once accepted, whenever anyone posts anything to the list, you will automatically receive an emailed copy of the posting. To post something yourself, just email to pdglist@egroups.com and everyone on the list will receive a copy. Why not give it a go ?

Incidentally, for those who've signed up for PDGList, MS Word 97 versions of all the back-issues of Commensal since I've been PDG Secretary are available in the "Files" area at the PDGList website (http://www.egroups.com/group/pdglist).

NOTE : PFA has no relationship with PDG or British Mensa. See C100 (or http://www.pfalondon.freeserve.co.uk) for more details on PFA.

Kant's Cave : On every first Wednesday of the month, from 7pm (lecture at 7.30 pm) PHILOSOPHY FOR ALL meets at "Kant's Cave" for a lecture, debate and social evening. Kant's Cave meetings are now held at the cellar bar of The Penderel’s Oak, 283-288 High Holborn, London (3 mins walk from Holborn tube station). Door-charge: £1 (free for PFA members)

UPCOMING KANT'S CAVE LECTURES

The PFA at the Mary Ward Centre : Philosophy Debates are to be held approx. monthly on Saturdays 14:00 - 17:00; Dates : 14 October, 2 December, 16 December, 17 February, 3 March, 7 April, 19 May, 2 June, 9 June. There are also Public Lectures on some Saturdays 10:00 - 13:00; Dates : 28 October & 7 April. The Mary Ward Centre is at 42 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AQ. There is no fee.

NOTE : The RIP has no connection to PDG or Mensa, but I can very highly recommend these lectures.

Please excuse the self-advertisement, but ... I've at last got round to setting up my web-site (http://www.kenrick-todman.freeserve.co.uk). Amateurish stuff, but has links to HTML versions of two sets of documents I've produced over the years.

The next edition of Commensal (C103) will appear in October. The closing date will be 22^nd September 2000.

Best wishes !