Professors Matt Flamm and Shawn Klein are heading this Spring’s Reading Group, which starts this Friday, January 28:

In The Birth of Tragedy (1872), Nietzsche analyzes artistic expression, focusing on Greek tragedy.  In On the Genealogy of Morals (1887) Nietzsche traces out the “origin of our moral prejudices,” identifying “slave morality” (exemplified by Christian values) and its opposite, “master morality” (exemplified by Ancient Greek and Roman values).

Each meeting will take place at the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship office on the second floor of Burpee, from 3-4 pm. There will be light refreshments. A free copy of the book will be provided to participants. This group is open to all members of the college community.

Dates:

Jan 28: Introduction

Feb 11: Birth of Tragedy 1

Feb 25 Birth of Tragedy 2

Mar 18: Genealogy 1

Apr 8: Genealogy 2

Professors Shawn Klein and Matt Flamm are conducting a new reading group this semester on Plato’s works on the trial and death of Socrates. From the flyer:

In 399 BCE, Athens executed Socrates for impiety and corrupting the youth. Plato immortalized the trial and death of Socrates in his dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. These are not merely historical dialogues, but philosophical treatises that examine the nature of piety, philosophy, justice, and death. The Reading Group will discuss each of these dialogues and the philosophical issues they raise.

Each meeting will take place at the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship office on the second floor of Burpee, from 1-2pm. There will be light refreshments. A free copy of the book will be provided to participants.

Dates:
September 10: Overview and Introduction
September 17: Euthyphro
October 1: Apology
November 5: Crito
November 19: Phaedo

In our latest issue of Kaizen we feature an interview with John Chisholm, founder of Decisive Technology, a pioneer in online survey software (and now part of Google), and CustomerSat, a leading provider of enterprise feedback management systems (now part of MarketTools).

Also featured in Kaizen are: this semester’s Introduction to Philosophy student essay contest winners – Bronson Garcia, Mona Khalifeh, and Erica Price; Guest Speaker William Kline; and news about our professors.

A PDF version of Kaizen is available here. We will soon post separately the full interview with Mr. Chisholm.

If you would like to receive a complimentary issue of the print version of Kaizen, please email your name and postal address to CEE [at] Rockford.edu.