We welcomed a new member, and two visitors:

• Shri Sharma, Philosophy advisor for the national u3a organization
• Richard Batchelor, who has been running other Philosophy groups in the ssu3a for some time.

The group discussed this month’s three videos (from the Philosophy Crash Course we have been following), which introduced

• Video 5 : Skepticism - Discussion of Descartes,
• Video 6 : Empiricism as a response to skepticism - Discussion of views of Locke & Beckley, and
• Video 7 : The meaning of knowledge.

As with any group, we found we have mixed levels of understanding of the topic.  The language used is very specific and important to understand to help us progress with our Philosophy discussions, and we acknowledge it will take time for us to become more familiar with the terminology.

Shri had emphasized the importance of understanding the ‘meaning of knowledge’.  We therefore decided, for our December meeting, to revisit video 7 (plus individuals can revisit all the videos previously covered if they find this useful) and additionally view videos 8 & 9.  We will then reconsider how we feel about the volume of content we are trying to cover for future meetings and whether additional or alternative materials may enhance our progression.

Note: There is a transcript of each of the videos and, by clicking on the cog symbol on the video screen, you can slow down the speed of the video presentation.