[FRIAM] Opportunity to join a discussion about Charles Sanders Peirce

Thu Oct 26 23:18:49 EDT 2017

Robert, 

Friam starts a little earlier than 9.30; closer to 9.10.  I like to come early so I can get a seat in the middle (hearing problems), but that might not be a factor for you, so come any time.  The group is very eclectic – sometimes we do old fart stuff, and sometimes we do really interesting stuff.  We have several mathematicians, and when they get going, I just have to Sit In Wonder.  

I note your interest in teleonomy.  Through a weird coincidence, I ran into a blog  run by some middle eastern folks who made me read Jacques Monod’s CHANCE AND NECESSITY. <https://www.amazon.com/Chance-Necessity-Natural-Philosophy-Biology/dp/0394718259/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509073028&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Chance+and+necesssity>   (I have a PDF, if you would like to read it.)  I was astounded because “Teleonomy” is the key term of Monod’s  exposition, and I had written some papers on it in the eighties (e.g. The Misappropriation of Teleonomy <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/302329059_The_Misappropriation_of_Teleonomy> ) without ever finding his book.  Anyway, if you have a text of your presentation, I would love to read it.  

I have been trying to write something on Peirce for months now but need a collaborator to keep me honest.  Perhaps the group has one. 

Thanks again for getting in touch. 

Nick 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

 <http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com] On Behalf Of Robert Wall
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2017 7:00 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Opportunity to join a discussion about Charles Sanders Peirce

Hi Nick,

No worries.  I am happy to tell you et al. a bit more about the Santa Fe Philosophical Society that wouldn't be apparent from the website. I have been a member of the SFPS for about four years and joined about a year after we moved to Santa Fe from Austin, Texas, where I retired from Hewlett Packard as a performance-research scientist | engineer. We most often meet at a particular member's comfortable home, Mim's, every second Sunday of the month for a discussion on some philosophical issue or on the works of some philosopher that has or will be researched by a volunteer and who will provide a 30 to 40-minute introduction to the group followed by a moderated discussion.  I have given two or three presentations to the group on topics like Martin Heidegger's 1954 essay "The Question Concerning Technology" and teleonomy versus teleology, to give you some quick examples. The group is older, very friendly, and philosophically curious.  Many are ex-pats from LANL, but not all ... like me.

If I can get a number of those among you that are interested, I can just add you as my guest to the sign-up list.  Then, if you like what you see and hear, you can join ... but you do not have to be a member to come to these meetings.  The member headcount determines the dues that are paid annually to the Meetup organization that maintains the web resources. Members, or anyone, can donate a few dollars to a can, but it doesn't take a lot of money to run this Meetup group.  Mim has a very large accommodating living room for these meetings, but we try to limit sessions to just 25 attendees (with shoes off at the door). Parking has never been a problem. My good friend Chris Goad--a theoretical mathematician Ph.D. graduate from Stanford, a self-admitted Platonist, and a huge proponent of the Computational Theory of Mind (we have argued this for nearly four years now)--has volunteered as the session moderator. A good guy. Coffee and tea are always available; some, like Chris Mechels, bring a beer. 😎  Many times handouts are provided, but it is best just to print off the prepared, linked material from the website.

Often, there can be several much smaller (~4-5 persons) breakout subgroups that will do a deeper dive into some philosophical topic at some other time(s).  I have been involved in several that meet weekly at the Travel Bug for a few hours. The one I frequent seems to have turned toward discussions in neuroscience, which I think has been motivated by early sessions on consciousness and the Philosophy of Mind. It's all good. 😎

BTW, I came across FRIAM by way of Steven Guerin, to whom I wrote years ago after reading a paper he wrote on complex adaptive systems, a percolating interest of mine.  Steven replied that that made six now who read the paper, or something like that. 😊 Even as a perhaps too infrequent contributor--but frequent reader--of the forum, I find the list has many thoughtful contributors that seem to know one another fairly well. And, I imagine the FRIAM at St. Johns has the same caliber of thinkers with a similar degree of familiarity. Anyway, I've been meaning to drop by the FRIAM group at least on my way to join the St. John's library, as they have the best philosophical library in these parts. If memory serves, you meet at 9:30 a.m. every Friday.

For some reason, I thought you were on the east coast near Boston or something like that. But, yes, I would enjoy meeting you as well, having enjoyed your contributions to the forum, especially as you go about explaining Peirce. So, I have been waiting for Peirce to appear on the menu at the SFPS and it has finally arrived. William James, another pragmatist, about whom I am also very curious. Dewey?  Maybe, so ... 

Hope you can make it to the SFPS. The sessions never seem to disappoint.

Cheers,

Robert

On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 9:18 PM, Nick Thompson <nickthompson at earthlink.net <mailto:nickthompson at earthlink.net> > wrote:

Robert, 

I apologize for asking a dumb question about SF Philosophers.  I didn’t see the link (as a link).  

I will make every effort to be there.  Sunday night is my cooking night for the extended family, but with a little planning I should be able to finesse it.  

I always imagined that you were from some far distant place!  Like Australia, or something.  Have you been here the whole time?  Have you ever come to FRIAM?  

I look forward to meeting you. 

Nick 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

 <http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com <mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com> ] On Behalf Of Robert Wall
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 8:46 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com <mailto:friam at redfish.com> >
Subject: [FRIAM] Opportunity to join a discussion about Charles Sanders Peirce

FYI.

The Santa Fe Philosophical Society is offering a discussion session on <https://www.meetup.com/SantaFe-Philosophers/events/244523385/?fromEmail=244523385&rv=ea1>  Charles Sanders Peirce on Sunday, November 12, 2017, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

Nick, if you are in town, the group would definitely benefit from your attendance ...

Robert

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